I teach English to our immigrant population- mostly moms with kids in our public schools. They have escaped unfathomable hardships, including gang terrorism and threatening their children with violence. Deeply disturbed about how to protect them from the menace unfolding in this country.
This is well written and very powerful. We are watching this all happen (not to mention the many things happening behind closed doors) and we cannot ignore the truths.
Thank you for this. It is so important to remember that speaking out is not just about going to protests, emailing and calling representatives, etc...It is also summoning the courage to speak up during family gatherings, at the grocery store, at the gas station...I decided this Thanksgiving I was not going to only discuss the superficial aspects of our lives. I looked for a break in the conversation and started to talk about how upset I was at what is going on in our country and that the govt shutdown and stoppage of SNAP benefits had prompted me to volunteer at a food pantry. That went over like a lead balloon... But I followed it up with some direct statements about how our govt officials claim to be Christian and yet they are giving tax breaks to wealth hoarders while taking food away from poor people and how they are not to be admired (the billionaires) but rather should be publicly shamed and how if Jesus came down right now he would be overturning some tables...These relatives that were forced to listen to me (we were at a restaurant) are "Christians", Trump voters, FOX watchers, etc so I imagine my diatribe fell on deaf ears. But at least I did not stay silent. It was not easy, and I felt sad and lonely afterwards. But I am able now to look back on that and be just a little proud of myself for speaking up. Thank you again for the encouragement and validation. May we prevail.
I have a magnet on my car that reads “Only caring about your own rights is exactly how you lose them”. I live in a small city in MS that’s about 75% white with a median household income of about $93,000- making it easier for (white) people to be willfully ignorant. My nephew is a landscape architect who employs numerous Latinos. I’d heard last week that ICE was coming to the state, and told him to watch out for his guys. His response? “Ha ha thank you, my guys are legal”. Of course I explained that this fact does not matter to ICE and CBP, but he continued to shrug it off 🤦🏼♀️.
Cruelty by any other name is cruelty just the same.
I was in Washington DC earlier this year and visited the Holocaust Museum. It was a profound experience. Anyone who has never been should definitely visit. Especially now. Especially while it’s still open. And especially while you still can.
I visited it in the nineties. Overwhelming. A few years later, Auschwitz-Birkenau. There, you have the feeling the ghosts are hovering above your head. Some bodies should be shackled and imprisoned there for a couple of days. This brings back reminiscences of the Twilight Zone episode "Deaths-Head Revisited". I know, I am rambling, but at times ...
sadly, it wasn't until the brutal murder of george floyd in may 2020 that i finally had the awakening that it is my obligation to use my white privilege to dismantle & ultimately end white privilege ... i had been somewhat of an activist before, this was the moment, though, that careened me into full-throttle activism ...
this is a brilliant, insightful & imperative piece; thank you so much for sharing it ... i hope that every american reads & understands it in this most precarious moment in history that we are living through ...
That was very powerful.
As for me, I studied ww2 decades ago, so i had no trouble believing this is all happening.
The frustrating part is getting others to see it.
I have found things I can do to fight back and I will not stop. This is not the world I want to leave for the kids
The only way I sleep at night is by doing what I can during the day to protect neighbors and democracy.
Reading this gave me chills. Whenever one group or one segment of society is targeted it affects ALL of us -- no matter what those in "power" say.
I teach English to our immigrant population- mostly moms with kids in our public schools. They have escaped unfathomable hardships, including gang terrorism and threatening their children with violence. Deeply disturbed about how to protect them from the menace unfolding in this country.
This is well written and very powerful. We are watching this all happen (not to mention the many things happening behind closed doors) and we cannot ignore the truths.
Thank you for this. It is so important to remember that speaking out is not just about going to protests, emailing and calling representatives, etc...It is also summoning the courage to speak up during family gatherings, at the grocery store, at the gas station...I decided this Thanksgiving I was not going to only discuss the superficial aspects of our lives. I looked for a break in the conversation and started to talk about how upset I was at what is going on in our country and that the govt shutdown and stoppage of SNAP benefits had prompted me to volunteer at a food pantry. That went over like a lead balloon... But I followed it up with some direct statements about how our govt officials claim to be Christian and yet they are giving tax breaks to wealth hoarders while taking food away from poor people and how they are not to be admired (the billionaires) but rather should be publicly shamed and how if Jesus came down right now he would be overturning some tables...These relatives that were forced to listen to me (we were at a restaurant) are "Christians", Trump voters, FOX watchers, etc so I imagine my diatribe fell on deaf ears. But at least I did not stay silent. It was not easy, and I felt sad and lonely afterwards. But I am able now to look back on that and be just a little proud of myself for speaking up. Thank you again for the encouragement and validation. May we prevail.
May your message echo in their ears. May you fuel your courage with balanced comforts. May your speaking up fuel your continuing efforts.
Thank you so much Grace...
Powerful piece, keep it up!
I have a magnet on my car that reads “Only caring about your own rights is exactly how you lose them”. I live in a small city in MS that’s about 75% white with a median household income of about $93,000- making it easier for (white) people to be willfully ignorant. My nephew is a landscape architect who employs numerous Latinos. I’d heard last week that ICE was coming to the state, and told him to watch out for his guys. His response? “Ha ha thank you, my guys are legal”. Of course I explained that this fact does not matter to ICE and CBP, but he continued to shrug it off 🤦🏼♀️.
Agree 1,000%.
If we stay silent the darkness will spread.
It’s our time to rise, to fight for freedom, for justice. “
Read this, comfortable white folks. While you can.
First they came for the Communists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Communist
.
Then they came for the Socialists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Socialist
.
Then they came for the trade unionists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a trade unionist
.
Then they came for the Jews
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Jew
.
Then they came for me
.
And there was no one left
To speak out for me
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_They_Came
Cruelty by any other name is cruelty just the same.
I was in Washington DC earlier this year and visited the Holocaust Museum. It was a profound experience. Anyone who has never been should definitely visit. Especially now. Especially while it’s still open. And especially while you still can.
I visited it in the nineties. Overwhelming. A few years later, Auschwitz-Birkenau. There, you have the feeling the ghosts are hovering above your head. Some bodies should be shackled and imprisoned there for a couple of days. This brings back reminiscences of the Twilight Zone episode "Deaths-Head Revisited". I know, I am rambling, but at times ...
This. And coming 2025 to a neighborhood near you.
Perfectly written! We all MUST stand up to this regime!
If it affects you or me, it affects the rest of the 80%
THIS. This is what I've been thinking about since the election. This nightmare will not leave out any of us.
sadly, it wasn't until the brutal murder of george floyd in may 2020 that i finally had the awakening that it is my obligation to use my white privilege to dismantle & ultimately end white privilege ... i had been somewhat of an activist before, this was the moment, though, that careened me into full-throttle activism ...
this is a brilliant, insightful & imperative piece; thank you so much for sharing it ... i hope that every american reads & understands it in this most precarious moment in history that we are living through ...