Ursula

The intersecting catastrophes unspooling all around us don’t offer an escape from reality, but an intensification of it. So we have a choice: (1) Accept this reality. Accept the full toxic soup of conditions we’ve put ourselves in, as well as the thick, messy, profoundly human dramas playing out amidst it. And awaken to the burdens — of grief,

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Every time we allow ourselves and our communities to grieve — for a person, for a season, for a movement, for a dream — we are practicing a politics that refuses disposability. We are rejecting the idea that we can just move on without consequence.

It is time to grieve and mourn the dead and believe in the power of renewal. If we do not embrace our grief, our sadness will come out sideways in unexpected forms of depression and violence.

For fifteen minutes I did not turn away. I wanted to see why I didn’t look. And as I refused to turn away, refused to wear a mask, every reason I had ever avoided people’s gaze surfaced: fear.

Memories emerged. As a teen with braces and acne, I feared looking into someone’s eyes and seeing them see the “imperfection” of my face. As I grew older and... See more