Listen up, friends. I’ve lived a long time in this country. I’ve experienced a lot. And I know, and have a deep sense, when things are beginning to spiral.
We are at that point. We’ve been approaching it for some time, but the warning signs were in smaller, discrete pieces. /1
The problems are systemic: Gerrymandered maps keep extremists in statehouses and Congress. A rigged Senate with an archaic filibuster rule blocks needed reform. Seats on the Supreme Court are stolen through cynical ploys. Money pours in to those who enable the corruption. /2
Then the attacks begin. Voting rights are denied to minorities in red states in the name of “election security,” with the Big Lie powering the bills. LGBTQ+ kids and families are targeted as scapegoats. And now even a woman’s right to choose is on the chopping block. /3
We cannot remain complacent. Sure, the economy remains uncertain due to global inflation, a lingering covid pandemic, and a war by Russia in Ukraine. But that does not mean we take our eyes off the ball. The GOP is exploiting and exacerbating all this for political gain. /4
If we do not vote in November, if we do not HOLD THE LINE NOW, then the spiral of chaos will continue. The Republicans are under the spell of misinformation. They believe an entirely different reality, just as the Russian people do over Ukraine. They can be led to do anything. /5
And so we must resist, we must defend our democracy and the Republic from those who would take us to a dark place of autocracy, demagoguery, and repression. The stakes are too high, the cost too great. We must mobilize, and we must defeat this scourge. NOW. #Register#Vote /end
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These are very trying times, friends. Going from Covid to a war in Europe reminds me of when we went from an attack on Pearl Harbor to the horrors of a Japanese American internment camp. The world can shift under your feet, and nothing can prepare you for the chaos of it. /1
But trying times are also periods of great personal strength and growth. You can surprise yourself with the resilience you build. As the Buddhist saying goes, “Wisdom is like rain water: It gathers in low places.” /2
Take time to care for yourself and your loved ones. Remind yourself what matters. The suffering of others is difficult to witness, but it is a reminder that we share a common humanity, and it is a moment for those rarest of human treasures: empathy and compassion. /3
I see people trying to parse the “Don’t Say Gay” bill in Florida.
“It will only affect instruction, not discussions or conversations!”
“It doesn’t actually say ‘gay’ just ‘sexual orientation or gender identity!”
These are silly yet dangerous arguments. Make no mistake. /1
By limiting “classroom instruction” on these prohibited topics and failing to define what that even means, all while giving parents a private right of action to SUE the school district if the law is violated, this will have a chilling effect on free speech and education. /2
By penalizing “sexual orientation and gender identity” speech by teachers, this discriminates against LGBTQ+ kids and their families. No one ever has to talk about straight or cis identities because these are what are ASSUMED and reinforced every day without a second thought. /3
For the Japanese American community, today is a solemn day. It's the Day of Remembrance, the anniversary of FDR's Executive Order 9066, which ordered the internment of 120,000 persons of Japanese descent, two-thirds of whom were citizens of the United States.
My family and I were kidnapped at gunpoint from our house in LA and transferred to two separate barbed wire-enclosed camps, the first in the swamps of Arkansas and the second in the harsh and barren wastelands of Northern California.
We'd be held captive for four years simply because we looked like the people who bombed Pearl Harbor.
These days, a premium is being placed on whether white kids might feel bad about their own heritage after learning about things like American genocide, slavery or internment. But no one asks what it’s like for minority kids to learn about these things. /1
When I was growing up inside internment camps, my parents tried to shield me from the horror of what was happening. I even recited the Pledge of Allegiance daily from a classroom inside the barbed wire. “With liberty and justice for all,” I said, not grasping the irony. /2
It wasn’t until I was older that I began to question what had happened. It made me very angry, not only at the country that did this to us without cause, but against my own father. “You led us like sheep to slaughter!” I cried. He was silent. “Maybe we did,” was all he said. /3
When they put me, my family and my community into internment camps, it was already far past time to try and explain that Japanese Americans were loyal citizens. The agitators exploited racism that already existed to push us through those camp gates. /1
The only thing that would have made a difference is other communities standing up for us and saying this was wrong, this was Un-American. Instead, they were quiet, afraid to support a community under attack. /2
The current assault upon our most vulnerable communities, including trans people and AAPIs, under regularly threat after the former president egged on his followers, cries out for others to stand up and defend. /3