HP, you have, every so often, sent me such kind small notes that you are a light in the sometimes deep dark. I am pretty good at navigating it, but there are moments, and we all have them, when the world's ills eat us alive. Last night, as I am fond of doing, I rewatched one of my favorite Tom Hanks movies, The Green Mile. John Coffey really speaks to how it feels to be the target of such hate. I am not Black, which makes this a very different journey. But especially when I stand with my Black brothers and sisters I line up against the same firing squad wall. I will do that unflinchingly. Coffey says, especially when Paul (Hanks' character) has terrible difficulty knowing he is about to put one of the Creator's greatest miracles to death, that it is a kindness.

That's a potent message, HP. I am likely to write about it too. For that movie came out before we all went so crazy. Ugliness has always been there, but now we all have ways to wield it to hurt others. I do care about the state of all of us. That is the problem. I do care. I don't care about the hate that individuals are willing to wield, but I most certainly care about what that says about the collective pain we carry and how far we are from our humanity. Thank you so kindly. Here for you as best as I can be.