Thread by @HMAesq

What will you do with your privilege?

This is a question I asked myself repeatedly over the last 6 months. The stress my wife and kids happily took on, the hard asks I made of people of time, money, and spirit, I best have had a really, really good reason for doing so.

Today, I am at peace. Because I know I wanted to use my privilege. All the doors my parents, my family, my friends, and my community opened for me my entire life - it is a privilege. It is a trust, and it would be a violation of that trust to waste it.

So I am at peace. I lost an election, but that pales in comparison to what we all gained. I was told by our own @VASecofEdu Atif Qarni that there isn't really such thing as a loss. I thought I understood him, but now I see a whole new wisdom in his words.

Running a good campaign brings people together in ways that never would otherwise happen. If I was in this race for the right reasons, I have absolutely nothing to complain about and everything to be happy about.

The worst thing I could do now is to go back to being the same lawyer I was 6 months ago. My team, my community - we forged real bonds, real friendships, and real relationships that I now recognize as my duty to preserve, nurture, and incorporate into my practice and advocacy.

I still have my voice, except now it's been turbocharged with the spirit of so many people who believed in our message and got out of their comfort zones. The children who now see civic engagement as not only perfectly normal, but expected of them.

As an immigration lawyer, I thought I knew what it meant to make people into citizens. I now have a whole new perspective on what creating citizenship means.

We are our best when we show up. That means using whatever privilege we have to support each other.

It starts right at home. There are so many ways to give and give back, and it is my fervent hope that everyone who gave of their spirit to my campaign continues to pay their privilege forward. Stay uncomfortably engaged, because you all belong.

Congratulations to @SuhasforVA on the win. I urge all of my supporters to throw your support behind Suhas to ensure he wins in November and becomes our next delegate. That's what I'll be doing, so please join me.

Thank you to @VoteForAkshay and @2019Gusman for their vision, their drive, dedication, and for running a clean and healthy primary. The Commonwealth of Virginia is better off after the 4 of us went toe to toe.

And to the Trump supporter who tried to argue the legalities of the #travelban with me at the polls yesterday, who after being disabused of his erroneous legal conclusions, proceeded to attack the clothes I was wearing: I have a message for you and your ilk:

We ain't going anywhere. We will continue to stand for values of inclusion and prosperity for all, and will tear down every wall you build.

Nothing ended yesterday. This is only the beginning.

#ShowUpVirginia
#Hassan4VA