#OrlandoUnited

from the Black Lives of UU Organizing Collective

There are times when prayers seem futile. When too hurried calls-to-action seem empty, almost infuriating. And yet the tears still come. And they come and they come and they keep coming.

Our hearts were laid low as we learned of the massacre in Orlando. We mourn our queer Latinx family. We mourn the black lives that were taken, the black and Latinx lives, all the lives that were taken and those that were forever changed.

We don’t have many words of inspiration, we have tears right now. The world is less vibrant now. And even still we know resilience is in us, is with us, and is in the tears we cry.

We have no call-to-action for you today, we have few soothing words. We have tears. And resilience. We hurt because we love. And as Black UUs we cast no one out, our hearts are big and so too is our compassion.

Let us not be too hasty to rush our queer Latinx family out of mourning, let us draw the circle wide. A circle of love and protection. Let us open up space to weep, to cry, to hold each other, to see each other in all the beauty and complexity that it means to be a queer person of color.

None of us is free until we are all free. To those we lost, we love you, we will not forget you. We will fight on in your name, we will be resilient in your name and today we cry, we hold space and we mourn together.

We encourage those moved to donate in the wake of this tragedy to support the Equity Florida — Pulse Victims Fund.