A fluid mix of factors and roles led me to LoveBolt… growing up in Knoxville where Will Davis and his family were such a fundamental part of our lives, working as an attorney in New York, lots of years (and years to come!) of being the mother of four fabulous Gen Z kids, a bit of commercial and interior design, a bit of freelance writing, some visual art projects and now LoveBolt (previously WeWill)…
For the last five years, this project has been much more than a passion — and much more than fulfilling. LoveBolt has allowed me to engage the things I love to do and apply them to a cause that has always meant so much to me due, in large part, to my relationship with Will. This experience of leveraging passions in pursuit of social justice was a trial run for our Bespoke Action Plan model which is a focus of the LoveBolt platform. Choosing a path in the social justice realm that has been so tailored to my particular interests, my specific skill set, and my somewhat eccentric personality type has made me wake up each morning filled with a focused sense of purpose. I am not a morning person but often bound out of bed when I wake to the promise of what is unfolding in my LoveBolt world. Having this solid sense of purpose for the last five years has made me serenely happy and strangely at peace, despite the admittedly manic manner in which certain chapters of LoveBolt have unfolded.
As a nation, we now find ourselves in a surreal time and have what I believe is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to take action and bring the reality of our nation closer to fulfilling the vision of our founders rather than continuing to live the legacy of their hypocrisy. This is not a time for box checks or performative allyship; this is a time when we need to make a sustained commitment to effect change — thoughtfully crafting a personally fulfilling method to serve in a tangible way. We look forward to helping the LoveBolt Agency develop action plans which will be both fulfilling and motivating and scaling our effort to make social inclusion the norm in our nation.
It is fitting that social inclusion is the focus of LoveBolt, as working on this project has led me to meet so many of the remarkable new friends, each of whom has informed the development of LoveBolt in some meaningful way. This project has also led me to reassess and value even more the beautiful life of Will Davis which was centered on constant gratitude and boundless love. LoveBolt is, at its core, about the power of friendship to dissolve socially constructed differences, and there is no better model for this than Will Davis.
My aspiration is to help grow LoveBolt to the point that we no longer need efforts that foster social inclusion because that will have become the norm — I don’t think there could be any greater foe to structural racism than bringing that hope to fruition. When our social lives acquire a bit of hue, social capital will flow freely among us all, releasing power, access, and opportunity that has been stored and passed down in segregated social silos for far too long. My hope is that our nation will become a land where all are not just “created equal” but are treated equally as well and given opportunities to thrive (see Better Capitalism in the Lexicon).
Before we had any “staff,” so many friends of color graciously gave of their time to shape LoveBolt (previous WeWill) — it has been shaped by so many different loving, caring hands. Many of these friends are still very engaged, serving on our board, reading drafts of LoveBolt emails, and helping us develop our network of meetups and events. I want to acknowledge and deeply thank all those listed below. I am humbled by your generosity and your spirit and I am so incredibly appreciative of your willingness to help give form and meaning to LoveBolt…
LOVE,
Kitty Garner
