Not My Normal

No, this is not the normal type of post from Leslye's Labyrinth, but I along with most of you live in the United States of America where we just celebrated Juneteenth, and we will exercise our right to vote in November. I have signed up to attend When We All Do Our Part: The Work Ahead to Vote--and Build--Our Future, a training with NETWORK, on Thursday, Jul 11, 2024 at 7pm EDT. Are you free to join me for this hour?  Use this link to sign up.  If you have a schedule conflict, register for the training so that you will receive a recording.

NETWORK educates and lobbies on issues including economic, racial, and social justice at the federal level. It was founded in 1971 by a group of Catholic sisters who witnessed the impact of federal policies on those they served. The sisters and their congregations recognized the value of organizing to educate and lobby at the federal level on the issues negatively impacting the dignity and lives of their constituents. You can learn more about NETWORK on their website. 

Being born into a black body in this nation inevitably leads to questions beginning in childhood. Most of them begin with the simple three-letter word "why". As a six-year-old, I wondered, "Why do I enter the doctor's office from a side door that opens into a small waiting room with no window?" In time, questions would begin with another three-letter word "how". One question long pondered is "How was white supremacy embraced and legislated for so long in a country claiming to celebrate liberty and individual rights?" Like me, NETWORK asks and seeks to find just and equitable answers to important questions.

I will not begin to address my questions today, because I don't have the emotional or spiritual bandwidth to wrestle with them enough to write coherently in this moment. However, the more I mature, the more I see why my parents and others modeled the importance of voting in elections. Exercising this right is one practice that my siblings and I share. Through voting, we participate in our government and we also honor the lives of those who died so that we may have and exercise this right.

Whether you vote in every election, or you have never voted, I do invite you to join me on July 11 and hear from the NETWORK team.

(In full disclosure, I have been honored to serve on NETWORK's Board since 2018, and currently serve as co-chair.)