Thread by @bopinion

.@FSBarry is driving the Lincoln Highway to discover America.

This week, he finds tragedy, trauma and healing in the Keystone State trib.al/EyXok6f

📍Lancaster, PA

“It doesn't take one man, it takes all of us. So until we actually unite, that's when actual change can happen.”

@FSBarry speaks to protesters in Lancaster, Pennsylvania about police brutality trib.al/EyXok6f

📍York, PA

"We believe that our diversity is a strength, not a weakness. And even though there may be individuals who may not hold to that, I think the majority of Americans do," says Guy Dunham trib.al/EyXok6f

📍Gettysburg, PA
📍Shanksville, PA

West of Gettysburg, the Flight 93 National Memorial sits on 2,200 acres of wildflowers and woods, with a walkway conveying the flight’s path and marble panels commemorating each of the 40 people killed trib.al/EyXok6f

📍Pittsburgh, PA

@FSBarry arrived on the first day of Rosh Hashanah. The central question: How can you celebrate a new year when the old one won’t die, and when breaking bread with family can be impossible?

Yet the Jewish community here has seen worse trib.al/EyXok6f

Pittsburgh’s 10.27 Healing Partnership was formed in the aftermath of the shooting at Tree of Life synagogue that killed 11 people, wounded six, and shook the nation.

The mission is to support those affected by the shooting or any hate-induced trauma trib.al/EyXok6f

Anyone of any religion experiencing any trauma can come talk to a licensed counselor.

The healing and strength that can derive from conversation is also the idea behind a separate effort that grew out of the shooting, the 412 Black Jewish Collaborative trib.al/EyXok6f

One of the topics they focus on is code switching:

“The Black members of the board really walked through, step by step, what it meant for them individually to code switch throughout their life … it’s eye-opening for some of the Jewish members.” trib.al/EyXok6f

Across the street from an abandoned lot in Pittsburgh’s Homewood neighborhood, a community garden planted and worked by teenagers has produced:

🍅Tomatoes
🌽Corn
🫑Peppers
🍆Eggplant
🍉Watermelon
🌱Mint
trib.al/EyXok6f

Throughout the summer, Ayanna Jones talks to her young gardeners about Black history, about Paul E. Williams, Dr. Charles Drew, Garnett Morgan.

“These kids get the opportunity to hear something besides slavery and enslavement” trib.al/EyXok6f

One of her early students was Antwon Rose, a 17-year old who was shot dead by a police officer in 2018.

On the day George Floyd was killed, she said “we sat at the tent and those kids expressed some of the most profound statements, emotions and feelings” trib.al/EyXok6f

“I’ve been a Black Panther, I’ve been in the Black Liberation Army. I have lived through Emmett Till being killed all the way up to George Floyd, and I don’t see any progress.”

But she adds: “I did see participation by White folks that I never saw before” trib.al/EyXok6f

When asked why the killing of George Floyd touched such a nerve with White people, former Philadelphia mayor @Michael_Nutter said:

“I just don’t know that many people have actually watched somebody die” trib.al/EyXok6f

What took so long? Nutter makes two points:

1. The persistence of segregation in housing, education and employment
2. It's difficult to discuss race. “Other than talking about money, there’s possibly nothing more uncomfortable than talking about race” trib.al/EyXok6f

.@Michael_Nutter echoes Jones’s view:

“Here’s the deal: The only people who can really do anything about racism in the U.S. are White people. Black people can’t really do much about that. So they have to decide how much change they’re willing to push for” trib.al/EyXok6f