My kid’s school is going mask-optional indoors in April and now I don’t know if I’m going to sleep any time soon because I’m freaking out.
I’m freaked out because I’m in multiple high risk categories and my mom is in all the same ones as me PLUS she has leukemia & is undergoing chemo. But I hate the idea of telling my kid he has to mask even if his friends don’t.
I acknowledge that I live and work on unceded Lumbee, Skaruhreh/Tuscarora, Cheraw, Catawba, Saponi, Occaneechi, and Shakori land. I give respect and reverence to those who came before me. I thank Holisticism for the text of this land acknowledgement.
We must acknowledge that much of what we know of this country today, including its culture, economic growth, and development throughout history and across time, has been made possible by the labor of enslaved Africans and their ascendants who suffered the horror of the transatlantic trafficking of their people, chattel slavery, and Jim Crow. We are indebted to their labor and their sacrifice, and we must acknowledge the tremors of that violence throughout the generations and the resulting impact that can still be felt and witnessed today. I thank Dr. Terah ‘TJ’ Stewart for the text of this labor acknowledgement.