I’m hopeful.
We’re stuck in a pandemic, I’m wanting so badly to be with my family and friends back home. Wanting to hug them. I survived living in Brooklyn, the epicenter of coronavirus. We will be reopening society here in a little over a week. We made it through a crisis. Now Minneapolis in the epicenter of a civil rights movement at a scale we haven’t seen before, and it’s long overdue.
This is not just a protest anymore. It’s a war. Minneapolis police is run by white supremacists, and this needs to be fixed. The Ku Klux Klan has moved in, attempting to pillage and destroy everything, trying to blame black and brown people for their actions, tearing apart and burning the city. They have met their match. Citizens have been forced to stand with their communities and bond together to save their businesses and homes every night and clean up what’s left in the morning. How very Minnesotan. We’ve also made it clear that we’re not going to let George Floyd’s death go. New York is with you. LA is with you. We’re all fighting this fight together now.
The government has failed us. Police have stepped aside, allowing the city to burn. Trump tweets, his good old boys and clansmen descend on the city on the drop of a dime. We won’t stand for it anymore. 2020 is the year to vote out the problem, and protest until we get justice.
I could never have predicted that two of the most devastating and impactful events of my life would occur in two of my favorite cities in the same damn year, exposing systematic flaws and gaping wounds that have needed fixing for generations. Please be safe out there, friends. Take care of your neighbors, fight for your businesses, and remember: we’re making change happen every day. It’s a time for justice, reform, equality and empathy.
For over two months I was convinced that COVID was going to kill me. I woke up to horror dreams of being intubated in an ICU. I’m still here, and no matter how scary this time feels, you’re still here too. I promise things will work out for us. George Floyd was not so lucky. We must remember his name, and fight to prevent this from happening again. #justiceforgeorgefloyd