Tonight as Jon and I sat down to dinner, we heard the news that Michael Chavin was convicted of killing George Floyd.
As I listened to the crowds of people outside the courthouse celebrating the verdict, I could feel their emotion. I knew this was an important trial, but now I was feeling just how important.
It was stunning. I still can’t express exactly what I’m feeling. I’m still processing it.
On June 2nd 2020, I stitched an image on my Corona Kimono of a woman wearing a facemask with the words I Can’t Breathe on it at a protest over the killing of George Floyd.
I later questioned if protests made a difference when I joined a Black Lives Matter protest in our small Upstate NY town of mostly white people.
The protests, of course, weren’t the only thing to bring about such an unprecedented change, but I know they helped make me aware of racism in a way I hadn’t been before. I imagine they did the same for others.
But in the conviction and the words of Kamala Harris and Joe Biden, I did get a sense of a cautious hope for our country.
I can’t really imagine an America without racism. I think because it’s always been there and to me felt like it always would be.
I don’t know what it would feel like even inside of myself. Because I live with the biases I have learned throughout my life, even if I am constantly questioning and trying to rid myself of them.
But tonight, for the first time, I thought it might actually be possible. Maybe not in my lifetime, but someday.
