Author: Michael Tino

“You are the embodiment of what we need…
The embodiment not of productivity but
the embodiment of radical love, care and sanctuary.” -Elandria Williams, from “We Are Worthy”

How can you embody radical love, care, and sanctuary today?

“Let us know, and let it be said by generations to come
that when the pain of our separation was revealed,
We moved closer to the promised land of our beloved community.” -Anya Sammler-Michael

How has the pain of separation helped you to envision the beloved community?

“Words are imperfect tools we use to tell our story, to know our truth. If we remember their limits, perhaps we can use them to greater benefit. If we remember that we are all and always translating, listening for the words beneath the words, then perhaps we will make more time and more space to listen and even to hear.” -William Sinkford

What words do you struggle with in our work for justice?

“Biologists tell us that life depends oncboundaries. The elemental form of a cell–a form essential to life—is an enclosed sphere. Its membrane is permeable. It allows things to flow in and flow out, but it is not indefinite or sketchy.” -Rebecca Parker

What boundaries are necessary in your work for justice? 

“Justice is supposed to mean putting right what is wrong. Justice is meant to help those who cannot, and/or should not help themselves…. But justice is fleeting—there one minute, gone the next. Where you may receive it, the next may not. One man may enter a courtroom and receive five years and the next five months, both for the same crime. Yet if an officer of the law were to be charged, it would likely end in suspension for three months. The poor who can’t afford fast-talking attorneys are left with people who work shoulder-to-shoulder with the prosecution. But everyone is equal. We all deserve justice the same way.” -Richard, an incarcerated CLF member

How do you bear witness to the unequal ways of justice?