A Tough Week for HOPE…And a CRITICAL One
It’s a tough week in the United States of America. And it’s only Tuesday. If you love your country, you’re hurting. If you love your neighbors, regardless of the color of their skin, you’re hurting. It’s a tough week to find HOPE. I normally publish this blog on Thursdays, but after hearing from several friends and colleagues that they ESPECIALLY NEED HOPE RIGHT NOW, I felt compelled to write sooner.
The awful news continues and it’s breaking my heart. And yet, there is AMAZING, HOPEFUL NEWS too. I’ve seen images of POLICE OFFICERS KNEELING DOWN IN SOLIDARITY WITH PROTESTORS. Those images bring tears to my eyes. I’ve read stories about POLICE OFFICERS taking off their riot gear, walking with protestors and LISTENING to them. Last night, the DENVER POLICE CHIEF was OUT MARCHING WITH PROTESTORS.
Today I read a story about a 6th GRADER who wrote a letter to his/her local Police Station asking how they can ensure ALL citizens are protected fairly and without discrimination. AND asked how he/she could help.
Another story that actually made me cry was about a neighborhood in Nashville that rallied around their Black neighbor who wanted to go for a walk in his neighborhood. He was afraid that if he did, he might not come home to his family. After posting about this on Next Door, 50 people responded offering to walk with him within a few minutes. The next day 75 people showed up to walk with him. Some of these stories are at https://www.karunavirus.org/ Please take a look – we ALL NEED HOPE right now.
One of my favorite movies is “Love Actually”. The basic message is that “LOVE ACTUALLY IS ALL AROUND US.” I firmly believe that LOVE AND HOPE ARE ACTUALLY ALL AROUND US. The stories above illustrate that. And, yesterday when I was out on a walk with my husband I saw two signs or banners about Hope. Today I saw a bumper sticker that read “Love > Fear”. IF YOU LOOK FOR IT, IT’S THERE.
Right now, I BEG you to LOOK FOR LOVE AND HOPE, both inside and outside of yourselves. Now, more than ever, HOPE NEEDS TO BE ACTIVE. PLEASE find ways to bring your HOPE AND LOVE INTO ACTION.
With all the LOVE and HOPE my soul can muster,
Colleen
4 Comments
Anna
Thanks Colleen, reading your post and seeing the helpers out there like you give me hope! 🙂
Anna
colleen_osborne
Yay, Anna! Thanks for your support!
With Love and Hope,
Colleen
JIm Gillespie
Andrea and I sent this message to our local mayor and city council. In the spirit of hope and action, we urge you to also contact your elected officials, to make a similar request or make one of your own. Many years ago a I heard another version of a quote Colleen cited; “Silence is Consensus.” Lets not be silent.
The recent police killing of an unarmed African American man in Minneapolis fills us with dismay and even despair. Yesterday’s military and police assault on a group of peaceful protesters in Washington, DC was an outrage. These terrible incidents raise issues of racial injustice and inequity in our society. Those are systemic issues in need of systemic solutions. In the short term our focus must be on taking steps to ensure that our local police department enforces the law in a manner that minimizes use of force and maximizes the safety of our residents and officers. Whether in policing or any other area, a negative incident nearly always leads to overdue change.
Let’s not wait for a tragedy to prompt a review of our local policing policies and practices. This would be an ideal time to conduct an external review of our police force’s policies on use of force and of its relationship to all of our residents. Perhaps such a review would find no areas for improvement. But perhaps it would result in practical recommendations for how our police department can increase its ability to safely enforce the law and engage with the residents of our rapidly diversifying community. If such a review has been recently completed this is the time to widely disseminate the findings and issue a report on our progress in implementing the recommendations.
colleen_osborne
Hi Jim,
Thank you for sharing the text of your letter! A template is super helpful. I’ll be using this.
With Love and Hope,
Colleen