A day to sleep in, join in a Juneteenth rally at the Civic Center and then get a little almost normal time... a little physically distanced outdoor get-together at Maureen's house. Good to see Dave and Ken too. Her place is lovely and we were able to sit outdoors far enough apart to be comfortable, but close enough to feel festive.
Being downtown for the rally felt important. Important to acknowledge and witness and put our voices in there. There were moving speeches, musical offerings from young artists and heartfelt chanting. Everyone in the crowd was masked, and being careful and considerate of distance, and there was even a guy wearing a huge red heart as a cape walking through the crowd with a spray bottle of hand sanitizer.
Willi is now having a nice long video chat with his brother Kip and sister-in-law Taylor and their newborn baby, McCrea. So sweet to hear them talk about the birth and the intimate "sacred mundane" miracle of life and being human.
Tomorrow we are doing some recipe testing and photographing of the menu offerings for our collaboration with SF Oasis next week, for Meals on Heels PRIDE edition. If you want to join that pop-up meals & drinks event, check out sfoasis.com!
I hope that you all have found ways to commemorate Juneteenth. If you would like some ideas of how to further your inquiry and excavation of privilege and bias, here are a few ideas that were sent to me by Oakland School for the Arts today.
1. Research Black history and culture. There is so much to learn and appreciate! Celebrate all of the incredible contributions that Black Americans have made to this country and to the world.
2. Support Black-owned businesses and advocacy organizations.
3. Be an ACTIVE ally by confronting bias in your home, office, classroom and community. Have the difficult conversation without hesitation.
4. Understand your own privilege and use it to invite underrepresented voices to the table.
5. Reach out to your friends, colleagues and neighbors who are experiencing the emotional toll of racism. Use language with love, care and intention. Words matter! Make your words ones of affirmation.
Here’s a link to resources from National Museum of African American History:
https://nmaahc.si.edu/events/juneteenth
Our menu for next week is below. Orders for Monday should be placed by Saturday night/Sunday morning.
Take good care of yourselves, get good rest when you need it, find gratitude and hope in the shifts that happening, and bolster your strength, commitment and resilience for the continued fight. Sending you all a hug from me. xoxo