We wake to a new world this Monday. One where so much untold hurt, suffering, and unprocessed grief has cracked open, a deep divide laid bare a raw, exposed, and painful truth that has festered in our souls, one we may have hidden away so deep we'd forgotten its message, but our souls remember. Our souls know we need connection, another word for love, to thrive, to shine, to fulfill our greatest purpose. Connection with one another, not because of race, but regardless of race.

The driftwood pictured above rests on my kitchen windowsill. I found it washed up on the shore of the James River at Governor Douglas Wilder’s Charles City riverfront home, during a visit there last year. It is shaped oddly like Virginia, don't you think? As the first African American elected Governor in 1989, and grandson of a former slave, Wilder, has championed telling the larger story of our history, including all the voices of our national story. A story where the waters, through periods of turbulence and of peace, are still muddied with toxicity and hatred. For me, this driftwood is a powerful reminder of our past, the power of time to witness change, but it is also a reminder of how far we still have yet to travel that great divide of difference that was sown on these very shores 401 years ago this summer. A divide that is painful, confusing and that undermines the great strength that comes from recognizing the contributions of all our Americans. And it goes beyond recognizing. Taking action in support of that effort. Expressing gratitude for the contributions of our Black Americans. Seeing our own bias and resolving to do the work of healing. Black Americans are still hurting and fighting deeply embedded prejudices, and I’m hurting because they are hurting. We must reach out across whatever divide exists in our own spheres and embrace our differences, finding common ground, weaving together a richer tapestry through partnership, washing away the divide through real conversation, smoothing the rough edges with care, welcoming each other as neighbors in love, healing the deep pain, and building a brighter next 400 years of freedom to be who we are called to be as human beings. United. Embodied by the spirit we all share. We must start the work of this new world. We must do this for our children and our grandchildren. We must leave them a legacy of friendship and faith - justice and peace - not one of inequality and fear. Basket & Bike stands for the fuller story, the more complete stories of our shores with a desire for the greater community over the common table. We've been trying to do just that since our first Signature Ride four years ago, to open the aperture just enough shed more light on the true national story. More needs to be done and I invite you to join me in this discovery along a little stretch of the world where for good and ill, this all began.

Personally, I am very happy to have one very special black woman joining Basket & Bike again this summer when she finishes her sophomore year studying entrepreneurship at Drexel University. Emily Asare has been helping Basket & Bike since her senior year at St. Catherine's School and starting next Monday she will be supporting our growing Etsy Shop and other merchandise sales and marketing. Her youthful energy, creative ideas (see her own business @willowxdesigns on IG and Etsy), and knowledge of small business retail is an asset during a time when an interest in our biking products is growing. Welcome Back, Emily!

Emily Asare - 3rd summer working for Basket & Bike