I've been struggling for a week about whether to share this, because it was a personal moment. But I think it may help someone with perspective, so here we are.
When I travel, there's always something nice waiting for me when I get home. Never expected, always appreciated.
When I travel, there's always something nice waiting for me when I get home. Never expected, always appreciated.
This time, the gift didn't wait for me to cross the threshold. When I got off of one of my flights on January 2, my phone was blowing up: "Julián is out." It took me a minute to process, but I got it. @JulianCastro had ended his 2020 presidential run. I was blown.
My top 3 candidates have always been Kamala, Julián and Warren, in no particular order. They all had their strengths, but the only "weakness" that @JulianCastro had was that he wasn't getting the media attention others were. He had experience, solid policies, a path forward.
I check my voicemail, and there's a message from a 210 area code. I figured it was spam but I hit Play anyway. It was @JulianCastro, telling me of his decision and thanking me for my advocacy. This wasn't a canned supporters speech; he was talking to me, directly.
To be clear, I had never endorsed @JulianCastro. I wasn't part of his team, have never met him, wasn't a surrogate. But here he was, mere hours after he ended his campaign, thanking me for using my platform. Not just in amplifying him, but of the issues that matter to us both.
There are things that speak to a person's character. It is typically things they do when no one is watching. That voicemail, over a minute long, earnest and thoughtful and kind, confirmed everything I believed about @JulianCastro. He's the real deal. And he is out of the race.
Less than a week after his decision, @JulianCastro has endorsed @SenWarren. He didn't wait to see how things shake out in the early primaries, he didn't sit at home and lick his wounds. He is continuing the fight with the person most aligned with his policies. That means a lot.
Elizabeth Warren was already in my Top 3 of candidates. @JulianCastro's endorsement of her makes me confident in that choice. Not because of the voicemail, but because of the man he is. You are the company you keep, as they say. In my mind, he makes her stronger.
I share this to say: 2020 is going to be rough. Fight hard for your chosen candidate. But if they end their campaign, dust yourself off and fight for your 2nd/3rd/4th choice, even though it hurts. We as marginalized people don't have the luxury not to be engaged. Stakes are high.
Tune out the noise if you can. Research for yourself. Who has the policies you agree with? Who is interested in things that matter to you? Those are the things that are most important. Everyone has baggage. All of them. Whose are you willing to endure to get us out of this mess?
