From My Point of View by Penny Manson
Penny Manson
Penny Manson has become a dear friend since we worked together on the Sisters in Crime Capitol Crimes Chapter’s Killer Workshop. Penny is bright, articulate, funny, talented, and exactly the kind of person you would want to be at your side in any situation. At a Zoom meeting where our friend Carla Damron spoke about her new novel that deals with human trafficking and the need to tackle social issues in fiction, Penny expressed how she recently felt while attending Bouchercon in Minneapolis, Minnesota. We were moved by her words and encouraged her to write them down. That’s exactly what she has done. Please take the time to read her important message. Thank you, Penny, for sharing with us. — Paula Gail Benson
From My Point of View by Penny Manson
I attended Bouchercon this year in Minneapolis Minnesota. While many people took pictures with the Mary Tyler Moore statue flinging their hats into the air in the iconic pose most of us watched on TV while growing up, I went to George Floyd Square. When I was younger, I watched Mary Tyler Moore too. What happened on May 25, 2020, came long after that show was on the air nevertheless, the episode was familiar.
I didn’t have transportation of my own and I admit I might not have made it to the square if not for taking the time to visit an Army buddy. Jeri and I went through basic training in another life and I love her dearly. If I was ever in danger, I would want her by my side. As we looked at the mural, brown eyes met blue, and she told me she’d purchased a gun for protection during the days following the George Floyd killing. They lived close enough to the square that if the city erupted in violence, there was fear of getting caught in the cross-hairs. Never before had she ever considered people might want to harm her just because she was white.
Photo by Penny Manson
Most people of color in America were saddened and outraged by what happened to George Floyd, but not all that surprised. For many, it has felt like open season on us for a very long time. I felt unbelievably moved and sad as I looked at the mural that stood vigil over the square. Then I looked at the light fingers intertwined with mine. I thought of the Emily Dickinson poem, “Hope is the thing with feathers That perches in the soul…” Isn’t it amazing how it’s crap that makes things grow? The last Bouchercon I attended was in Dallas in 2019. The makeup of the panels is more diverse now. The look of the authors whose books were nominated for awards has changed. When George Floyd lay, his neck squeezed shut underneath the knee of that officer, not just the Black community was impacted, we all felt the ripples.
I hope we can build a better world from the lessons we have learned. Change is happening, slow but sure, and I believe we’re “gonna make it after all.” I think I’ll go outside and throw my hat in the air.
Photo by Lonnie Paulson
thanks for sharing
Thank you for your words of meaning … if we can only take them to heart and translate them to action.
Thank you, Paula, and thank you Penny for sharing your thoughts. Beautiful post.
An inspirational post. Thanks for sharing.
Just read a memoir Dear Denise by Lisa McNair. The letters she wrote were to her sister, one of the 4 little girls killed by the Birmingham church bombing in 1963. Hate, she noted, comes in all colors, but so does love and it is the only answer. The thing with feathers is alive.
Dru Ann, Debra, Donnell, and Saralyn, thank you for stopping by and commenting. T.K., I so appreciate hearing about McNair’s book and have added it to my TBR list. Penny, thank you for your beautiful words and your lovely spirit.
Thank you for sharing this inspirational post.
Beautifully penned. We did indeed “all felt the ripples” and I’m hoping this next generation is going to ramp up the pace of change and really remake the world.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts with us, Penn. Inhumanity to one person deeply hurts us all. We must do what we can to ensure better days for everyone.
Inspirational!!
Thank you for making us stop, think, and feel!
Beautifully expressed, Penny.
I’m old enough to have watched coverage of The Freedom Riders in real time, to have been on the receiving end of black rage in high school and to have met and spent time talking with Rosa Parks in the twilight of her life.
I asked the Civil Rights icon how she felt about the glacial pace of change in race relations since her courageous moment at the white hot center of the movement.
She gave me a knowing smile. “Sometimes progress is one step forward and three steps backward… You keep walking.”
I’m glad to see progress in the world you and I share, my dear friend May we continue to keep walking and writing about things that matter to us, remembering those who helped amplify our voices and never forgetting that our freedoms are always at risk.