I aim to post one blog per week, but this week I’ve found myself unable to muster up anything that feels equal to what is happening in my country. I place a high value on listening to viewpoints that are not like my own, and particularly listening to those whom I want to be an ally.

Recent events in America have brought us back into confrontation with the systematic injustices of racism and deep psychic wounds of Black people. Here are some of those perspectives. If you choose to read and comment on these posts, please come from a place of respect, listening, and seeking to understand without defensiveness. If you cannot do that, please process your difficulties here instead of on these:

• Social Unrest and the Reflections of Pagans of Color
• My Parents Told Me the Sad Truth about America
• More than 30,000 California prisoners are on hunger strike. Here are their demands. Here are their stories.
• Questlove: Trayvon Martin and I Ain’t Shit
• Fruitvale Station, Trayvon Martin, and the Value of Human Life in America