And sometimes, the most potent moments arrive soaked in the rain and swaddled in something as straightforward as a hoodie. That's the situation that took place the other day. And you know what, I have not been able to get that word out of my mind ever since.
Well, I'm not the sort of person who runs in the rain, do you? But that day, I had to get up and move. I needed to feel something. I'd just grabbed a hoodie from Actively Black, a brand that is about more than threads and logos. To me, they represent empowerment: action, Legacy, and Black excellence wrapped in fabric. So I did; I put on that hoodie and took myself for a walk. Three miles in what was becoming a steady downpour.
A young Black boy, possibly 12 or 13 years old, was standing on the corner, soaking wet but smiling. I didn't hear him at first, earbuds blaring motivation into my soul, but there he was with a sign in yellow writing on white paper. I paused, took the music out of my ears, and asked him to repeat himself. "You want water?"
I said I wasn't carrying any money on me, rookie runner mistake, but before I could complete my sentence, he beamed and said, "Don't worry about it. Take it anyway."
This was no ordinary water bottle, but a genuine one, a reminder. Somewhere amid my running symbolically here, with the hoodie and with the rain, somewhere in the midst of that, running for my safety in life, this young man, when I looked in there after his hands were down like this, that's why I wasn't able to determine his race until probably 12 hours later. Still, when I looked at him and saw him after he went down on the ground, I looked at his hair, his color, and everything, and all I knew when I was looking at him underneath that hoodie was that he was dead." But this young man whose puzzle was made up of gold. No questions asked, love. Just trust the community.
I picked up that water and kept running, my thoughts racing faster than my legs. This is what Juneteenth is supposed to mean.
More than entries to mark up a day. Not merely a footnote to freedom delayed in Galveston, Texas. It's a living thing. A reflection in real-time. A mirror that reflects how we treat each other and show up for each other now, how so often we don't need a reason. It's about how much we love each other in the little things and how we cherish each other in the small, everyday moments. Because of those moments? They matter.
I visited the ATM after that. I was going to go back around and bless that kid, right? But when I arrived, he was gone, having disappeared into the fabric of the neighborhood like a ghost of good intentions. And I must be honest: I was disappointed. I wanted to make sure he knew how much he had affected me. Not because I owed you anything, but because I wanted you to know: there's someone who notices.
But maybe he already knew. Perhaps that was the reproof if that was what he was delivering me. Juneteenth is about freedom, yes. But freedom without unity, without trust, without Black love, that's just noise.
Today, let's consider the power of small acts. A smile. Are you good?"" Nothing better than a cold water bottle on a hot day. Because that's the tissue upon which freedom lives or dies. So much love to Dr. Opal Lee, the Mother of Juneteenth, for reminding us that we are all in the same boat.
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