As long as our brains can still think and our Hearts can still beat...

We are equal and all are deserving of respect, love, and to freely, peacefully, healthily live and prosper.

For a person or whole group of people not to know this without a shadow of doubt means that their parents failed to teach this to their children. Teachers failed to teach this to their students. Mentors failed to teach this to their mentees. Religious leaders failed to teach this to their flock. Historians failed to teach this to their readers. The media failed to teach this to its viewers. Friends failed to teach this to their friends.

Babies don’t wake up one day and think, “hmm… today I’m going to become a bigoted person.” It took group effort or a lack of one to get a person into that mindset.

And as a result, many not all

of those sworn to protect and serve-- fail their community.

Healthcare workers fail their patients.

Politicians fail their constituents.

Judges and lawyers fail their defendants.

The education system fails this current generation.

Housing and neighborhood planners fail their occupants.

Corporations and businesses fail their customers.

Employers fail their employees.

The electoral college fails its voters.

And let's be real--this country was founded on stolen land and a racist genocide of indigenous people and built primarily by people who were stolen from their homeland. And this history goes mostly unacknowledged by the general public. With this in mind, it's not surprising that our government has failed us as a society.

There is a concerted effort by some to condition us to fear one another. To be distracted by shiny things. And to work until the point of exhaustion for those shiny things, so that we don’t feel we have the energy to change the capitalist ideology that puts profit over people and pits us against each other.

I don't say this to be doom and gloom. But it's necessary to bring light to the darkness so that we can see the spaces that need to be healed.

The truth is, as long as our brains can still think and our hearts can still beat,

there is SO MUCH HOPE for us.

Together we can dismantle and transform our society into one that is safe, just, and creates an environment in which we can peacefully and freely prosper. To do this we have to look at the systemic problems. I know it can be ugly. It can feel overwhelming. It can make us all feel powerless. But together, our POWER is LIMITLESS!

Doing the self-work and education. Protesting. Voting. Calling and demanding that our budget be reformed to focus on social services and not tax cuts for Big Business, war, and the militarization of our police. We must demand action from politicians and businesses. Divest from bigoted corporations and institutions and put our money into businesses and businesses that work to be more inclusive to all people. That’s how change happens.

This is a marathon, not a sprint. And as we pass the baton, may the next 7 generations look back at us and our actions with pride, not shame. And may the history we’re making raise them up into a kinder, more open-minded, just society for all. <3<3