From the Founder:

Welcome to Edition No. 7 of Just a Moment in Now.

Time for significant, genuine change. In our previous issue, I wrote...

We are not alone, however, in this isolation. We are collectively fighting simultaneously as an entire planet.

The fight is against racism now. No more pausing. Now, already.

Summer is here. Coronavirus is still out there. The spread of Covid-19 is currently on the rise in many states here in the United States and in other parts of the world as we patiently or impatiently try to reopen society. But we have an even bigger force to tackle which started long before any 21st century pandemic.

I think about what my daughter and all children are facing ahead of them. This time in their lives will be marked with intense stories, historical events and overdue drastic change for social justice and humanity.

I am hopeful that outrage will lead to long term positive policy making for a less discriminating and more accepting community. We can find some peace after chaos. Love over hate.

Let's move forward, one day at a time. While paying attention, participating in whatever moves us so we can help move others, remembering to find the moments that matter - be here, now.

More than ever, many of us are finding ways to see loved ones especially now that there's more time spent at home and longing for personal connection with stay-at-home measures back in place. Whatever the means if possible, however, wherever, we are grateful for those simple moments of bonding. And if lucky enough to have a bubble to isolate with like I did with family one summer birthday weekend, enjoy celebrating togetherness all while we push for racial equality, fairness and amity.

Please continue to stay safe and take care of yourselves and others.

All the best,
Helen
Two More Minutes, Inc.

JAM now Helen whusband — Helen w/hubby, Jeremy 6/25/20

Cover photo by Maxar

Now

Compassion into action

The work of active anti-racism is not finite. Progress shouldn't stop if or when current protests and intelligible anger subdue. Our efforts must continue to move forward and produce actual change. We want to turn our compassion into action. One important issue we've discussed here at JAM when trying to wrap our heads around what to do is voting rights. Read below to learn who is supporting the cause to fix and where to begin.

This moment feels different.

After months of staying at home during the pandemic, it seemed like things were slowly opening and we were just going back to business as usual, nothing changed even though the fractures in the system were made so visible during and by these times.

Now, beginning with George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, Oluwatoyin Salau, Tony McDade, Elijah McCain, and the long list of names stretching forward and backward, with the people marching on the streets to say this is enough, maybe, maybe, things are changing.

JAM now street window art — Boarded local businesses becoming canvases for beautiful street art in Venice, CA

One couldn’t have happened without the other. It is because we’ve all been at home, isolated from one another and craving connection, because we’ve been out of work, with plenty of time to think and now time to act, maybe, maybe, things are changing.

As the memes say, we began quarantine by baking banana bread, now we’re abolishing the police.

Ideas that were ‘radical’ are becoming mainstream – Black Lives Matter (not radical at all), defund the police, restorative justice, prison abolition, banning the Confederate flag, it’s not enough to be non-racist, we must be anti-racist.

These times have made clear the connections between everything: systemic racism, the unequal effects of the pandemic and climate change, public health and who receives healthcare, employment and who is considered an “essential” worker and how we treat them, even the physical structure of our cities and neighborhoods.

What happens now? How do we stop reacting and start shifting the system that created these problems? How do we make bail bond funds irrelevant and protesting unnecessary? How do we help enact change, how do we create the world in which we want to live?

JAM now vote screenshot — Screenshot from Election Protection at 866ourvote.org

Pick your battles. One issue that we can invest in is voting rights. It’s not enough to vote or tell people to vote when we have gerrymandering, voter rolls being purged, polling locations being closed. Some organizations working on voting rights issues: League of Women Voters, Fair Fight, Election Protection. Volunteer to be a poll worker! Or a poll monitor!

Doing the work doesn’t have to feel like work. Read books by women and people of color for the pleasure of it! These are the books on our summer reading list, all released in the last couple of months:

Brit Bennet, The Vanishing Half
Alexandra Chang, Days of Distraction
Megha Majumdar, A Burning
Wayétu Moore, The Dragons, the Giant, the Women: A Memoir
Andre Leon Talley, The Chiffon Trenchies: A Memoir
C Pam Zhang, How Much of These Hills is Gold

And buy books from your local independent bookstore! Or if you’re looking for a one-stop shop, try www.bookshop.org which supports independent bookstores.

Written by Krystal Chang

Now

Compassion into action

Contributors