Thank you, everyone. I've been crazy busy this week on top of all that is happening, so I haven't had much of a chance to chip in with the efforts to come together with the community, clean up, etc. I did sneak in a walk down to the ballpark yesterday (two blocks from my studio) to witness (from afar, through the gates) the first few innings of the history-making first MLB baseball game ever to be held with no spectators.
I encourage everyone who is paying attention to the media coverage to take it with a grain of salt. There is an element of national media here who are reporting things in a sensationalized way. They focus on anything that burns or bleeds, and gloss over the huge outpouring of support and unity that many people are showing in the face of crisis. I have friends who work in independent, local, and national media, so I don't want to paint all of the media with the same brush, but it's striking to me to see the amazing videos my friends are posting of HUGE crowds of peaceful demonstrations of all races and socioeconomic backgrounds, while a major news network runs the same 10 minute loop of video of a building burning and someone throwing rocks. There is more going on here than that. I am touched and amazed to see that other cities have picked up on the demonstrations in solidarity. I hope that all of these gatherings are peaceful and get news coverage for the right reasons.
I don't condone the actions of the people who have destroyed property or caused injury. But this didn't happen overnight, it's been a long time coming. And all the national guard tanks in the world won't do a thing to solve the root cause of the destruction and despair. I hope we can all work together to make this better. It goes very deep in our society and will take an enormous commitment.
