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Dear Decaturish – Let’s get to it

D'ish Kirkwood and East Lake slideshow

Dear Decaturish – Let’s get to it

Photo by Matt Westmoreland
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Photo by Matt Westmoreland

Photo by Matt Westmoreland

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Dear Decaturish,

Went to church Sunday morning, still struggling to wrap my mind around the last few days.

I sat next to my Grandmom, and listened to a sermon on the old Proverb “It is better to light a single candle than to curse the darkness.”

I’ve done my fair share of cursing the darkness this week. Hard not to curse statements and expressions of blatant racism, sexism and xenophobia. Hard not to curse how those statements and expressions have terrified and frightened tens of millions of Americans – especially our kids. Hard not to curse the demagoguery and the bigotry and the vitriol. Hard not to curse what’s been said to and done to minorities, women, and immigrants – Americans all – around the country since Tuesday. That darkness feels pretty overwhelming.

As someone who always tries to find the good in situations, it’s been impossible to pivot from such a bewildering series of events. It’s also been important not to normalize or to accept any of the many unacceptable things we have heard and seen over the last 17 months.

So I listened intently Sunday morning about the importance of bringing light into darkness. And I thought back to other words spoken earlier this week – that we should “never stop believing that fighting for what’s right is worth it.”

We lit candles at church. If I’ve learned anything this week, it’s that we need a lot more light – and need to continue that fight. Let’s get to it.

– Matt Westmoreland, Atlanta Board of Education, District 3

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