Tuesday, July 26, 2016

More Heartbreak, More Sadness

Just as I think that we cannot take in any more tragedies, senseless killings, continued animosities, extreme racism and terror attacks, we are struck again: Dallas, Orlando, Minnesota, Paris, Istanbul, and Nice. Some of these acts of violence are political terrorism. Some may be attributed to the result of untreated mental illness.  Some may be influenced by social structures.  And some may be the result of a combination of factors. We are constantly searching for ways to address the causes of these horrific acts of violence. We look for ways to deal with our own sense of powerlessness, to find common humanity in the face of terror, to understand and yet be vigilant.

Sometimes we feel that the problems are so huge, so global, so deeply rooted that we despair at our sense of personal, professional, and community helplessness. What can we do in the face of these continued indescribable events?  We search for meaningful answers and actions. 

The Chapter has as one of its priorities, written into the Strategic Plan: "promoting Racial Justice, Eliminating all Forms of Racism and Oppression." We search for ways to realize these goals, through our legislative priorities and continuing education programs.  Yet we feel there is much more to be done.

We are reaching out to you, our members, to help us identify creative ways of taking action.  We welcome your ideas and your offers of help as we search for action steps in the form of programs and submissions of articles for our monthly newsletter, FOCUS.  Let us come together as individuals and as a profession as we grieve these many losses.