<\/p>\n
Last Monday, we witnessed Ferguson and other parts of the country descend into chaos following a grand jury\u2019s decision not to indict officer Darren Wilson for the killing of Michael Brown.<\/p>\n
The decision has once again sparked passionate debates on all sides about the growing racial divide, exacerbated by a string of high profile cases of young black lives being extinguished at the hands of white police officers.<\/p>\n
In hearing many of these debates and the various points of view, one thing is clear: our arguments, our points of view, and our cherished opinions fall short. Nobody wins.<\/p>\n
We instinctively understand that America is struggling with a legacy that is much bigger than the particulars of what happened in Ferguson, as important as they are. We understand that the history of slavery and institutional racism casts a long shadow. This history bedevils us no matter how much we try to convince ourselves and others that we live in a \u201cpost-racial\u201d society.<\/p>\n
If we face this uncomfortable reality openly and honestly, we quickly realize how vulnerable we are as a people. Feelings of helplessness and hopelessness can quickly cloud our minds and hearts.<\/p>\n
So, where do we find hope?<\/p>\n
In love.<\/p>\n
I know. Love is the last thing we think of when we see riots in the streets. Love is the last thing on our minds when we see heated exchanges on political talk shows or when we ourselves get caught up in shouting matches. Love is the last thing on our minds when we feel threatened.<\/p>\n
But we must.<\/p>\n
We must love courageously in order to become light in a dark world. We must begin to treat the “other\u201d as we would ourselves or those we love most. This radical love requires us to see what the \u201cother\u201d sees, to feel what the \u201cother\u201d feels. It requires us to become one.<\/p>\n
May the words of Maya Angelou inspire us on this path to courageous love:<\/p>\n
Touched by an Angel<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n We, unaccustomed to courage Love arrives We are weaned from our timidity <\/p>\n Published:<\/strong>\u00a0Mon, 01 Dec 2014 13:11:12 +0000 by\u00a0c.george<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Last Monday, we witnessed Ferguson and other parts of the country descend into chaos following a grand jury\u2019s decision…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2086,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[161],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6082","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-student-announcement-college-related"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chronicle.hvcc.edu\/wpdev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6082","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chronicle.hvcc.edu\/wpdev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chronicle.hvcc.edu\/wpdev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chronicle.hvcc.edu\/wpdev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2086"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chronicle.hvcc.edu\/wpdev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6082"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chronicle.hvcc.edu\/wpdev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6082\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chronicle.hvcc.edu\/wpdev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6082"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chronicle.hvcc.edu\/wpdev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6082"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chronicle.hvcc.edu\/wpdev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6082"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nexiles from delight
\nlive coiled in shells of loneliness
\nuntil love leaves its high holy temple
\nand comes into our sight
\nto liberate us into life.<\/p>\n
\nand in its train come ecstasies
\nold memories of pleasure
\nancient histories of pain.
\nYet if we are bold,
\nlove strikes away the chains of fear
\nfrom our souls.<\/p>\n
\nIn the flush of love’s light
\nwe dare be brave
\nAnd suddenly we see
\nthat love costs all we are
\nand will ever be.
\nYet it is only love
\nwhich sets us free.<\/p>\n