This week has been disturbing.

I considered stopping at that: This week has been disturbing.

My surroundings have felt: Dystopian Disjointed Dysfunctional Distant

I have felt: Discomfortable Disoriented Disordered Displaced

It is not that we shouldn't feel the way that we feel, or that we shouldn't do the things that we are doing; we should. What most disturbs me is that we did not feel this disturbed six months ago, and I suspect we will not feel this disturbed six months from now, about:

• Incarceration Rates, or
• Firearm Fatalities, or
• The High Cost of Education, or
• Implicit Bias, or
• The Wealth Gap, or
• The Destruction of Our Environment, or
• The Politicization of our Judicial System, or
• Homelessness, or
• Traffic Fatalities, or
• Evictions, or
• The Working Poor, or
• The High Cost of Housing, or
• Suicides, or
• Explicit Bias, or
• Entitlement, or
• Skewed Prioritization, or
• Pining for the Good Old Days at the Expense of the Future, or
• The High Cost of Health Care, or
• Blustering Stupidity Masquerading as Expertise, or
• The Demise of Our U.S. Constitution.

Again, I am not saying that we are overreacting to COVID-19; we are reacting normally and as we should, considering the fear and uncertainty. Though (understandably) disorganized, we are doing what, in this moment, we feel we must do.

What I am saying is that we are underreacting to many other injustices; and for many of us who see reality for what it is and who see us for what we are, these disturbing feelings, this fear of the unknown, this uncertainty, is how we feel, how we perceive and how we operate, on a daily basis. To see so many others feel this way is… well… I guess… in a way… gratifying to know that we are capable of widespread urgency; but it also adds to the wavery uncertainty surrounding the circumstance. But as I consider how this may impact future progress resolving other multiple injustices, I am not hopeful that we will maintain this universally shared desire to resolve an injustice. I could conjecture that because this particular injustice, (not inflicted by the wealthy and powerful), impacts the wealthy and powerful, (much more so than those injustices inflicted and/or supported by the wealthy and powerful), we are much quicker to respond and react.

I am asked to be positive, and to not be angry, and to focus on this issue because this is where we're at in this moment. I feel like I have to defend myself by continuing to insert into my thought that I understand our fear and uncertainty and widespread urgency and I support our reaction to this pandemic, but I have to believe that we will come through it, and I want us to have learned from these shared feelings so we can maintain a sense of urgency for other injustices that will still be there then and, in fact, are still here now. How can I not be angry when I see the disconnect between 1) the Trump administration circumventing the legislative process through administrative rule changes to cut SNAP benefits for approximately 700,000 Americans to save $4.2 billion over five years, and 2) the same administration and government spending upwards of a trillion dollars for this pandemic injustice. And here, again, I feel I must defend myself and say I support our efforts to work through and resolve this issue; but I can't help but see multiple other opportunities for resolution.

To further illustrate this, in a March 20th article in the Washington Post, Patricia Brown said, “Of course I would've liked to buy groceries sooner, but I'm only getting checks once a month. Once that's gone, I'm broke until the next one comes.” Ms. Brown, a retired courtroom clerk, had to wait until the third Wednesday to buy groceries and by then, “in search of a few basics,” she could not find “spaghetti, ground beef, and distilled water for her sleep apnea machine.” Injustice within injustice.

This is reality for far, far, far more Americans than have contracted the coronavirus. (Again, insert my support for our efforts here.) If you look at the list of injustices above, you will see many that are enfolded within one another, over and over again, creating an entanglement that traps and proceeds to choke the hope and the spirit and the life out of those individuals caught in its snare. And if you look at the numbers, this group of working poor, disenfranchised and underprivileged individuals, is fast becoming a majority of all Americans; but because of their entanglements, they are a silent majority. And while some of them may have found a voice to aid in their battle with COVID-19, unless this battle opens more eyes than I believe it will, (that's my cynical nature), that voice will go silent once the wealthy and powerful have returned us to status quo.

Yes, I am angry. But I also remain actively hopeful.