If one’s vision is clear and open at this moment, a pivotal juncture for America becomes unmistakable. It stands as the crossroads where we collectively steer toward our best selves or teeter on the precipice of the worst within us. In real-time, we are shaping our shared legacy, and the world, along with our children and countless others unknown to us, observes the nation we bequeath to them.
Future historical accounts will recount these days as either the era when compassionate individuals bridged political, religious, and superficial divides to thwart the ascent of fascism, or as the period when we collectively abandoned our principles. These moments will be etched as times when we either succumbed to numerous assaults on decency or resolved to staunch the bleeding once and for all.
For those unclouded by white supremacy, nationalistic fervor, unacknowledged privilege, or self-preservation, the existential threat we face is undeniable. It is a domestic movement marked by a lack of empathy, disdain for personal liberties, erosion of human rights, and a rejection of diversity. Nothing redemptive or life-giving resides within it. The lingering question is whether we will tolerate it. In the face of profound hatred, claiming neutrality is no longer an option. We are either adversaries or accomplices, vocal opponents, or willing collaborators.
In these critical seconds, we stand at the nexus of history, with the power to shape a legacy either beautiful or grotesque. It boils down to a simple, elemental decision that is imminent.
This isn’t about waiting for external saviors, be it a deity, a political party, a social media figure, or faceless rescuers. No superheroes will descend to save the day; it falls on us to rescue it.
Our salvation lies in breaking free from the immobilizing grip of grief, sadness, and disbelief and plunging into the rugged trenches of passionate resistance. The way forward involves determining what truly matters in life and mustering the courage to defend and protect it actively.
Deciding what is worth fighting for, taking a deep breath, and rejoining the struggle is imperative. It necessitates speaking out, writing, working, protesting, and voting, actions we may have awaited others to undertake, actions we wish good people had executed in the past.
This movement might strain familial ties, disrupt marriages, sever friendships, damage careers, exact personal and financial costs, alienate us from neighbors, and distance us from churches. However, the price of liberty is seldom convenient or comfortable, and it demands payment because others paid it before us. Failure to uphold the moral arc of the universe is a cost we cannot afford.
There’s no excuse good enough for future generations about why we did nothing or grew too weary to persist. Instead of searching for excuses, we need to act now.
Whether it’s the human rights atrocities, perversions of Christianity, environmental plundering, constitutional violations, cries of migrant children, Supreme Court manipulations, attacks on public education, healthcare dismantling, anti-science conspiracies, ignored school shootings, LGBTQ harassment, assaults on women’s autonomy, malicious public servants, distortion of truth, or Nazis marching in our streets, something must resonate within you. Does love, equality, compassion, diversity, or humanity still move the needle for you?
If you’re uncertain about what’s worth your immediate action, only you hold the answer. Instead of dwelling on the horrors, resolve to make them less horrifying. Rather than wondering why no one is acting, be the one to take action. Start in the small, tangible aspects of your daily life, where you have proximity and agency. Step out of the confines of private despair into a realm where your presence can effect change. Use your gifts, influence, breath, and hands to mend something severely broken before it becomes irreparable.
Affirm life, speak truth, defend the vulnerable, call out injustices, and willingly endure criticisms and wounds, recognizing them as a small price for the potential nation if you speak, or the inevitable one if you do not.
While you may not be asked to sacrifice your life for these causes, living for them ensures a beautiful legacy when you depart this planet. If you’re not finding your voice now, it may be too late to worry about it later.
There is an America worth fighting for; find it and fight for it.
