Nature Mimics Life
One fallen tree often leads to numerous fallen trees.
This is a natural consequence, when trees grow near each other.
When a tree falls, it maims and injures the branches of nearby trees.
Or worse, the trees left standing catch the fallen tree and struggle to bear its broken weight.
Any person with eyes can witness this domino effect.
And the most common reason for a tree to fall?
Root rot. Its root system is struggling.
The roots are damaged. Their foundation isn’t holding them.
And the crack of that fallen tree can be heard and felt for miles.
Nature mimics life.
This is not just a story about trees.
This is a story about humanity.
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Now, let me be even more clear:
Breonna Taylor was not a fucking tree.
She was a human being. She was a woman.
She had a favorite song and a favorite color.
She had a job and a commute to work.
She fell asleep and was shot to death.
She, George, Ahmaud, Daniel, Atatiana, Stephon, Botham, Tamir, Philando, Freddie, Alton, Eric.... they did not just fall. They were shot down and forced down.
And our root system — the justice system — is rotten.
It didn’t hold them. It killed them.
And now their friends and family are forever maimed and injured.
They will bear the weight of their lost loved one for the rest of their lives.
Their communities — our collective community — will never be the same.
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My only hope right now is that nature continues to mimic life.
And that new life grows from their ashes.
That their deaths enrich the soil below us, strengthen our roots, and change our foundation.
But we will only witness new growth
if we plant the seeds ourselves.