Dear Friends,
Each day, we are moving deeper into the unknown. As the death toll from the pandemic reaches nearly 15,000 in the United States, disproportionately killing black people, we are entering collective suffering unprecedented in living memory.
Grieving together is an act of revolutionary love.
But how do we grieve together when we must be physically distant? How do we awaken to what this pandemic is uncovering about racism, inequality, and vulnerability? How do we grieve loss in a way that creates new possibilities both now and for our future?
I invite you to join us in our second Virtual Gathering on Thursday, April 16, at 5PM Pacific. I will be joined by Professor Melissa Canlas, Director of Education at the Revolutionary Love Project. Together, we will explore these questions, orient to this historical moment, read from my forthcoming book SEE NO STRANGER, and engage in a live Q&A. Click here to register.
You are invited to our second Virtual Gathering on Thursday, April 16th. Valarie will orient us to the historical moment, read an excerpt, lead a practice on grieving as an act of revolutionary love, and host a live Q&A. We encourage you to pre-order SEE NO STRANGER: A Memoir and Manifesto of Revolutionary Love. All are welcome.
We kicked off these virtual gatherings when my book SEE NO STRANGER was announced for all who pre-ordered the book. (You can pre-order here!) Now, as we reel from the pandemic, we believe this book offers medicine for this time and opened these virtual gatherings to all.
In our first gathering last month, hundreds of you joined us as we explored how we summon our deepest wisdom during massive upheaval and transition. Our hour together was powerful, affirming, and life-giving. Watch the first virtual gathering for free here.
We were overwhelmed by your response after our first gathering — and we have heard your hunger for more. So each day at 1pm Pacific Time, I host a 30 minute daily practice in revolutionary love on Facebook and Instagram Live to breathe, reflect, and support one another. You can find me on Facebook and on Instagram.
You are not alone. We are in this together.
Valarie
- See viral photo of Georgia healthcare workers heading to New York to serve on the frontlines.
- Everyone has a role in this crisis, learn more about yours.
- Read encouraging wisdom in how to be with our children in this time of crisis.
- Be inspired by 7-year old Zohaib Begg who donated 6000 PPE items to his local hospital.
- Watch this community throw a social-distance welcome home party for a 15 year-old who completed her final chemotherapy session.
-
- Demand Congress provide funding for PPE items needed to protect healthcare workers.
- Prevent a prison pandemic and protect the 2.3 million persons incarcerated in our country.>
- Offer rent relief for immigrant families most in need.
- America’s people living in poverty need our solidarity now more than ever. Support the Poor People’s Campaign’s moral agenda.
- Demand Congress provide funding for PPE items needed to protect healthcare workers.
DACA recipients are on the frontlines of the #COVID-19 pandemic, ask the Supreme Court to delay its decision on whether or not to end the program.
The Revolutionary Love Project envisions a world where love is a public ethic and shared practice in our lives and politics. We generate stories, tools, and thought leadership to equip people to practice the ethic of love in the fight for social justice.