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For the past year, our community has endured an ongoing campaign of violence and terror. Even as this continual hostility by the federal government attempts to breed fear and division, our neighbors refuse to give in, showing up in new ways every day to support and protect one another.

This prolonged period of vigilance, coordination, and action has taken (and continues to take) an enormous toll on our neighbors, our communities, our nervous systems. On the anniversary of one of our heaviest days, and on the heels of recent violence, we pause to remember, to reflect, and to recommit.

We come together to grieve the absence of our friends and neighbors whose place in our community cannot be filled— the relationships, neighborhoods, and workplaces that are made weaker without them, and the families and friends who continue to cope with a loss that brings new layers of pain each day.

We gather to reflect on what we learned about being neighbors, what it means to show up for one another. In the face of ongoing threats, we’ve continued to practice new ways to help out, to connect, to ask for and give support.

We come together to recommit to each other, to continuing to work toward a community where every single neighbor can live in safety and get their needs met. We commit to looking out for each other, to standing up for each other, and to supporting each other. We commit to working together to find new ways to address the injustices we face.

As we honor the grief that this anniversary brings, we reclaim the joy and connection of community, and we affirm our commitment to one another.

We keep us safe.