|
Given the recent rise in anti-Asian hate crimes and ongoing anti-Black racism in the US, CERI is cultivating safe space to hear and heal concerns of our communities. We are on a Path to Unity through our Town Hall events. Since August 2020, we have hosted Town Hall events online, engaging 50 to 60 community members each time, to move together towards justice. We encourage dialogue about the painful history of racist violence in the US as well as the power of unity across communities. It is a platform for our community members to speak with unbound honesty and without shame to heal the wounds of our experiences and prejudices. We have heard many community members express the importance of solidarity with Black Lives Matter and we have also heard stories of heartache, fear, anger, and despair. At CERI, we listen without judgement to the nuance and complexity of each story and we invite difference and disagreement, so that together we can authentically find paths of healing, transformation, and accountability. Our Path to Unity Town Hall events started in response to the murder of George Floyd. Though we are hopeful for change when we witness victories, such as the verdict in Derek Chauvin’s case, we remain steadfast as we see voter and gender suppression efforts across the country, devastating impacts of a global pandemic without an equitable global response to distribute vaccines, and state violence around the world, from the US to Palestine to India to Colombia. There is much more work ahead at individual and collective levels to change our hearts, minds and conditions. More work ahead to genuinely embody solidarity and sustain clarity about root causes of our hurt - white supremacy, alienation, and systemic racism. We all deserve a home like CERI where we can do our change work. A place where we get to feel whole and seen in our unique histories of resilience and trauma on the path toward justice.
|
