“Relationships are built at the speed of trust” / onward

I first heard this bit of wisdom on how “relationships are built at the speed of trust” when I met Mama Lila Cabbil — a lifelong Detroiter, water warrior, anti-racism educator, and civil rights activist — through the Detroit Equity Action Lab fellowship program.

I am a descendant of Bengali liberation organizers and in meeting Mama Lila, I found a mentor and teacher in a friend of Rosa Parks. Because of the community that’s been around me these last few years in particular, I found my way not only back to Detroit — the city of my birth — but to my ancestors from the subcontinent, those whose prayers and actions guided me into human rights work.

Through the examples that Mama Lila, elders here in Michigan, and many others have offered me, I’ve gained a deep appreciation for the nuances between anti-racism education and anti-racism practice. The practice of anti-racism is one where the how becomes just as important as the who and the why.

As Imani Barbarin noted, COVID-19 is a mass disabling event. For people like myself, who were already chronically ill before COVID, it’s changed our lives forever. After I survived those initial weeks with COVID in March 2020, it didn’t take very long until I realized I was what’s now called a “long hauler.” At that time, I made a choice to move from my staff role…