Black Lives Matter

It’s unlikely anyone will see this post, and the post is even less likely to be of influence to very many.

It’s been two and a half weeks since the cold blooded murder of George Floyd in the streets of Minneapolis, just one from a frequent pattern of many acts of violence against persons of color by police.  In that time, I’ve educated myself somewhat about the history of racism in the United States.  I found a video of Jane Elliot’s blue vs brown eyes experiment very enlightening.  I’ve signed a few petitions, though not nearly as many as I should, and made a donation to an organization that provides bail funds to disadvantaged arrestees.

I’m out of steam at the moment, and I hope I can revisit this fervor regularly. Now that I am, once again, employed, I can finally take on some commissions if I have time (unemployment snafu, long story), and perhaps donate that to charities that benefit social justice.

I’ve taken to social justice warrioring, mostly with retweets on Twitter (admittedly not an ideal form of activism), and I’ve resolved myself to recognize unfair advantages offered to me as a white man and reject them.  Seeing as I’ve mostly been passive and timid all my life, I’m worried I may not keep up with vigilance.

In any case, here are some things I’ve made during this time, related either directly or indirectly to the crisis highlighted in these past few weeks:

Pup Theology cartoon

I’m currently attending a Methodist church in Manchester, Michigan, and one of the Pastor’s activities is called “Pub Theology,” in which participants gather at Over the Edge Sports Bar every other Thursday and talk about a topic of Theological, social, or otherwise spiritual significance to the Christian faith.  Most of the discussion are open ended, but stimulating.

While at one session, I sketched out a cartoon idea I had had while in my car.  Pastor Dillon was wearing this exact sweatshirt, and he now owns the original sketch.

Members of the congregation commented that the dog shown here looks a lot like Pastor Dillon’s dog Buddy.  I printed this out to an iron-on transfer sheet, and I now can wear it around!