by Leslie Kimes
Say his name.
George Floyd.
Say all of their names.
Generations of names.
The time has come for our reckoning.
No more grown men calling out for their mothers.
No more pain.
No more senseless hatred.
Live in love and compassion.
Make them proud.
Equal justice for all.
We see you.
We hear you.
We stand by you.
Without love and compassion, humanity will not survive.
Leslie Kimes graduated from Hamline University in 1982 and Hamline University School of Law in 1985. She has practiced general civil litigation, probate, bankruptcy, and family law throughout her career and currently specializes solely in family law. She offices in Brooklyn Park.
What inspired you to take on a creative hobby? My parents were both professional artists (actor, musician), and my mother has published a book and several poems and continues to write a newspaper column, so I come by creative writing honestly. It has been a way to express my creative side, which is so very different than legal writing.
What advice/tips do you have for other attorneys looking to take on a creative hobby? I write in a stream of consciousness, free-form manner when something strongly affects me, such as the death of George Floyd, the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre, the death of a friend. It has been cathartic and a stress reliever in what can otherwise be a wildly stressful day as a family law attorney.