John Lewis Memorial

We continue to build great things. On Thursday of last week, we honored John Lewis with flowers, song, reflection, and coalition building. I’m certain that we made him proud, and through your efforts, we played an important role in the civic life of Decatur. People stopped by to see what we were doing, joined in our songs, and even came back later to bring flowers and remembrances of their own. I stopped by the statue a few times in the coming days to clean it up and make sure that the display remained worthy of the recipient, and at one point, one of the city officials said that Decatur was lucky to have me around. That’s the wrong way around – I feel extremely lucky to be here in a community capable of responding with this kind of compassion and energy in a moment that could easily be defined by darkness and silence. As much as this moment needs grit and determination, it also needs joy, and community, and hope. I will continue to push us all to be that deeply needed light in our streets so that we can continue to rethink and reframe what activism and governance can look like.