I went to a live concert in May and wept for the beauty of the performance, the art, the sound, for the connection I felt with the strangers I didn't even know I missed, and for the release of something I must have been holding onto really tightly without realizing it. 

There was a moment when Davina and the Vegabonds repeated a verse a capella about sunny days ahead, and stared out into the small crowd, so intimately, and it was like a palpable shift within seconds where every one of us knew what she meant, and vibrated on the exact same wavelength for a few moments. Just around the corner (literally) from the venue was the precinct, Target, restaurants, housing that burned to the ground that was blasted on the news in the wake of George Floyd's murder. It was where protesters were shot with rubber bullets, where a reporter was arrested, where people started fires in buildings and looted brick and mortar shops. I remember driving by that intersection the morning after the first long night of conflict and protests in awe of the scene. Smoke, gray skies, sirens - felt other-worldly as an American who has never seen something like that.

The neighborhood we live in, that the artist lives in, that the venue was in, was the epicenter of a wrongful, painful death that created an uprising around the world. You might not have seen the peaceful protests, or the community shifting to uncomfortable spaces knowing that we couldn't go backward, or the Black community upholding George Floyd Square for over a year as a peaceful, independent memorial. I don't wish to center myself on George Floyd's death, though, by the very nature of describing my own view, I'm recognize my centering. 

What I hope to do is speak as a person who lives here in real life, who gives a fuck about her community and everyone who lives inside it, and who is paying attention.  

If felt good to be in that venue with my neighbors in my neighborhood with a musician who lives there and was proud of where she comes from.

After the darkness of the last 18 months, beauty seems to be illuminated.

Warmly,

Allyssa