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Dear Friends,

We had a rally and march last Saturday in DeKalb, IL and again this past Wednesday in Sycamore. IL. I was moved deeply that many hundreds of people showed up from DeKalb, Sycamore, and surrounding communities. And while I would not call the demonstrations peaceful, they were both powerful and justice-driven raising of voices, in anger and in solidarity. People of color led the way, and many allies from different places and communities joined the events in support of racial justice for all, in every sector of our society.

Here are a few pictures from the DeKalb demonstration, and some words from Minneapolis-based artist, author, and liberation leader, Ricardo Levins Morales. Some of you know his work from the Movements as a globally recognized visual artist. Some of you know his work from three of my album covers. Whether or not you know his work, please follow the links below to see images and read his thoughts which are insightful and invaluable.

In Solidarity,

~ Joe Jencks
6-2-20

From Ricardo Levins Morales:

"Note: I was asked by SURJ (Showing Up for Racial Justice – a group which organizes white folks against racism) to write a few paragraphs offering a perspective on white solidarity. It was to open a national organizing conference call. What I wrote follows:

White people are taught that racism is a personal attribute, an attitude, maybe a set of habits. Anti-racist whites invest too much energy worrying about getting it right; about not slipping up and revealing their racial socialization; about saying the right things and knowing when to say nothing. It’s not about that. It’s about putting your shoulder to the wheel of history; about undermining the structural supports of a system of control that grinds us under, that keeps us divided even against ourselves and that extracts wealth, power and life from our communities like an oil company sucks it from the earth.

The names of the euro-descended anti-racist warriors we remember – John Brown, Anne Braden, Myles Horton – are not those of people who did it right. They are of people who never gave up. They kept their eyes on the prize – not on their anti-racism grade point average.

This will also be the measure of your work. Be there. No one knows how to raise a child but we do it anyway. We don’t get it right. The essential thing is that we don’t give up and walk away. Don’t get me wrong. It is important to learn and improve and become wise in the ways of struggle – or of parenting. But that comes with time. It comes after the idea of not being in the struggle no longer seems like an option.

One more thing. You may not get the validation you hunger for. Stepping outside of the smoke and mirrors of racial privilege is hard, but so is living within the electrified fences of racial oppression – and no one gets cookies for that. The thing is that when you help put out a fire, the people whose home was in flames may be too upset to thank and praise you – especially when you look a lot like the folks who set the fire. That’s OK. This is about something so much bigger than that.

There are things in life we don’t get to do right. But we do get to do them."

~ Ricardo Levins Morales