“We have learned to fly the air like birds and swim the sea like fish, but we have not learned the simple art of living together as brothers and sisters,” Martin Luther King Jr. 1964 Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech

This was posted by a friend today in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day and it has been sitting with me all morning.

Humanity has infinite ideas which sometimes intersect and sometimes do not. Most of us are interested in these ideas manifesting in a humane way. A rabid, vocal, temper-tantruming, violent group of people (and those under their influence) are interested in ideas manifesting in a way which separates worthy and unworthy people. They see only themselves (not even their influenced supporters) as fitting into the worthy bubble which will then control the rest of humanity through fear. Maybe my proportions are slightly optimistic, maybe wistfully hopeful (?).

We have the power in numbers to hold those extremists in check with boundaries and accountability. Those who are under their inhumane influence need to see this accountability as much as we do.

We know how to live together as brothers and sisters, even when our ideas clash, as long as our ideas include a basic regard for humanity. It is the inhumanity which divides. We are not two sides, we are a zillion billion infinity trillion humane sides with an outlier portion of inhumanity. Let’s love each other 3000 and do the hard work of educating ourselves (links to resources for adults and children), being actively anti-racist, and holding inhumane outlier actions accountable. Let’s be the MLK Jr. legacy, and other ancestors who advocated for humanity legacies (grammar police, stand down). My unsolicited two cents of brainiac leaf sharing.

Love, Ms. Herisme xoxo

ps If you started singing Nelly Furtado at the title, then we are twinning (and old)! Peaceful healthy moments to you today #carryonpeacewarrior #carryonhealthwarrior

in addition: lots of very awesome people have mid-January birthdays in my circles. Shout out end-of-lent-celebrants’-prizes!