We can — we must — do better.
Writing about what I am feeling regarding the protests over the death of George Floyd is difficult.
Outrage? Anger? Sadness? Yes, all of the above.
But shock, disbelief, bewilderment — that someone actually thinks that throwing a brick through a store window — a store that very well could be owned by a hard-working entrepreneur whose only guilt was opening a business in that specific location — wrong time, wrong place?
The only words I can think of, and I write them with a different emotion than ever before: Just. Be. Kind.
While all of the protests, racial unrest — yes, looting, arson and other unspeakable acts — were going on in our city and across the U.S. yesterday, let me tell you what I saw. I saw my friend Caleb, a young African American boy, show up with some his friends to help us paint food-and-book-donation boxes in his neighborhood, the Chapel Hill Apartments and Townhomes in Wayne Township, Indianapolis, Indiana.
We — the board members of Tummies, Minds & Spirits — dba Just Be Kind — hosted an event to engage the kids of this apartment complex in something positive, something helpful, something that might make a difference in people's lives. You've seen donation boxes like these before — sort of a "take one, leave one" approach. Read a good book lately? Put it in the box — share it so someone else can get out of it what you did. Have a non-perishable food item to share? Put it in the box, and then take out a can or bag of whatever strikes your fancy, that you or your family might enjoy. In other words, participate in solving problems for yourself, your neighbors, your community.
Instead of throwing a brick, throw love.
Not only can we do better, but we are actively doing better. I've seen it — saw it yesterday, saw it in the eyes of Caleb and the other kids. By engaging people where they are — not with guns, knives, bats, or tear gas and handcuffs, but with love, caring, commitment, and a paintbrush or two, we can be the change that we want to see.
Please make an effort to do, to be, better. Just. Be. Kind. And if you feel called, please connect with us by visiting tummiesmindsspirits.com to learn more. Or call my wife, Rochelle Forrest Hankins ("Miss Shelly" to the kids in the apartment complex) at 317-694-1409. I hope you'll join us.
—Paul Hankins