Say Their Names.

Dear Ideators, Families of Ideators, and Ideators we’ve yet to meet, we stand in the wake of possibly the most shocking and horrifying events we’ve seen in our lifetimes. My prayer for our community and our country is may we never see such legalized brutality, violent degradation, and glaring inequality ever again. But I fear our healing journey is only just beginning. We have a long way to go. 

The morning of June 2, I had the pleasure of meeting a neighbor I’d never met before. It was 6 am and she greeted me and asked me how I was feeling. My response was ‘grateful’ and we agreed that both of us had woken up that morning so in fact, we were both grateful. What unfolded was a frank conversation about race conducted with open hearts; we agreed we were two horrified moms desperate for our community’s children to thrive. My wish for you all is that you accept the open-hearted stranger and be the open-hearted stranger. And that you can be as courageous as my open-hearted stranger. I learned a lot that morning and it set the tone for my own courage. With an open heart, with grace, please join the Ideate community as we engage with compassion and courage. That we seek to uplift rather than react and condemn. 

With compassion and courage, join Ideate to say their names and pledge to be the courageous, open-hearted stranger. I’ve posted a graphic below so that we may say their names out loud. There is and has been too much violence. Violence is violence, poverty is violence, silence and complicity is violence. With compassion and courage, pray for peace. 

In humility, 
Kaelynne Koval
Program Director, Ideate

*This post was also featured on Facebook. To my sadness, my request to boost the post and pay for its circulation was denied. To that end, say their names and pray for peace.