When it's time to let go

I am often accused of keeping a foot in the politics and day to day drama of the US, even though I have extricated myself from it.

I admit that I still listen to podcasts and read books that keep me enlightened and informed about what is happening to vulnerable populations across the United States.

Confession: Today, on my lunch break at work, I watched a live telecast from Columbia University in which scholars and educators were discussing the "Whitewashing of Black Studies and the fight for African American studies in the era of racial backlash".

It would be easy to say that I don't need to do that anymore, but I feel deep in my soul that that is not completely true.

America is a super power, with influence all over the world. Small countries turn to its movies and TV shows for entertainment, and social media influencers touch the minds of not only inhabitants of the States.

Bad and good trends are often emulated all over the globe and last I checked, I am still a citizen of this earth.

I would like that think that my continued attention is due to that bigger sense of the world, and also because I have family and friends who I care deeply for who still live in the US and are affected every day. I also think that it is because it is impossible to stop caring about issues and people after you remove yourself from being a fellow victim.

I still care. I am still the same passionate Dionne who got on a plane for the other side of the globe in August of 2021.

Before I left the US, I resigned from certain positions that I was involved in, like on the equity advisory board for my children's school district. One of the causes that I continued to champion after leaving the country is the protection of public education- equity in funding, in practice, in support for all students and teachers, and thoroughness of educational substance.

I continued to serve on the board of a grass roots organization. I kept myself informed about the legislative developments in Arizona and how they affected the students and teachers of the state. I participated in board meetings and webinars and tried to support as much as I could from afar.

Recently I decided, after 18months of being in Aotearoa, to let that position go.

It has taken me some time to detoxify from the intersection of pressures and frustrations that I faced while living in America, and I have also had to adjust my lens back to see the global picture of reality, without the States at its epicenter.

I have always been a passionate advocate of women's health and reproductive justice and I am so excited to find ways that I can contribute to the elevation of those issues, here in the Pacific and internationally. I am eager to use my energy toward that cause.

I still follow podcasts and read books that educate me but try to make sure that they address how those issues are affecting the black and brown diaspora as a whole and ways that other countries are managing their problems. I love to stay informed. I feel safest when I know that I am not walking around with a veil over my eyes.

I do take my own advice to see the world as it is.

Exploring ways to serve as a global citizen makes me feel so free, like I am no longer shackled to one place. I am eager to be of service, for no one is free if only some of us are free.