Earlier this month, the killing of Daunte Wright by a police officer brought more pain and anger to people already hurting from the effects of police brutality. Kazu Haga responded by sharing a wish for the movement that it could hold up importance of compassion, of “holding” as the key in “holding others accountable” to keep moving in a direction of healing.

Veronica discusses how challenging it can be to prioritize compassion and how its roots in real experience, with real pain make it more than a fanciful ideal. She ties this concept to Desmond Tutu’s explanation of “ubuntu”: “my humanity is caught up, is inextricably bound up, in yours.”

In our trainings, we often use the two hands of nonviolence to learn how to be strong and work our way forward together. Veronica sums it up, “With one hand I say, ‘stop.’ With the other I build a bridge.”