Sheltering at home transitions into social justice action: Mary Jane Brewer - cleveland.com

sanirbanir.blogspot.com

MEDINA, Ohio -- During the coronavirus sheltering-at-home period decreed by Gov. Mike DeWine, I wrote nine stories for the Sun newspaper describing the “sheltered lives” of me, my husband and our three children’s families.

When the restrictions were relaxed and I thought life would return to something resembling pre-virus life, I decided to stop writing about us and go back to writing feature stories about Medina County.

But the past two weeks have been so unusual, I decided to write about how life for the Brewer family is still not back to “normal.” With the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police on May 25, news -- both print and broadcast -- switched from seemingly endless commentary about COVID-19 to seemingly endless news about protests taking place all around the country.

All of our family members are faced with news kinds of decisions. Instead of staying home and deciding what TV show to watch or which puzzle to solve, now we’re faced with potentially life-altering decisions: Should we go to the grocery store, play golf, play tennis, go out to newly opened restaurants and, while there, eat indoors or out.

Or whether to make our voices heard when it comes to racism and social justice, at home and across the United States.

Our Columbus granddaughters, Autumn and Izzy, faced the decision of whether to participate in a protest organized and attended completely by high school students. Adam and Sarah, their parents, had to decide whether or not to allow them to take the risk of being threatened by violence and by exposure to COVID-19.

The girls decided to take part; their parents decided to allow them.

Our son-in-law, Adam Novak, posted a moving description of the protest on his Facebook page. I’m sharing portions of it:

“Leading up to the protest, my daughters were committed to attending and I was committed to letting them, but with all that I’ve seen this week, I couldn’t shake the apprehension that I felt for their safety," he wrote.

Adam drove the girls to the site of the protest, then followed the march from a discreet distance.

He continued: “Left to themselves, these kids chanted, shared stories, made their voices heard to anyone who would listen, and marched. They marched for miles, they directed traffic themselves, they cheered shop owners who were painting inspirational messages on the boards they were putting over their windows, they handed out water and sunscreen to those who needed it, they had in-depth discussions with state troopers who engaged with them, and despite not being threatened with tear gas, not a single piece of property was damaged and not a single piece of litter (that I could see) was left behind.

"It was beautiful and moving and powerful for those who witnessed it; I teared up multiple times.

“Did they accomplish anything? They appeared on the news, in brief bits, that I’m sure were quickly drowned out by the thousandth replaying of the clip of someone throwing a bike through a window. Despite what we teach, peacefulness does not hold our attention.

"Regardless of the overall impact, I have immense respect for what these kids did and what they are trying to accomplish. This generation has my keen interest; they have an emotional depth and empathy that my generation can’t come close to matching.

"I’m excited to see where they will take us in the future, if we can just hold things together long enough for them to get the chance to lead.”

I’m proud of our granddaughters for participating and proud of Adam for writing such an eloquent description.

My husband, Phil, and I attended protests here in Medina and were impressed by the peaceful demonstrations, the sheer numbers of participants and the quiet support of the police. The racial mix of protesters looked like America.

We were a bit concerned by the number of people who did not wear face masks or attempt to maintain a safe distance from other protesters in this era of coronavirus precautions.

We have both opted to join our friends in outdoor activities. We are golfing; we both have decided to ride solo in our golf carts, even when we have to pay extra for the privilege.

My tennis friends and I are playing outdoors at the high school courts. We are careful to use hand sanitizer before and during our matches, we open new balls each time we play, and we don’t touch balls from other courts.

I find that after having played tennis indoors for 20 years, I am very easily distracted by clouds, birds flying overhead, an ant crawling by my feet or wind blowing. I love the interaction with friends I haven’t seen since March, and I find I’m acquiring a tan.

Read more from the Medina Sun.

Let's block ads! (Why?)

"social" - Google News
June 13, 2020 at 01:28AM
https://ift.tt/2UFyHhD

Sheltering at home transitions into social justice action: Mary Jane Brewer - cleveland.com
"social" - Google News
https://ift.tt/38fmaXp
https://ift.tt/2WhuDnP

Bagikan Berita Ini