Blessed Are We

Andrea Hawkins-Kamper
Group of people in yellow Side With Love tshirts standing outside and holding signs in support of abortion access

Blessed are we who gather with open hearts, together, in this space, today.
Blessed are we: the chalice-lighters of resistance, justice, love, and faith.
Blessed are we: the heretics, the outcasts, the walkers of our own way.
Blessed are we: the border-crossers, the refugees, the immigrants, the poor, the wanders who are not lost.
Blessed are we: the transgressors, the trespassers, the passers-by, the cause-takers, the defiant, the compliant.
Blessed are we: the hand-extenders, the sign-makers, the protestors, the protectors.
Blessed are we: the trans women, the trans men, the non-binary, the cisgender, the multigender, the no gender.
Blessed are we: the friend, the stranger, the lonely, the hidden, the visible, the authentic.
Blessed are we who rise in solidarity, blessed are we who cannot, blessed are we who do not.
Blessed are we for this is our Beloved Community, and this is who we are.

Close up of person resting their chin on their hands and looking off into the distance to our left. The scene is lit in black light, which makes glitter makeup on the person’s head and neck fluoresce in yellows and reds.a line of people, of all ages, facing the camera and holding hands, across the intersection of an empty city street