I invite you to listen to these intergenerational readings curated by Naaz Khan on her monthly children's picture book blog, Infinite Gems, (with reflection questions included!) as a compassionate act in response to the persistent call to end systemic racial injustice. Ending racial injustice takes daily action. Perhaps that sounds daunting. It also, if we open ourselves to listen a little deeper, sings the notes of freedom. Freedom that comes from transformation.

We must continue to be transformed ourselves in order for the world around us to be transformed. This can be painful, humbling, hard, scary, vulnerable, and that is all par for the course. We can learn how to notice those feelings and offer ourselves compassion in light of them. Not by ignoring them or numbing them, but listening to them and discovering what they are trying to say to us. I find often what they are trying to reveal is that we need a touch of love and kindness, healing. That comes by taking small, manageable steps in the direction of transformation. These single steps kindle our desire to persist on the path of transformation—of true life. That harmony within ourselves that then radiates out to all humanity.

May these books for you be a gentle, powerful, compassionate action for you today.