A Message of Hope, Sprung from Love

From Juneteenth through Pride and July 4, it’s a special time. I stop often to reflect on our nation, where we were, where we have come. This past weekend was a perfect symbol in my own mind of the promise of America.

My niece Kaili wed her fiancé Ramsay at a beautiful ceremony inside a grove of redwoods in Berkeley, California, the town where Kaili’s parents and her grandparents also were married. Kaili’s father (my brother John) is Chinese, and her late mother Rachael was white. Ramsay’s father is from Burkina Faso in Africa, and his mother is white. Together the newlyweds make a striking, multiracial couple. Here they are, with Kaili wearing her mama’s wedding dress, and Ramsay in traditional West African formal wear.

Many of the groom’s guests flew in from Africa, and some spent days sightseeing—Vegas, Yosemite, the Grand Canyon—before arriving for the festivities. Some had never tried dim sum before and were instantly hooked. Nearly all were in interracial relationships. There were many non-binary and trans guests, too. As the guests danced after the wedding, it was impossible not to relish in the beautiful diversity.

In Berkeley, California, this sort of international gathering isn’t that unusual. But as I looked around and soaked in the love and family vibes, it was hard not to consider that 100 years ago, none of this would have been legal or possible. And 200 years ago, those from Africa didn’t come to our shores as tourists.

America has a long way to go, but it has also made great strides and great progress.

And it is love, within families and communities, that has moved us forward. Love sees people for who they are, meets them where they are, within the identities they inhabit, whether cultural, gender or sexual. When regressive forces push against these things, what they are fighting against is love.

But love? It always wins in the end.

Happy Juneteenth, from my extended family to yours.

Jay