ISLAND COUNTY / JANET ST. CLAIR: This Juneteenth, I share this essay following the murder of George Floyd

Island County Commissioner Janet St. Clair (D-Camano Island) posted this to her Facebook page on June 19, 2025.

This Juneteenth, an official holiday in Island County, I share this essay by Dante Stewart following the murder of George Floyd to remind us of the strong relationship between resistance and resilience, hope and joy, how we need to remember how far we’ve come to gain strength for how far we have to go.

Protest, Pain, and Joy

I saw scores of young folk, fists held high in the sky, their lungs exhausted from all the screaming they did. I saw scores of old folk, some with canes, some in wheelchairs pushed by another, their lungs exhausted from all the screaming they did. I saw scores of gay folk and straight folk, Muslim folk and Christian folk, American folk and global folk, rich folk and poor folk, all lungs exhausted from all the screaming they did….

I looked again at … the videos of millions marching in solidarity, and I saw so much more. I saw joy. I saw intimacy. I saw bodies let loose. I saw tears of strength in the face of danger. I saw heaven smiling as love was cast on Earth’s threshing floor. I saw so much joy. It was not simply resistance; it was power. I saw the good news. I saw a better story than the story we were offered. The beauty of this moment showed that suffering is not the total image. This is a moment of faith, flying one would say. I see an unexpected glimpse into public bravery, the willingness to rise again. There is something about these images that calls out to me to sit still; to ponder, to anticipate life beyond brutality.

This joy is love dancing with reality, humanity. I saw the complex and complicated relationship with hope, a tragic but necessary one if it is to become what it can become— beautiful. [1]

– From Richard Rohr, Center for Meditation