To the editor:

My prayer this year was for the perspective and wisdom to know beauty and love. I have asked for the ability to see community grow like healing plants in a new garden. In order to plant a garden, you need a couple of things. You need garden tools and plants. You need space to place and to grow the plants. You need water, air, sunlight and compost. But in order to keep a garden you need other things. You need permission from ancestors. You need the power of a community to sustain it. You need a fearful love. 

Earlier in the year, we asked people to love. We chanted, “I love you! I love me! I love us! I love we!” Love is no easy task or fleeting word. After all of the difficulty of organizing, challenging CC, creating Black Previews, doing homework, being a good friend and maintaining good dental care, love has been no easy task for me. The response from the work I have done to be Black and proud on this campus has scared me and made me feel alienated or alone. Alt-right videos and articles with my name and face have made me anxious and scared. I asked: Who will keep me safe?

I fear no man. I fear no weapon (Isaiah 54:17). I only fear love. I fear the love of God. I fear the love of ancestors. I fear the love of my family, both biological and logical, family of blood and water. I fear the love of the water, air, sunlight and compost. I fear the love of gardens and the communities that grow them. I only fear the things I couldn’t live without. My prayer has been answered. I am thankful to everyone who loves me and cares for me. Who do you fear? Who loves you? Amen & Ashe.

Isaiah Blake ’21