Sending Love to the Frontlines, Fathers & Frederick Douglass

plus a song & balm for hard conversations 💛

Sending love to

all you weary ones,

you courageous ones,

you on the frontlines,

you holding signs,

you with a heart broken and blazing,

healing and praising.

Sending love to you who weave between harm and hope —and oh, this is all of us— thank you for this next breath, then another, and here:

Let’s plant a seed.

Yes, they’re small.

Do you see?

No seed is planted alone.

Do you feel me here beside you?

Our ancestors knew and grew gardens resisting despair as well as tyranny and so shall we:

Everyone deserves care.

Everyone deserves food.

Everyone deserves shelter.

Everyone deserves beauty.

Everyone deserves joy.

There is room all at this table.

As so many of us prepare to show up in body and / or spirit for No Kings Day and beyond, I’d love to share a story of resistence, remembrance and resilience from here in our small town.

Would you imagine with me?

Refusing Frederick Douglass?

To speak in (y)our community?

Yet here we were in Naples, 1862 --- in New York, a free state fighting for the Union in the Civil War --- yet no public institution would welcome a black man to speak --- not even Frederick Douglass himself.

Yet we know:

Abolitionists have always believed in walls dissolving.

Believing another world was possible, a small group of people took it upon themselves to build a stage in a backyard for Frederick to address our community, cooking a free meal to nourish the bellies of 300+ people as their imaginations were nourished by one of the most inspired and influential change-makers of our nation.

Friends, join us celebrating and humbly commemorating our first annual:

Fun Fact: I (Petra, here) am honored to re-enact the Emily Marks, a beloved Naples abolitionist, sharing historical notes as well as musings for modern times through the eyes of a woman with deep commitments to plants, community care and courage who also loved this land and dreamed of more fruitful futures for all. For more details and a tiny taste of what’s to come:

Frederick Douglass said:

"We have to do with the past

only as we can make it

useful to the present and future."

Thanks for building longer tables rather than higher walls…

…and thanks for joining us in body and / or spirit, Friends 💛

In times of joy

we sow seeds and sing songs.

In times of struggle

we sow seeds and sing songs.

As we grieve for our nation and species, we are so grateful for this song nourishing our capacity to remain curious, kind and in conversation both in ourselves and in community, especially when it’s hardest.

And a shout (shout!) out (out!) to fathers everywhere, tending all generations to come with both strength and softness, and here I’d love to thank my beloved father, Ralph:

I remember when I was young.

My father and I were harvesting lettuce, preparing supper for friends.

As I harvested snap peas, I watched him lean down to harvest the largest, most resplendent head of lettuce and I remember saying, with more than a bit of concern:

‘but Dad, that’s the best one…?’

‘Exactly,’ he said.

Thank you for holding me in that moment, Dad.

I’ll always wonder:

Who was I hoarding that lettuce for?

Thank you for reminding me that

we share the best of what we have

with everyone we can.

And Friends:

We’ll be gifting seeds

throughout the summer

at all our gatherings, so don’t be shy:

love what you sow & sow what you love!

Whether our cups feel empty or full, there are so many ways to give, receive and amplify gifts in the world, so don’t be shy & see you soon:

Friends near & far!

We’re cultivating gift culture together!

Have you seen our relational, material & financial needs?

Take a peek🧡

As we sow a world where we all are ‘sustained’ rather than ‘paid,’ as our beloved Friend Adam Wilson so bravely articulates…

…if you’d love to sustain our lives more directly, we’re so honored:

Imagine this caterpillar insisting it couldn’t become a butterfly…

…let’s keep cultivating, composting & growing together, Friends 💛

Sow Seeds & Sing Songs,

and the Many Possibilities of Fruition

ps

If you’ve been forwarded this email and would love to subscribe, please do and hope to see you here on the farm one day, too!

pps