Thankful Series: My Activist Friends

So, a few days ago, we crossed a milestone that still feels pretty awful for a lot of us. It has been a year since our country managed to elect someone who is completely inappropriate, incompetent, and unworthy of the presidency. 

And it’s not about who lost, or who also ran. It’s hard to imagine many people who would be worse in the position. 

Within a few days of the election, I started to worry about being so open in a very “red state.” After all, we’d only been here a few years, and I really didn’t know many people. 

Fortunately, a local chapter of Pantsuit Nation welcomed me, and I was reminded that no matter where in the world we end up, we always find the people who are like us. 

And one of the things that is so remarkable about so many of the people that I have found, is how much of themselves they put out there in the world to try and make it better. 

That’s something I am fortunate enough to see in many of my friends—both new, and old. It’s something I respect and admire so much. At times, they have even made it possible for me to find ways to be involved as well. 

Without friends like I have found, being part of the Woman’s March on Washington would have been an awful lot harder to do. At least a couple of my new friends worked extremely hard to make that a possibility for several dozen of us. It was amazing!

I still haven’t figured out how to juggle it all so I can contribute as much as I see my other friends contributing. I am a stay-at-home mom, with a three-year-old that demands more attention than I ever imagined possible. I know at some point, she will be big enough to go along with me, and I will be able to do more.

I have friends who have been activists for years, and the knowledge they have about issues never ceases to blow me away. Some of them have had little choice about their activism. When you, and those you love have been victims of discrimination, brutality, inequality, and marginalization, your choices are to either accept the wrong, or stand up for the right. I am constantly amazed by their courage, strength, dignity, and fierceness. And I learn so much from them everyday.  

I know that America is a great country. It is the dream that so many seek. I know that we have freedoms and rights that people in other countries cannot even imagine. At the same time, I know that we can easily succumb to our worser demons. We can fail to see each other’s points of view, and we can allow our own beliefs to make us forget the principles upon which our nation was founded.

The men who wrote our Constitution were imperfect. Many didn’t see their own inhumanity. But they created something special. They created a living document that can evolve and change when necessary, and they created possibility. 

The activist friends I know, respect, admire, and love stand up for all of us. They see injustice, and they cannot sit still for it. They have made me feel welcome in my new home, and while my own insecurities make me worry that I disappoint them with how little I feel I contribute right now, I hope they know that when I can do more, I will. 

It’s not an overstatement to say that we owe these people, and all of those who have stood up throughout history an enormous debt. In some cases, we owe them our lives. Without the courage to stand against tyranny, to stand up for human, civil and equal rights, our nation wouldn’t even exist. 

I am humbled, and grateful for my beautiful activist friends. I know you cannot stand alone, and that we are always stronger together. 

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