An open letter:
To our friends, neighbors, and the people of the Beverly Farms community and beyond,
Every year on July 4th, we celebrate our nation’s founding and the truly noble aspiration of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. We reflect as a community on our history and look ahead to a bright future filled with hope and freedom for all people. That is the foundation of our country and the reason we come together to celebrate this day. This year, 2020, has starkly reminded us that we are on a journey filled with imperfection and that many people, especially black and brown people, are not afforded equitable access to the American Dream. Many among us have used recent events as a catalyst toward educating ourselves about the details of our history and our present, both fraught with injustices that cannot be ignored.
As members of the Beverly Farms community, united we stand, but we must also recognize, understand, and celebrate our differences as well as our common humanity. July 4th is a day when we honor our ideals of equal rights to freedom. This freedom, upon which we all agree, however, must include social and racial justice, and our aspirations must include the simple goal of being better humans for the sake of our community and nation.
Over the last several weeks, neighbors in Beverly Farms came together to plan a house decorating event for the holiday weekend with a mission to provide an open framework for education and conversation on Racial Justice with our neighbors and anyone passing through the Farms on the 4th.
We held planning meetings and devised a positive message around commonly used phraseology often associated with celebrating our country's independence. The two phrases are "Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness" and "United We Stand." We set up early on the 4th and spent the better part of the day waving to everyone passing by, offering black and white chocolate chip cookies, lemonade, educational takeaways, and an opportunity to leave behind a positive message for America's future.
The event was well attended both with pedestrians, bikers, and cars stopping to learn more about racial injustice, to have a conversation, or just to have a cup of lemonade on a warm summer day. We thought this event would be worth sharing, especially in a moment when people are looking for good news and positive energy.
Thank you,
Your Neighbors
