Sheltered in our homes,
Or going to work, at risk,
For week after week after week,
We’re edgy, tired, a little raw.
We are tender, vulnerable,
Open.
A little more open than usual.

Those of us who are white,
Who, before, might have been distracted
Who, before, might have been too busy
Who, before, might have been preoccupied with our lives,
Are noticing the ways injustice has happened to people of color,
the same way, again and again and again,

Now, we have become aware.
Please, may we be aware.

May we not lose awareness.

May we not get distracted.
May we not turn away.
May we open—really open:

Accepting the invitation to change—
really change,
our minds,
our hearts,
our world.
When we encounter calls to defund the police
When we encounter calls for reparations
When we hear “follow our lead” from people of color
May we listen, may we learn, may we be open...
Even if it means rethinking everything
you thought you knew about the world.
We have, all of us, as humans
An enormous opportunity
To change one of the oldest injustices
In history,
To change everything.
May we stay vulnerable
May we stay tender.
May we take action.

Eyes and hearts and minds,
Open.