August in DC has been hot, bright, and heavy. This past week, the Trump administration invoked authority under the D.C. Home Rule Act and activated around 800 National Guard troops to our city. At the same time, multiple federal agencies — including ICE, DEA, DHS, and the FBI — have deployed to our streets, with MPD leadership having formally extended their cooperation. Here in Mount Pleasant, multiple neighbors have been abducted.

The work of showing up for each other continues day in and day out. In our world, death and grief work are never neutral — they’re political. To tend to death and grief is to resist systems that too often disappear, dehumanize, or discard us. The safety we long for isn’t just the absence of harm, but the presence of care. We find this by actively building relationships with one another. 

…Back here in DC, June was no less sweaty. The DC Death Collective had its unofficial “coming out” party at Gays & Graves at Congressional Cemetery. What a smash hit! So wonderful to meet so many of you. It was a day full of drag queens, snow cones, lovely neighbors and travelers, with a good dose of history and community to boot. A dream. We also visited our very own steering committee member Leslie Tolf’s newly-minted, newly-installed headstone, which ~ even though she was tabling with us and we had been hanging out all day ~ felt nothing short of a celebrity sighting. More from her below. 

It’s June, and things are growing. I’ve been so thrilled to see the fig trees begin to bud here in Mount Pleasant DC, and to be with the days as they stretch out longer and longer. This month’s newsletter is growing, too ~ you’ll find a few guest columns we’re especially excited to share. If you feel inspired to send in your own missive for a future edition, please reach out ~ we’d love to hear from you.

In that same spirit of expansion, our steering committee has also started connecting with other death collectives around the country to learn how they’re building and sustaining their communities. These conversations have been rich. We’re also turning inward and asking for your feedback as we shape what’s next together. Planting seeds, rooting down, growing up: ‘tis the season.

A special acknowledgement, too, for Pride month. Of course, we’re out here celebrating joy, life, and love of all stripes ~ and also balancing that with some heavy grief. Grief for who we’ve lost, for what hasn’t changed, for what’s at risk, for what still feels so far away. We’re holding all of it this month ~ and holding each other in it, too.

We’re just getting started with our monthly newsletter, and in the months ahead, these notes will grow a bit more robust. You can expect upcoming events, community offerings, and reflections from members across our network. It’s all part of our effort to connect you with others who care about death work — and yes, you might even spot a few familiar faces.

Do you have something you’d like to share? A workshop, reading, gathering, an art practice? We’d love to include it. Do you have any questions, quandaries, or offerings? Is there anything that you’d love to see, or ways you’d like to be looped in?