Listen to our hearts beat

I breathe

I breathe with you

I breathe next to you

Not for you

I hold the space for you to breathe

I am listening

I pass the mic

I shield your body with mine if needed

I share my skills and resources in order to support you

I speak up against everyday racism with my family, colleagues and neighbors

When I think this may be minor, I speak up anyway

I remember that NO is a full sentence

I breathe into my own power to change

I acknowledge my own suffering from white supremacy

I acknowledge the harm I have caused for other people and myself

I breathe

When I am upset, anxious and sad, I am aware with whom I share my feelings

I vow to do the work to stay grounded enough to know what to do and not cause more harm

I learned how to speak when I am tired

I will learn how to speak when I am afraid.*

I read Angela Davis, bell hooks and Audre Lorde

I support Black artists and businesses

I breathe

I breathe with you

I breathe next to you

Not for you

I hold the space for you to breathe

I fight by your side

Your breath is my breath is your breath is your fight is my fight

Is our fight for liberation

I let go of the illusion that we are separate from each other

However

I acknowledge the reality that this system divides us

I acknowledge the reality that this system kills Black people and privileges white people

I acknowledge that we are one in our dignity AND live in a reality that denies Black people this dignity

I know I can hold multitudes

I know that this reality was created and we recreate it in every moment we stay silent

I know my creative power

I know we have the power to create a just society

I breathe into my own power to change

I breathe into creating what I want to see in the world

I know the power of truth

I know the power of art

I know the power of love

I live what I wish to see in the future

I speak through my actions and power in words

I commit to learning about myself and listen to other people’s experiences

I carry the love I need to transform

I trust

We carry the love we need to transform

I trust

In each step

Each breath

I hear our hearts beat

BLACK LIVES MATTER.

*inspired by Audre Lordes “the transformation of silence into language and action”, Sister Outsider, 1984, (remembered through br. Pháp Hải’s Dharma talk on youtube, 31.05.2020)