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Hello, Saturday.
Today I’m enjoying chilling out and lying on the couch. But like so many of you, I am processing the events of the last week.
My heartache and outrage over the death of George Floyd this week feels overwhelming, as it does for so many others. It is particularly traumatizing on top of the data showing that people of color are at significantly higher risk for infection and death from COVID-19.
And of course this is along with other continued attacks on people of color, particularly African-Americans. News this week about the attacks on Christian Cooper is compounded by deaths of Ahmaud Arbery in February and of Breonna Taylor in March and so many more deaths and attacks that don’t even make the news.
While the problems can seem insurmountable, this is the very moment not to be complacent. It’s not enough to be angry. It’s not enough to feel sad and dismayed.
On this beautiful day here in DC, I only ask that you consider what you will do. For me today, it’s talking about racism and what I can do. It’s enlisting my family, friends, and colleagues to speak up, too. It’s about crying and holding my children—and wanting so badly for George Floyd’s mother to hold her son today, too.
Pictured here is the partially-finished painting that my son Henry is working on today. It captures the joyful goal-winning moment between him and his teammates that happened only because of hard work, unity, and dedication to one another.
This painting reminds me that each of us plays a part in life’s traumas and victories, large and small. And that it’s less about scoring the goal than it is about how we get there together.
P.S. In keeping with this conversation, I’ve invited my friend and OBGYN Amanda Calhoun (Williams), MD to talk about the pandemic and its disproportionate effect on people of color. We will convene on Facebook LIVE on Tuesday June 9 at 2 pm ET. In the meantime, I invite any of you dear readers who have had firsthand experience to share your stories here if you are comfortable.