Karen’s Clayton Jackson McGhie Memorial Fundraiser

I was SO, SO, SO (SO!!!) inspired by a virtual training I attended today called, “Understanding Our Duluth Lynchings: Racial Violence in America and the Road to Justice and Reconciliation,” sponsored by the MInnesota Humanities Center and several other organizations. The keynote speaker was my favorite, Bryan Stevenson, who wrote (and lived) Just Mercy, who shared his message of HOPE in his amazing work to repair the evils of racial discrimination as he provides hope to the poor and helpless, many on death row who have lost hope. The event was part of the commemoration of the 100th anniversary (postponed from 2020) of these horrific lynchings in Duluth. Other wonderful speakers provided important historical and legal context, including details of other relatively unknown events that helped early civil rights champions slowly grow support for their work.

The event takeaway: There is so much work yet to be done to move forward and heal from this country’s racist history, but there is HOPE. Many speakers deftly connected the historic events to the death of George Floyd, making the history of racial discrimination relevant to current events and important work being done today all over the country. The speakers encouraged the audience to volunteer, even here in MN, to support Mr. Stevenson’s work (they physically collect soil in jars from lynching sites all over the country and display the soil at the National Memorial for Peace and Justice and the Legacy Museum: From Enslavement to Mass Incarceration!), and to have difficult conversations about race with family, colleagues and friends.

So, it is NOT my birthday but I would encourage you to support my “non-birthday fundraiser” for the Clayton Jackson McGhie Memorial in Duluth, MN. Not only do they share the message of hope and progress despite such a horrific event, but they also provide scholarships to inspirational high school students and even help defray the cost of driver’s license education for students in need in the Duluth area.

Of note, I may be planning a trip to the memorial in the next year, I need to decide if I will include a jaunt over to Mankato as part of this pilgrimage, and even better, perhaps a trip to Montgomery, AL to visit the National Memorial for Peace and Justice and the Legacy Museum: From Enslavement to Mass Incarceration.

I’ll try to post the replay of the event if/when it is available. It’s a little lawyerly/nerdy at times (lawyers got professional credit but teachers and others attended as well) but the important message is still so very valuable.