The Act Of Loving Is Spirit Asking Us To Choose Black Liberation
Her upper lip trembled as she looked at him. Could she forgive him for what he’d done? She wanted to scream at him. To lash out. She opened her mouth to speak but all that came out was, “I love you.” She’d meant to say something else entirely, but Spirit intervened.
“Love comes from God.” - John 4:7.
Movies paint love as feeling warm and joyful. The biggest lie we’re told about love is that it’s meant to feel easy.
There’s a difference between “hard” and “harmful.” We shouldn’t aim to harm those we love.
But loving someone is hard. And it’s hard loving that makes it radical.
When we hear “radical” we think “extreme,” which can bring a sense of discomfort. That’s what anti-Blackness wants us to feel.
To be radical means to get to the root of something, or to “remove the root of a disease.” Anti-Blackness is a disease and dismantling a system this large demands we take radical action. Here’s where “radical” and “love” must come together.
Think of the love it took for Harriet Tubman to lead enslaved runaways to freedom. The love of MLK admitting he knew death was near and still reminding us of our power. The love of maroon warriors as they waved their machetes, slashing their way to freedom.
Radical love asks us to show up for those we love, even if it means having hard accountability conversations or working through forgiveness.
It’s easy pretending we aren’t affected by love. It’s courageous to admit that loving someone takes extreme vulnerability.
Love is liberation. How can we love even more radically?
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