What can I say about the “practice of freedom” that hasn’t been done—as in, reflected in and through actions—by all of you this past week? You showed up for freedom—for yourselves and for one another. You marched, you sang, you listened, you spoke up, you organized, you cheered, you supported, you gathered, you committed, you covenanted, you laughed, you cried, you glittered and rainbowed and shone brightly like the stars you are, and most importantly, you LOVED, radically.

So how does it feel? Does it feel liberating? And does that feel energizing in the face of all we still have to fight for? I hope so. And, make sure you rest when you need to.

Quote – adrienne maree brown:

i am learning that getting well in community is liberation. we are interdependent. when one of us attains freedom it elicits/rekindles that longing in each of us. when we learn to feel, when we learn to stand with each other in feeling, when we learn to tune into the wisdom of our bodies, to love ourselves, to love each other, we are doing the unthinkable, we are creating new worlds of possibility… it is our duty to fight for freedom.

it is our duty to win. we must love each other and protect each other. we have nothing to lose but our chains.

I want to say that I am especially proud of Nikki McCarty, who spoke with amazing courage at the “No Kings” protest on Saturday. For those of us who have known Nikki since she started attending UUCL, we know what a journey it has been for her to find her voice and put it out there loud enough for us to hear. And I am so grateful for where she has landed on this journey because we need her poetic words and her prophetic vision.

She didn’t do it alone, of course. This community has helped her to build that courage by allowing her to speak from our pulpit. Veysel was one of the organizers of the protest and asked her to speak. Several UUCLers cheered her on from the crowd. And her husband, Jason, stood by her side and gave her strength and comfort. This is what it means to get free in community, and it expands freedom for all of us.

If you would like to read Nikki’s piece, “No King,” or any of her other work, please visit her Substack page at NikkiMcCarty9. And be sure to subscribe to her page so you are alerted when she publishes something new!

Thank you, all of you, for being so awesome!

Heather