Dear Readers,

I am saddened and dismayed at the events that unfolded on Saturday in Charlottesville.

I am not surprised because since Trump has taken office, there has been one atrocity after another. It’s so easy for me to type that and dismiss it like it’s this annoying fly that won’t go away because of my white privilege. Let’s go ahead and deal with the elephant in the room. This white woman is writing about racism even though she has never experienced it herself.

I can’t say I understand what my friends who are not white are going through because I don’t know. I only know they are in pain, so anyone reading this who is in pain, please hear me. “I am with you, you are not alone and I see you”

No, I don’t know your pain, how could I possibly? I am not you.

Saying that isn’t enough, not nearly enough, there needs to be action behind the words, so that we can all love each other a little bit more and pump more kindness into the world.

So, that’s a tall order and I know you must be thinking, but Jennifer, I am one person what can I do? A lot actually. You can stop looking at your phone and look up at people when you are in the elevator, you can talk to your neighbor, yeah I am aware it’s 2017 and “this just isn’t done” Do it anyway. If you know your neighbors, you are already on your way to strengthening your community, then once you meet your neighbors, hold a block party and get to know your neighborhood and so on…

Do you have a church you love? Find out what your church is doing to help people of different races feel safe and protected. If they aren’t doing something, ask them why and volunteer to start it yourself. Don’t wait for someone else to speak up, use YOUR voice, and say, I want to help.

There is no need to reinvent the wheel, if you look around in your city, county and district, you can likely plug into something someone else is doing.

Standing against it, is just one step. When you see it happening, you have to say something. You have to stand and be counted on the right side of history.

When it comes to teaching our little girl about people who are different than she is, I plan to tell her, love all people and do your best to be a helper to all people.   That’s my opening salvo, I am open to other things to say, much more eloquent than that, so please if you have suggestions, lay them on me. In the meantime, I am not just writing or talking, I am doing something.

The revolution is what’s next. I am ready to act. Are you?

The truth is, the tagline of my blog is “No one has a voice like you” and it’s true, no one does. No one tells your stories exactly the same way you do, and has your life experiences that add to the color and flavor of your story.

Own that story (as Brene Brown tells us) and keep listening to other people tell theirs and don’t try to cut them off with sympathy because you FEEL uncomfortable. Be there, be uncomfortable.

Don’t wait for this atrocity to happen in your city.

ACT. ACT NOW.