1. Tonight I had a night that restored my faith in humanity a bit and reminded me not WHY I work all the time for the things I believe in—but what it is I’m fighting for. Follow along for a little feel good if you like.
2. This evening I went to a good friend’s engagement party. I’ve known him for better than a decade and he is among the most loving, loyal, and deep-hearted humans I’ve ever met. That he is at peace and in love with his fiancé fills my heart.
3. Even more than their happiness, though, was the vibe of the room. Everyone there was one of those “take what I have” people I’m always striving to be. The spouses-to-be even met when my friends childhood bestie stayed with his future bride’s mom.
4. Bestie and mom had never met before, but mutual friends introduced them, so, when bestie got off the plane in New Zealand, she just ended up staying with this new family. Because the family had room at their inn and of course that room is for travelers. Of course.
5. Nearly everyone in the room was professionally successful. Nearly everyone was wicked smart and passionate and lovely. But what mattered way more was that everyone had the same, “Of COURSE you should share in what I have” orientation to life.
6. That generosity of soul, that spirit of abundance, I drank it in and felt less thirsty for the things that often distract from the business of doing science for the sake of justice.
7. When it was time to go, I was feeling so good, I decided to take a walk through Central Park to get home. It’s about an hour walk, and given the time of night and the day I’d had, I was getting tired as I approached our apartment.
8. Two blocks away, there were two people struggling with a million bags on cobblestones. I saw that the smaller woman was just too tired to move and the older man (her father?) was nearing the end of his patience. I winced as I walked by.
9. Now, at night, in New York, there was nothing I could do. A stranger walking up and offering to help with your bags? Nah. That’s just creepy, and I had no interest in ending this night with two folks recoiling from my Blackness as I extend a hand.
But then, I changed my mind.
But then, I changed my mind.
10. So I turned around and said, “Excuse me. I know it’s dark and I’m a stranger, but you guys seem like you could use some help with all these bags. I live just over there and...can I help you?”
They spoke in startling unison, a little louder than I think they intended.
“YES!”
They spoke in startling unison, a little louder than I think they intended.
“YES!”
11. They only let me take one bag, but it was enough to let them both traverse the sidewalk. As we rounded the first corner I asked if they’d traveled far that day. “Yes” the father said. “From India. A 16 hour flight and five hours before that. She is starting graduate school.”
12. I was tired from my walk across the PARK and almost passed by these strangers carrying burdens across the WORLD! When I tell you the bag I took for them was LIGHT after I heard that...?
13. I was so grateful that they shared their burden with me—even just one bag of it. That I saw how easy it was to give and how little even a rejection would have hurt me tonight.
14. And, more than that, I was glad for the generosity of the community that reminded me that abundance is the point. It’s not the why for the work I do on racism and policing. But it is what I’m hoping we achieve.
15. So, thank you D&J. And Hirsch & Heer. Y’all were amazing messengers tonight. And I’m glad to be reminded there is evidence that what I work for is possible all around us. /fin
