After all of the rain, the park this week -- the thirteenth of the lockdown -- was very lush. I've always loved this tree, which I *think* is an ivory silk lilac. Most of the year, it's very unassuming, but right now, with its small clouds of silver flowers, it hovers above the fray; or maybe, thanks to its beautiful branches, it controls the landscape. Like so much in the world right now, it's something I couldn't quite imagine if I didn't see it for myself.
I was also struck by these oak-leaf hydrangeas and the skinny trunks of the sumacs.
On the way to the park, a sign reminded me of the ongoing Black Lives Matter protests. I felt hopeful knowing that masses of people were taking to the streets and -- despite the risks -- standing up to the police.
I wanted to believe that these protests would spark a wave of reform, but the tepid reaction of our political leaders was dismaying. Though quick to align themselves with the BLM slogans, they showed little interest in concrete reform; the mayor of New York City latched on to 'youth services' as a talking point and promised to divert from the NYPD budget a few thousand dollars to various programs around the city, as if that would address any of the systemic bloat and racism that brought us to this point.
His reaction to BLM was not my only complaint about the mayor. After going on my first lockdown-era bike ride on Friday afternoon, I found myself stuck in rush-hour traffic on Riverside Drive, trying to avoid getting squeezed between two rows of gigantic, moving SUVs and a third row of parked SUVs. (I also found myself cursing the mayor.) I almost can't bring myself to think about the opportunity we -- New York City -- had to address transportation in the city, and how the mayor has completely squandered it.
All of these problems -- racism, environmental degradation, infrastructure, labor -- are all related; it's exhilarating to read articles explaining these connections and proposing solutions, but demoralizing to consider the reactions of our political leaders. So few of them seem equipped to diagnose the extent of what needs to be done, much less have the power to do it. Is it possible for a progressive movement to set the political agenda in the United States?
There were so many people -- so many corporations and lobbyists -- who needed to step or be pushed out of the way. New York City can't even find the political will to put in a few bike lanes: how are we going to start taxing the rich?
If nothing else, it was consoling to think about the lines -- lines of protest, lines of reform, lines of action/inaction -- becoming increasingly clear, which made the idea of crossing them feel almost possible, if not quite inevitable.
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