Feliz Ano Novo! Happy New Year!

I am writing to you from the beautiful and complicated Brasil, my place of birth and growth. Aside from small family gatherings, I have contemplated the many rituals and traditions that staples the transition of the year. It is a time of deep gratitude, appreciation and intention setting for the upcoming year. 

On the night of December 31st, I walked to the shore of the ocean with my family to await the turn of the year and pay homage to Yemanja, the deity of the water. Traditionally, we give thanks for the year before and make wishes for the upcoming year.

December 31st 2020, ended a chronological time filled with tribulations, fatigue, crisis, loss and grief, but we are bringing the aftermath of those manifestations with us to this new year. Although I am practicing daily radical hope, I am holding images of 2020 events close to my heart. Covid, Racism and White Supremacy did not happen in isolation in 2020 and they are very much in the present as 2021 arrives. If you are reading this, you have survived and for that we are grateful. In whatever ways we were able to afford our survivorship, (masks, work from home, home deliveries, unemployment and etc.), this is a reality not shared by all. 

Holding both the grief of 2020 and hope for 2021, we cannot hold only wishes, we need to be holding collective demands for the New Year.

There must be an increased visibility of the interconnectedness of our existence - this beautiful and often forgotten kinship with our fellow human beings.

There must be great recognition and gratitude to every young person that made their voice heard by taking to the streets, social media, or whatever other medium.

There must be a national movement for deep learning from 2020 and a commitment to never again. 

There must be more living and less survivorship in 2021. 

We must stop saying how deeply the US is divided and commit to a national truth and reconciliation process.

There must be more collaboration and solidarity.

We must demand that All Black folks live well, healthy, and fulfilled lives with dignity, love and respect as they wish!

All non-Black folks MUST demand changes so all Black people can thrive and be well and our policies reflect that Black lives actually Matter.

Note: The fact that human rights for Black people made it to a New Year’s wish list speaks to the current and overwhelming anti-Blackness sentiment we witness in the US.

We must acknowledge that language matters and we must name things for what they are, including the acknowledgement of the historical White violence Black, Indigenous and People of Color have endured over 500 years of colonization.

There must be a national acknowledgement of racial injustices and violence - which did not start in 2020 and did not end last year.

We must collectively understand there is no neutrality in a racialized system.

We must condemn all forms of hate especially racialized hate from White supremacist groups, White Nationalists and other groups that promote White superiority.

We must uphold human rights and dignity for all people!

We must demand a just world for all children!

We must demand LOVE!

We must build a country of BELONGING for all people!

written with love & solidarity,

ananda mirilli, nINA Collective Director