This is one of your best pieces of writing. It is filled with the painful realities of a world numb to empathy and compassion, yet you firmly stand within it to teach. As painful as it was to read, just as our world is painful every day, the mention of Assata Shakur propelled me to order her books. Thank you for that…still and always so much to learn. Keep writing. Your voice and perspective are an important part of the liberation that most of us desire…💙
So powerful -- thank you. This especiallly "t’s not enough to teach someone how to feel; they need to know what to do with that feeling. How does empathy move from the heart to the hands?"
Thanks for this moving and entirely true post, Frederick.
I wish I knew the answers to these questions you pose. So many of us are looking for these answers.
"It’s not enough to teach someone how to feel; they need to know what to do with that feeling. How does empathy move from the heart to the hands? How does it become action, something sharp enough to cut through the vines of indifference that choke the air we breathe? What is empathy if it doesn’t come with a consequence for those who refuse to change?"
Absolutely beautiful and powerful writing. So grateful to have read it. Thank you so much from the bottom of my heart and soul. May we all make it so or at least die trying.
Your humble and so well written words take us from the personal to the greater crime of what has been done in the US to an even larger crime of what is taking place on the world stage. Thank you so much for expressing this so well.
I wrote to my friend Obie on death row Tuesday morning, aware that the state of Missouri would murder Marcellus Williams that day, as Texas would murder Travis Mullis, a white man who declined any further appeals due to his culpability. I think of Adam Foss, the prosecutor who spoke at a Restorative Justice conference I attended in 2018 who, as a Black man in the USA, introduced himself as an endangered species. Your essay elucidates the taxonomy he offered. I spend a lot of time facilitating restorative learning circles in jail, where we talk about compassion and empathy and accountability and while I am deeply moved by the accountability those of us in circle take, I am aware of all of the people who prop up the systems and the institutions that refuse any accountability for the death, oppression, and violations of dignity perpetrated daily.
I deeply appreciate what you wrote, and I understand that you had to write it, even though you may not have wanted to have to write it one more time. I agree that words alone will not dismantle anything nor will empathy unaided by action. I do believe that our words can stir empathy and I pray our bodies can ignite action.
I would never pretend to fully understand, as a white man who has known the privilege, but I do feel some of the weight you've so painfully, poignantly and powerfully described. Thank you for this heavy and touching piece.
Poignant and breathtaking. You've written something that reads like poetry and haunts the reader. And you are so right-- we must do more than just simply watching and yet I am also reminded that when we bear witness and speak out and use our voices, we acknowledge those who have endured and toiled in the struggle. Thank you for your words. I believe they will be a part of the chorus that moves more of us to action.
I read recently that fertilization occurs in the dark, like a seed underground or a fetus in the womb, and that we should honor the dark period as it precedes what will emerge. It has been centuries of pain and holding death as you hauntingly, beautifully describe.
May the collective humanity emerge united through empathy and understanding toward organized, fearless action and accountability. 🖤🤎.
Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for capturing with such eloquence and grace what I couldn’t find the words to say. Your profound humanity helps shine the light forward for all of us.
This is one of your best pieces of writing. It is filled with the painful realities of a world numb to empathy and compassion, yet you firmly stand within it to teach. As painful as it was to read, just as our world is painful every day, the mention of Assata Shakur propelled me to order her books. Thank you for that…still and always so much to learn. Keep writing. Your voice and perspective are an important part of the liberation that most of us desire…💙
Thank you 🖤
So powerful -- thank you. This especiallly "t’s not enough to teach someone how to feel; they need to know what to do with that feeling. How does empathy move from the heart to the hands?"
Thanks for this moving and entirely true post, Frederick.
I wish I knew the answers to these questions you pose. So many of us are looking for these answers.
"It’s not enough to teach someone how to feel; they need to know what to do with that feeling. How does empathy move from the heart to the hands? How does it become action, something sharp enough to cut through the vines of indifference that choke the air we breathe? What is empathy if it doesn’t come with a consequence for those who refuse to change?"
You 'put to pen' the thoughts in my heart. Thank you. We feel, we love, we are not divided. We ARE united. I FEEL IT EVERYWHERE!!!!!
No matter how much the bastards try to divide us. That only works on the NPC people.
Absolutely beautiful and powerful writing. So grateful to have read it. Thank you so much from the bottom of my heart and soul. May we all make it so or at least die trying.
Your humble and so well written words take us from the personal to the greater crime of what has been done in the US to an even larger crime of what is taking place on the world stage. Thank you so much for expressing this so well.
I wrote to my friend Obie on death row Tuesday morning, aware that the state of Missouri would murder Marcellus Williams that day, as Texas would murder Travis Mullis, a white man who declined any further appeals due to his culpability. I think of Adam Foss, the prosecutor who spoke at a Restorative Justice conference I attended in 2018 who, as a Black man in the USA, introduced himself as an endangered species. Your essay elucidates the taxonomy he offered. I spend a lot of time facilitating restorative learning circles in jail, where we talk about compassion and empathy and accountability and while I am deeply moved by the accountability those of us in circle take, I am aware of all of the people who prop up the systems and the institutions that refuse any accountability for the death, oppression, and violations of dignity perpetrated daily.
I deeply appreciate what you wrote, and I understand that you had to write it, even though you may not have wanted to have to write it one more time. I agree that words alone will not dismantle anything nor will empathy unaided by action. I do believe that our words can stir empathy and I pray our bodies can ignite action.
Incredibly devastating TRUTH.
I would never pretend to fully understand, as a white man who has known the privilege, but I do feel some of the weight you've so painfully, poignantly and powerfully described. Thank you for this heavy and touching piece.
Poignant and breathtaking. You've written something that reads like poetry and haunts the reader. And you are so right-- we must do more than just simply watching and yet I am also reminded that when we bear witness and speak out and use our voices, we acknowledge those who have endured and toiled in the struggle. Thank you for your words. I believe they will be a part of the chorus that moves more of us to action.
Truly powerful and beautifully written. Thank you for sharing!
I read recently that fertilization occurs in the dark, like a seed underground or a fetus in the womb, and that we should honor the dark period as it precedes what will emerge. It has been centuries of pain and holding death as you hauntingly, beautifully describe.
May the collective humanity emerge united through empathy and understanding toward organized, fearless action and accountability. 🖤🤎.
💔
Thank you for articulating what I cannot…I’m crying as I write this. These tears feel eternal…
My brother. How we are all having the same nightmare? What are our bodies trying to tell us? I’m struggling to dream.
Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for capturing with such eloquence and grace what I couldn’t find the words to say. Your profound humanity helps shine the light forward for all of us.