Remembering March 16 One Year Later
One year ago, eight people including six Asian women massage workers were killed in the Atlanta area. Please read a community centered collective statement (available in Chinese, Korean, and Vietnamese). This violence reminded us that nothing is new, that our humanity is interconnected and interdependent, that change is not an instant but a continuous movement.
As they journeyed to their next life cycle, we found solace in natural life forms and the wisdom of ancestors and young elders. We offered a healing series in memoriam. A year later, we remember that they gave us more than wounds.
When a tree dies and descends onto the soil, they reveal their history: weathered storms and droughts, years of struggle, seasons of growth. While fallen, they continue to be vital to the woodland’s ecosystem. They return nutrients back into the environment that nurtured them. At the same time, deadwood helps other creatures complete their life cycles.
Often mischaracterized and misunderstood, lichens survive when plants and animals cannot. An ancient organism without roots, they are a symbiotic relationship of algae (water) and fungi (earth) that live on surfaces. Even though lichens rely on clean air, they absorb pollutants in the atmosphere. They slowly revitalize their habitats, by transforming rough elements and nourishing creatures that depend on their lifeforce.
Reborn four times in a year, the Georgia-native butterfly is always becoming. One crucial life stage is in chrysalis, when a monarch caterpillar retreats from the outer world and into their own soft shell. Ready in their own time, they emerge with replenished wings to migrate long distances. While endangered, monarch butterflies patiently carry on to pollinate future generations of precious life forms like the Cherokee rose.
This sensitive biodiversity will continue to restore and regenerate for as long as their beloved environment is safe and healthy. We evolve to survive, together.
On this anniversary, we sow seeds grounded in memory for the long path ahead. With love for our communities near and far, healing takes time, time is healing. It is in our nature to survive, adapt, and take care of each other. It is also in our nature to remember and feel.
