I’m praying that these weeks of consolation before the High Holidays will give us the time to confront our sins and respond in ways that will help us to heal from our brokenness and find the courage and resolve to build a better year for all.

As protests continue throughout each of our communities, don’t wish them to end but instead commit to supporting them until we truly achieve justice for all. Show your support. Cheer on the protestors. Join the protestors. And when you vote, vote for real change.

This work is our calling, and it doesn’t pause for a pandemic. Instead, we find creative ways to engage and mobilize our communities at a distance.

Rep. John Lewis’ memory inspires us to work harder and be more courageous as we join with millions of our fellow Americans to further his prophetic vision for our country.

I once had the opportunity, the privilege, the honor, to Rep. Lewis, face to face, exactly why he was my hero. Now, in honor of one of the most remarkable, most American, lives ever lived, I want to suggest four key lessons (among hundreds) that we can all learn from John Lewis’ life and work.

The urgency of this moment is clear. Launching the We Are Done Dying Campaign in early May, the NAACP declared, “The health and safety of our people are at an unparalleled risk.”

Every voice matters, and every vote should, too – but in many places across the U.S., restrictive laws and practices disproportionately keep People of Color from voting. As someone who is too young to vote, I am motivated to ensure that everyone who is eligible to exercise this right does so. 

This week, I tell a friend I’d love to chat but actually I have to run Yom Kippur services are starting soon and I’ve got to repent for my sins before the gates are closed. She laughs. “Well, you’re gay, so you’ve definitely got a lot of repenting to do.”

Racism is a form of idolatry, of self-worship that is immoral and is fundamentally against humanity and democracy. What we do in the Poor People's Campaign is to help people make the connection between interlocking injustices that threaten everybody’s security.