For All

I’m sorry.

To my Black and Brown friends, to all Americans, I hereby offer my open and public apology.

You see, back in 2008, I believed. I saw a man who understood America as I did, who stood for the America I knew could be made real, and I poured my heart and soul into getting that man elected. In the days leading up to the election, I turned my dining room into a command center for the Get Out the Vote work for three precincts, precincts that turned out in unprecedented numbers. And we did it. We flipped the state for Barack Obama.

And then I was done. We won, right? My vision was true: America was a place of opportunity for all! I mean, c’mon, we elected a Black President!

I mean, I kept up with the news. I kept voting my views, speaking my views… But I stopped working them like I had for Obama in 2008. And I wasn’t alone. You could see it coming in the fact that the state flipped back to the Republican side in 2012. You could see it coming in the “birther” movement, in the whole approach to taking down this President. It was more vicious, more thorough, more personal.

And I did nothing.

No, not nothing. I talked. I wrote some stuff. But I did nothing. No activism, no mobilizing. BLM came and went, and I stayed on the sidelines. Antifa did it’s thing, and I stayed on the sidelines. “They got this,” I told myself. “America is better now.”

But it wasn’t better. It isn’t better. We elected Donald Trump, and then… we elected him again? Like, we were smart enough as a nation to realize he was garbage, and then… Nah, let’s try again??

Enough. I was wrong. America isn’t better. But it can be. The America that voted for Barack Obama is still out there. We can still save the patient.

But for those who’ve been fighting this whole time, those who stayed in the struggle, I see you. I got you. I know what I did wrong, and I understand why you’re done. Dark times are coming, and sometimes you survive dark times by taking cover and riding them out.

But someone has to fight to end the dark times, too.

So go, be safe. Take cover. Seek out what joy you can find to stay sane in the days ahead.

Meanwhile, I’ll take the musket down from it’s place over the mantle. I’ll dust it off and put it back on my shoulder. And this time, I won’t stop. We’ll get the job done, and then we’ll rebuild a place where all can have a seat at the table and a voice in the chamber.

For this, I fight.

For Liberty. For Justice.

For ALL.