My 2025 A to Z Challenge theme is activism. I’ve been a Black Lives Matter activist for over a decade. I’m not an expert. I do have experience to share and I’m hoping to learn from your experiences, too. We’re all in this together.

I want to acknowledge that most of what I know about activism, I learned from black women. Mostly, that was live and in person, from black women leaders in the St. Louis area since 2014, when Michael Brown was killed, and before.

Amy Hunter is one of those inspirational women. Her message about lucky zip codes still applies, ten years later:

Right now, I’m learning from adrienne maree brown. I’ve been reading Emergent Strategy as I thought about what to say in my recent presentations. Emergent Strategy is beautiful and poetic, and I tried to let the energy infuse my thoughts.

If you love nature, especially plants and birds, I recommend immersing yourself in Emergent Strategy. This is a book that we need in the present moment.

With her sister, Autumn Brown, adrienne maree brown hosts a podcast called How to Survive the End of the World. That title has never felt so relevant. I find the episodes informational, comforting, and actionable.

B is also for Booker. Yesterday, Senator Cory Booker broke the record for the longest speech on the Senate Floor. That record, to our country’s great shame, was previously held by Strom Thurmond’s filibuster of the Civil Rights Act. That significance was not lost on the senators in the room.

I had no idea that the catharsis that I needed was Senator Cory Booker and his Democrat colleagues talking about all the things that I’m worried about and that people I talk to are worried about. I kept getting choked up by stories about veterans, farmers, children, and elders. And, not just about current suffering, but about past service and heroism and determination. And not just about the past, but also about how we can build a better future, in solidarity with one another.

I watched on and off for much of the day and completely for the final 90 minutes or so.

In the final few minutes, Senator Booker quoted John Lewis: “Go out and cause some good trouble, necessary trouble.”

He quoted the Declaration of Independence: “We must ‘mutually pledge our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor.'”

And he repeated something that he said many times over the hours: “This is a moral moment. It’s not left or right. It’s right or wrong.”