Today, we celebrate.

Good Morning Sister,

Today is Rosa Parks’ birthday.  

Open your curtains, we’re going to celebrate.

Can I tell you something?  

Last week was a struggle. I felt so sad. I couldn't shake it. I could barely sit up. Overwhelmed by the world. My colleague Stephanie noticed. She said, “Nah, go for a walk Morgan!” She’s been walking every day since this mess of American injustice started.

I did.

I walked 5 days this week.

On my walk last night, I realized that I was triggered by the Grammy Awards - how inconsequential they felt in the context of sweeping structural knockdown of the protections our people fought for. 

That gold statue felt so small. 

But Doechii, girl, you were big! We are proud of you. A million Black women join you in a chorus of “Woosah, woosah!” Your growl should be etched on every state building.

…and Sir Kendrick, indeed: they not like us AND turn the TV off! We are listening king.   (Shout out to Pete Rock and Common, friends to this movement, for their nomination.)

We are proud of you Beyonce. You and Blue Ivy’s love on stage was the only genre we care about. Salute! All of your drumlines and “Love on Top” anthems never felt more relevant.  

Thank you, Artists. You matter.

We see you. And we need you.

And it's hard to hold space for joy, because, on Rosa Parks’ birthday, whole agencies of our people are being laid off, pipelines are being laid across sacred lands, peace accords broken, and people are taking to the streets to protest the reversal of billions in emergency aid to Africa.

Open your curtains sisters.

We cannot ignore the sweeping changes to equal rights and healthcare - the support so many of us count on for our mothers and children.

We canNOT be distracted by the dismantling of Black history - because we own our story - not them. Don’t blink while our government arrests our immigrant sisters, brothers and their children - knowing all along that the calculus of our collective existence on this native land is a screaming indictment of their lack of citizenship.

…and we will not shop where we are not hired. Period.

Boycott!

We stand today as economies are plundered, rights repealed, and jobs are on the chopping block - all while the smoke of climate change looms in Los Angeles and heroes search the Potomac and the streets of Philadelphia for the dignity of our body politic.

Stand up.

Stretch your arms to the sky.

Today is Rosa Parks’ Birthday.  

Let this celebration be the reason you take one step forward today.

Let today be the day, as one of our leaders, Ayanna said, that you act with integrity to become the person you’d always thought you’d be in times like this.  

This is it.

My uncle passed last week. He raised me. A good man. Since his passing, I can’t stop singing that Micheal McDonald and Kenny Loggins song: This is It!

“Make no mistake where you are. This is it! Your back's to the corner. ...are you gonna wait for a sign, your miracle? Stand up and fight!”

Your people are talking too.  

All of our forefathers and foremothers…

…Nikki Giovanni.  

Do you remember the last words she said to us?

She said, “Walk together children, and don’t you get weary.”

We are listening.

So today, your only assignment, is to take a walk for Rosa Parks.

…to unplug, stand up, dust yourself off, open your front door.

Mrs. Parks said, "You must never be fearful of what you are doing, when it is right!"

Go for a walk. Survey the needs of your community. Say “hello” to your neighbors. Pray for the people who deliver your mail and clean your streets. Look to the sky and ask God for strength. Feel your feet on solid ground. Whisper thanks to Mother Earth who has put up a fierce fight for our survival. Walk until you catch your breath and the sun anoints your movement.

Our solidarity is for Rosa Parks.

The world will try to reduce her to a moment of exhaustion. Nah. Rosa Parks was powerful. My sister Vanessa did a masterful job telling her true story on Black History Bootcamp. You can listen here on your walk.

A few important announcement:

We moved our headquarters out of Washington, DC and opened our staging grounds for a “good fight” in the very place where John Lewis, Rosa Parks,  E.D. Nixon, Ralph Abernathy, Jo Ann Robinson and a young graduate from Morehouse and Boston U., Martin Luther King Jr. gathered to plan a loving resistance. We purchased that building, remember? It is our new headquarters. 

Our season begins in March.  

Stay tuned for our membership meeting on Tubman Day. Details coming soon.  

If we don’t have your phone number - please make sure we do.    

This revolution won’t be digitized.

We are going offline and outside.

Unplugged and underground.

Away from AI…back to analogue.

Breaker 1-9.

Make sure we have your phone number here.  

Sincerely,
Morgan (and Vanessa)