Let This be Our Lowest Point

If you are white and living in Charlotte
Please pick up the phone
and call someone who is black or brown skinned
or stop by their office at work
or table at lunch
and ask “how are you?”
Listen, cry, learn and talk.
That’s all you need to do today.

If you are white and living in Charlotte
do not feel bad about the color of your skin.
feel proud of who you can become
Be someone who cares and “gets” it
Be an ally who speaks for another
who feels as other.
Learn about the past that led us to this painful present.

“This is not our city,” some are saying.
What was our city before today?
Too often we were one of polite conversations
and sweet tea
and of divides so deep
they could not be crossed
in neighborhoods, in schools,
in classrooms, In conversations.

If you are white in this city
Be the bridge
Cross the divide
Start the hard conversation today
and do not stop tomorrow

If you are black or any other person of color
in this city
Be honest
Be open
Be commited to being the partner
To create that change
To create
the Charlotte we need to be.

Let this low point of today
(the boiling point that brought out the worst of our fears)
be the lowest point
that leads us
to a new place
to a new us.

[Image above by Mike Wirth]