Peace and love, John, it's Jamaal Bowman.
I hope you and your loved ones had a safe, restful Thanksgiving yesterday.
I wanted to take a quick moment to talk about something that I've been thinking about this week along with folks in my district and community: healing.
As a member of Congress, an educator, and a human being, I have seen and understand the importance of healing. This week, I was honored to lead our community through a series of events over two days focusing on Healing in Action and Healing in Conversation.
Healing doesn't exist in a vacuum, and it doesn't happen alone. Conversation is a critical component to the healing process — and this week's events specifically set aside time to uplift these opportunities within our district, and to directly hear from my constituents on how we can best support their healing.
I also shared some of the policy-level changes that were going to be happening within our district to prioritize healing and combat violence. In partnership with Governor Hochul, I was able to share the results of our months-long collaboration to address violence and other related issues by supporting local organizations throughout our district, so that we can stop violence before it occurs.
As I reflect back on this week, I feel grateful. I learned a lot about members of my own community and district, and I want to thank those folks for showing up and giving their time. The dialogue we were able to have, on a personal level as well as a policy-level, will help to heal our community. All of this will make way for mutual understanding, learning, compassion, and empathy — and with all of that comes progress.
I'm hopeful to continue these conversations, and to continue to prioritize healing, listening, and attentiveness in my relationships, and in my work.
Thank you for listening. Peace and love.
Jamaal
