John --
More often than not, it feels like our pain is inescapable.
We turn on the news and see our people dying in hospitals. We refresh our Twitter timelines and see our people being lynched on the streets. And we open our eyes and experience racism wherever we are -- from the grassroots protests to reopen our country all the way up to the hate being spouted from the presidential podium.
This is the way we have survived for centuries. Our pain is nothing new, but over the past couple of months, it often feels amplified as we are being hit from all sides.
Black Lives Matter South Bend’s Dé Bryant, Ph.D, grappled with this feeling -- and how to cope with it in her new opinion piece.
Her message to “Challenge yourself to keep heading forward, but not at the expense of your health, sanity, or well-being,” is more important than ever. Read her post on Medium right now, and share it on social media to help remind our friends and family to take care of themselves during this difficult time.
While our individual strategies for self-care are unique, we are still bound to each other through our pain and our struggle, Dr. Dé Bryant reminds us.
So while we may navigate some of our pain alone, we navigate much of it together. She urges us all to take the time to rest, revive, and rejuvenate and then to come back and reconnect -- whether that’s through organizing and activism or through friendship and music.
There is pain -- but there is still joy. And we can better serve ourselves and the movement if we find that joy and celebrate it.
Now, more than ever, we need to take care of ourselves and remind our loved ones to do the same. Read BLM South Bend’s new opinion piece about self-care right now, and share it with friends and family.
Take care of yourselves -- whatever that means for you.
In love and solidarity,
Black Lives Matter Global Network
