Sunday Song Day: "Justice for Elijah"
6.28.2020
There were other songs in mind and a whole different intro already begun; but as I took a moment to stretch and waste time on Instagram before getting-back-to-it, I found my friend Jenn had shared an improvisation by Andrew Bird inspired by Elijah McClain’s death, and it redirected the morning.
In the sea of souls slashed short by American Racism and Police Cruelty, you may have missed the name Elijah McClain. I have difficulty thinking or speaking about this at all without weeping, but that hasn’t stopped me from discussing it with Q. There may be a few of you out there who have missed the broadcast and you need to understand why hearts are broken and furies foam over the casual treatment of this sweet soul’s death.
McClain died in August after being stopped by three white Aurora Police Department officers as he walked home from a convenience store. Police were responding to a report that a man was wearing a mask and acting “suspicious,” though the caller said he did not feel like he was in danger, the Sentinel Colorado reported.
Members of McClain’s family have said that the 23-year-old would wear an open-face ski mask because he "had anemia and would sometimes get cold."
He was not like other 23-year-olds. During his lunch breaks, Elijah McClain sometimes played the violin for animals at the local shelter. He thought they, too, deserved some music in their lives. He craved space to be himself, and when officers of the Aurora, Colo., police department approached him on the evening of Aug. 24, 2019, that is what Elijah McClain tried to tell them.
A police overview of the incident said that McClain resisted contact with an officer, which caused a struggle, but the officer bodycams do not show the altercation. McClain could be heard saying,
“I can’t breathe. I have my ID right here. My name is Elijah McClain. That’s my house. I was just going home. I’m an introvert. I’m just different. That’s all. I’m so sorry. I have no gun. I don’t do that stuff. I don’t do any fighting. Why are you attacking me? I don’t even kill flies! I don’t eat meat! But I don’t judge people, I don’t judge people who do eat meat. Forgive me. All I was trying to do was become better. I will do it. I will do anything. Sacrifice my identity, I’ll do it. You all are phenomenal. You are beautiful and I love you. Try to forgive me. I’m a mood Gemini. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. Ow, that really hurt. You are all very strong. Teamwork makes the dream work. Oh, I’m sorry I wasn’t trying to do that. I just can’t breathe correctly.” **continues to vomit from the pressure to his chest and neck.** (<—Those were his last words!)
He is laying on the ground vomiting, he is begging, he is saying, 'I can't breathe.' One of the officers says, 'Don't move again. If you move again, I'm calling in a dog to bite you.”
When the paramedics arrived they administered a dose of Ketamine to the already unconscious Elijah to "sedate" him. McClain was loaded into the ambulance where the paramedic determined he was not breathing and did not have a pulse.
He was declared brain dead three days later.
If you still find yourself brushing these stories off as emotional fluff, ask your cream-corn-colored self if your son or daughter would have been treated the same way by our police. Think about the fact that James Eagen Holmes shot up a whole movie theater of souls in Aurora (same city where Elijah died), but that depraved soul was still arrested peacefully.
Q and I spoke about Elijah in depth.
We spoke about his kind heart for donating time to go comfort cats with the sounds of his violin; we spoke about how he was also vegetarian; we spoke about how there is no excuse or reason for his treatment other than minds poisoned with reactionary racist fear of “others”; we spoke about that panicky fear where you start trying to tell villains all about how kind you are but their hate and anger makes them deaf to your words, yet how profoundly big-hearted Elijah was to be telling these murders “YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL, I LOVE YOU”; we spoke about racism again and how he needs to be aware of it at all times so he can speak-up and be an ally; and we spoke about how Elijah’s mother and father will carry their grief for the rest of their days.
When Q heard the song above, he said through tears, “Andrew Bird…he makes songs that sound like how I feel sometimes…like tentacles swirling all around, and each part is a different feeling and some are beautiful and some are sad… Elijah’s mama is probably so sad she’s mad and I hope she doesn’t get so mad that it’s like ‘My Sister’s Tiny Hands’…though I could understand why she would be.”
Why did Q mention“My Sister’s Tiny Hands”? It’s actually a cover of a Handsome Family song, but the Andrew Bird version is a Q favorite. It’s a haunting howl of grief and revenge, and I once asked him why he liked it so much, and he said, “Because it’s beautiful, and it explains the dangers of revenge better than any other song I know. He has every reason to be upset, but he shouldn’t be harming the snakes, trees, and river with his anger.”
Elijah’s parents are calling for justice. Justice for a son who was taken from then cruelly and violently, and now enough voices have hollered loudly enough to cause a sliver of forward movement: “Colorado Gov. Appoints Special Prosecutor To Reopen Probe Of Elijah McClain Death.”
How can you help demand justice for Elijah McClain?
Sign the petition calling for justice for Elijah McClain here.
Donate to a fundraiser organized by McClain's mother, Sheneen McClain, in order to demand justice and start a foundation in his name here.
Email Aurora officials, using a template created by @justiceforelijahmcclain, here.
Call Aurora officials, using a script created by @justiceforelijahmcclain, here.
Donate to the Colorado Freedom Fund here.
Split a donation between bail funds across the country here.
Donate to Black Lives Matter here.
Continue for a family trying to live as kindly as possible in a realm of chaos; a family who believes that these delusions of difference are rotting us from the core, and if we all started eating compassionately we’d grow the awareness that we’re all the same species, we’re all connected…and that regardless of your spectrum, we’re all going to be over our heads in famine, water shortages, acidified oceans, and cataclysmic storms if we don’t start focusing on a sustainable diet. Special bonus: a cacophony of studies and doctors have proven that a plant-based whole-food diet is the healthiest diet for humans, the only one proven to reverse our #1 Cause Of Death (<—cardiovascular disease), and it’s the cheapest. We need to start thinking with broader minds and bigger hearts before it’s too late.
Live Kindly, Feast Kindly, Grow Forward.
Q’s Morning Chalkboad: Math Work
Plant-Based Kiddo Breakfast: overnight oats, blackberries, golden flax (<—1.99 at Aldi’s), and some peanuts.
When you are summer homeschooling a 5yr old sci-fi enthusiast.
Plant-Based Lunch: Vegetable Red Curry (with cauliflower, peas, broccoli, kale, mustard greens, and carrots), with black rice noodles, quinoa, and green onions.
Plant-Based Whole-Food Dessert: smoothie made with oatmilk, frozen raspberries, frozen banana, frozen blueberries.
Test-Kitchened a new cashew creamcake recipe and will do test #2 today so I can post the recipe by Tuesday.
Vegetable variants and precious jewels.
This is one of 2 remaining watermelon radishes we have squirreled away in the fridge from our Winter CSA. If you find yourself with some radishes this week, try out our quick-pickled radish recipe. (It’d work with any radish, but watermelon radishes are sweater.)
Plant-Based Family Feasting: roasted sweet potato, black rice, romaine, pea tentrils, quick-pickled radishes, green onions, and roasted pepitas.
What it looks like after it’s been hit with nutritional yeast (<—has a cheesy flavor and is full of essential B12) and enchilada sauce.
Cashew Cream Cake Test Batch 1 was an almost win. The crust was/is perfect and the filling’s texture was perfect, but I had opted for lemon flavored and we all agreed that vanilla with berry would have been more balanced. (<—with the acidity of fresh berries, you don’t need the acid of lemon.)
This whole cake is made raw! You just have to throw it into the fridge for a few hours and you’re set. Q’s going to make Test #2 with me today as a birthday cake for his grandma, and we’ll post the recipe on Tuesday.
Nightly Reading
Mornings around here.
I’m often down before these two, and when they join me in the kitchen it is always for a family hug. Q’s favorite is when Wicket is involved. :-) Family hugs continue through the day because this family luckily loves each other deeply and we like to show it.
My website often sounds like such a clangy klaxon of wail that you may assume I’m angry all the time, but it is the opposite. I’m the firsthand witness of how much one’s life can change when you start focusing beyond feeding yourself harmful-comfort. I woke up and realized how much we are all harming this fragile environment and it makes me buzz forward with a Mama Bear’s fierce passion to protect this young sweet soul’s future.
I volley between moments of absolute joy that I got everything I wanted (a home where I am loved and safe) and the forward-moving swell to make sure we don’t ruin the possibility of Q having the same. If my voice sounds harsh, it’s because most of this stuff we KNOW yet we choose to ignore it purely for taste and ease.
Plant-Based Kiddo Breakfast Pt 2: when you like yesterday’s so much you want it again…this time with a dollop of the lemon cashew cream.
(Again, plant-based isn’t giving up flavor. It’s often holding your kid back from gorging himself because he likes it so much.)
More berry-picking as exercise, fresh-air, and budget-saving meal-prepping.
Stopped at Red Mill on the way home to throw stones.
Homeschooling with a sci-fi enthusiast who is also a realist. :-D
Q’s Friday Artwork blew me away.
It’s been months since he’s seen Arrival, but it was on his mind again.
”It’s the alien from Arrival and he’s trying to communicate. He telling her his name and writing it in ink that kinda hovers for a second before whooshing away.”
Plant-Based Whole-Food Lunch: sweet potato, “Holy Moly!” Sauce, broccoli, avocado, black rice, enchilada sauce, and roasted pepitas.
“Look, Mama! It’s a giant Sarlacc!”
(When life has been friendless/play-date-less for 4 months, but your kiddo can thankfully still find fun in his building blocks.)
Outside growth: current Calypso Cucumber status.
This is another thing that is keeping Q busy: letting me know how all of our vegetables are doing.
Breakfast For Dinner Treat: Beyond Breakfast Sausages (Plant-Based, Gluten Free, Soy Free), oatmeal, fresh strawberry sauce, pecans, flax meal, and golden flax seeds.
Smoothie = blueberries, date, kale, sorrel, spirulina, and oatmilk.
Q’s new mental junkfood treat (The Floor is Lava) and homemade plant-based/zero-waste popcorn.
Nightly Books
Saturday morning, Crystal came over early for a forward-movement meeting, and then we went to go pick up our CSA haul together.
How I pack away so many greens and keep them fresh through a week: reusable containers.
Here seen: pea tendrils, 2 containers of lettuce, and kale.
This was a new attempt and it was a homerun.
We usually quick-pickle an array of things separately, and last year I would have roasted this parsnip and that kholrabi. I’ve since learned that all of these beauties can be eaten raw, so I diced them all up and made what we’re calling Quick-Pickled Medley (QPM for short).
This worked so well! Try out the brine from either of our quick-pickled recipes and increase per volume of vegetables. You will not be disappointed and your microbiome will thank you dearly.
Whipped up three sauces to help us through the week: sunflower seed curry, Holy Moly, and pesto.
Sunflower Seed Curry Sauce
Coming soon! This was the first test-batch and it turned out great! Need to do another batch before posting so I make sure it works again. :-)
Plant-Based Whole-Food Lunch: black rice, QPM, apples, snap peas, lettuce, sunflower seed curry sauce, and green onions.
Dessert: overnight oats, berry reduction (<—no need for sugar), flax meal, and pecans.
This tastes like berry cobbler with less fuss, less time wasted, and less resources wasted (<—gas/electricity for baking.)
“Mama, I made a giant squid! Can you take a picture of me walking by and then it grabs me?”
Thank goodness he knows how to keep himself entertained. <3
Drawing Lessons. <3
Plant-Based Whole-Food Family Feasting: polenta, lentil loaf, marinara, pesto, lettuce, and pea tendrils.
Nightly Reading
We’d watched a Skinwalker Ranch documentary (with fast-forwarding through the cattle parts) for Family Movie Night because both Ian and Q are keen on alien studies (I am interested but it also gives me the mental willies). Q was all jazzed up and wanted to read “Darkest Dark” because it’s astronaut Chris Hadfield’s story of overcoming his fear of the dark to embrace studying the vast dark of the universe.
”I want these two books because they are both about aliens, but in different ways.”
He’s such a crystallized form of his father that it often makes my heart skip a beat.
