What is worthy of your mental space? Your tangible offerings? How much of yourself are you willing to dedicate to mental bandwidth or physical expenditures? There are limitations based on obligations to life. These obligations are necessary in order to satisfy Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. The remainder of your time is yours. This is the space filled with electives. There is an ordered ranking of the value of each of life’s electives, or, spare time. All of these variables continually change based on events and circumstance external to the locus of control. The constant is always evolving.

What we choose to do in our spare time is our decision to make. At least, we would like to believe it is our decision. There are times when you stop suddenly, look around, and decide to step out of line. Some need time to mentally marinate while others snap with an epiphany… a light is turned on and you see damning, worldly consequences to the actions being taken by your government’s leadership.

History has taught us well. No “right” has ever been granted without a fight. Amendments to the Constitution weren’t written out of boredom. They were written after much organizing, protesting, and often, bloodshed. When civil liberties are being dismissed and humans are being denied basic needs, it is our patriotic responsibility to act. Your phone isn’t going to ring until you’ve done something to unite with others or develop a “Resistance.” Well, that’s not popular, is it? There’s a line for a reason. Activism means doing something to make change happen in society.

Pacifists stay within the lines. Activist drew those lines, and KNOW this – apathy has never played a role in advancing a society. People are beginning to step out of line for the greater purpose of humanity. It is not about a political party anymore; it’s about the structure of government and the impact that structure is having on society. Look around, it’s time for a revolution!

We KNOW what inaction is doing. Nothing. Children continue to be victimized by ICE per Executive Order. Rights continue to be stripped from groups being discriminated against. Subsidies will continue to be withdrawn from the impoverished, from those who have or are currently serving the U.S. military, and from anyone who isn’t a wealthy, heterosexual, white male.

THE MOVEMENT IS ABOUT A FIGHT FOR DEMOCRACY. It’s not about left or right, it’s about right and wrong. Participate. Vote. Canvass. Organize. Make calls. Drive voters to polls. Do something. Start now!

I’ve never had a strong sense of patriotism, but only because it hadn’t occurred to me that being a patriot involves participation. It is participation that builds a democracy. It is continued participation that maintains a democracy. I was riding the coat strings of activist for the past 150 years. Those days are over for me.

The truth is that there are only a couple of reasons I’ve voted since turning 18. Civil rights activists fought and some gave their lives, so that I am able to cast my ballot. I have always believed that the government has the responsibility for providing basic needs to the people inhabiting our great nation. These reasons were the sum total of my personal accountability and responsibility to vote.

The last 18 months have fostered a depth of appreciation for this country that has prompted me to act. I’ve never been unpatriotic, just a passive recipient of the rights that have been hard fought – for me. I have never been ‘proud’ to be an American until we began to lose what made us the United States of America… Not merely accepting diversity, but embracing and celebrating it. We are not a melting pot, we are a salad bowl. We were.

Democracy has not been blatantly dismissed in our nation’s history until 45. I will not refer to “him” as the president, because he was not a democratically elected leader. The sacredness and integrity of the election process of the United States has been betrayed.

There are so many experiences, exchanges, and life lessons that go into the core people we become. The vigor of my resolve is deeply rooted. It took a while to come full circle, but I now understand the connection between my core values and my newly impassioned commitment to the U.S.

For greater insight into the history of my birthplace in terms of civil rights, read https://www.jstor.org/stable/26476405, cited below. I was born in Monroe, Louisiana and lived there through grade school. The culture of the community presented a very clear racial divide. It was unspoken because it was the norm. I credit my family, particularly my grandfather, for teaching me why our family did not go with the grain. The ‘n’ word was heard daily – in school, at any gathering with others, and openly in public. But, not in my home.

I remember asking my grandfather why he slept with a gun next to the sliding glass door, circa 1986. He went on to tell me the series of events that led to his permanent post for sleeping. My grandfather was approached by the KKK to join in 1958. It was what white men did. My grandfather didn’t. He declined to join several times. They ultimately threatened to kill him and his family. He refused. My father recalled the memory of not being able to leave the house for days. This was when my grandfather bought a couple of guns and the beginning of his new sleeping post.

I was so taken back that he refused to join after they threatened him and his family that I lost his message initially. I asked him why he didn’t join. He said, “We do the right thing because it’s the right thing to do, period.” I was bought in from that moment.

His lesson about the inherent dignity, value, and worth of each person planted embers deep within me. I remember being taunted by peers when I sat on a swing next to a black girl. I believe I was in the 4th grade. She told me I should go. I didn’t want to go. She was nice and she made me laugh. I cannot remember her name, but I remember that day. That day, I made my first black friend – and it felt good for her to be my friend. I didn’t “get” the significance for her until years later.

I look back and see that I was taught to treat civil rights as a way of life. I did. My brother did. The culture of my home went against the culture of hate. I see the overlap between civil liberties and the government. The embers were imprinted at a young age. The realization that I needed to participate in the fight to restore civil liberties, humanitarian efforts, and democracy was the spark.

I want to unite with other patriots and participate in making democracy work again.

FAULKENBURY, E. (2018). “Monroe is Hell”: Voter Purges, Registration Drives, and the Civil Rights Movement in Ouachita Parish, Louisiana. Louisiana History: The Journal of the Louisiana Historical Association,59(1), 40-66. Retrieved January 9, 2020, from http://www.jstor.org/stable/26476405

Democracy.

I never appreciated being a beneficiary of The Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave. The 2016 election would forever change the country I was proud to call home.

Since becoming president, darkness has reigned as the POTUS crafted The 4th Reich. The crimes against humanity and democracy are nicely outlined, https://www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/the-complete-listing-so-far-atrocities-1-546. October 18, 2018 is the last entry of this article.

All of the political chaos was lost in the noise for me until the chilling government shutdown on December 22, 2018. 35 days of crippling silence because the “leader” found his hill to die on… the border wall. NBC News correspondent Gabe Gutierrez exposed pictures of the atrocities on Twitter. Suddenly, politics meant nothing and humanity meant everything.

Never again, happened. It hasn’t stopped happening. Everyone knows thousands of families have been torn apart by ICE in accordance with the directives of the POTUS. Weeks passed, then, months passed, and nothing has changed. Well, that’s not accurate. Children have been continually sexually/physically assaulted, sold off as though they are mere tangible items, and forever damaged with emotional angst. I watch in horror.

I deactivated my FB account and haven’t looked back. I found a sense of community on Twitter. I lost my first account after 3 weeks. The learning curve on twitter TOS was steep.

The forum’s TOS became a political move. Dorsey met privately with the POTUS in late April of this year. https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2019/04/23/trump-meets-with-twitter-ceo-jack-dorsey-white-house/ The focal point was disguised as a war on the opiod abuse. The truth is simple. He wanted a greater following. He further complained that the forum was engaged in “political games.”

The toll of watching the demise of the framework upon which the US Constitution was founded, and amended over time, prompted me to act. The time for talking was over. I watched in horror until I realized it was me that needed to do something. Not just me, but you, all of us.

Fast forward to today. I have spent hours upon hours learning civics, and digging for recourse for The Resistance. I’ve had the pleasure of meeting and becoming friends with many like-minded patriots.

The feeling that I was/am making a difference died yesterday.

Watching the polarized, partisan, House Judiciary Committee for hours yesterday brought a realization of the truth. Unless the prez is impeached, our lives, our children’s lives, will move forward without democracy. I see no evidence of the Reich side of the senate moving.

Impeachment or Civil War looms.

If you are NOT frightened, you are not paying attention.