The others (2015 & 2016) have been heart-wrenching (including just yesterday) but this one is feeling deeply personal. The shooting was miles from my home. It took place in a location where I spent lots of time as a student at Hamline. Just after college a good friend lived in the apartment building where outside the shooting happened.
This stretches my human capacity for empathy. I’ll never know what it is like – but no one is served by disconnecting (and privilege is reified by disconnection).This is why I watch all these videos. And why I won’t post it here and re-traumatize those already traumatized. If I looked like the victim(s) – I imagine I would be freaking out. If my daughters did – I literally don’t know what I would do. I imagine I would certainly be considering leveraging my class privilege to move to another country. Seriously. I don’t know how friends and colleagues of color managed commuting to work this morning. Or the drive home. Or to the grocery store. Or…everything.
I had some strange conversations with my daughters this morning, but none of them were about my survival or theirs.
