This is America
Nothing About This Is New
Where do I even start? I have been away for a few weeks because the holidays were more difficult than I expected. Yes, my grief is so much lighter for the loss of Tony - so much that earlier this week, the 28th anniversary of when we met - I was able to sit back with a smile on my face.
But the world is heavy. And therein lies a lot of what’s going on with me.
I work in social media. I have no choice but to be overly connected. Worse, I work in oncology social media. I sent a friend this text earlier: “I wish I had the privilege to disconnect for just a day, but I cannot. And even if I could, the news cycle is too fast, and people are dying, and fuck me.”
Quite frankly, I am terrified of what comes next in my country.
We have three more years of this. And I need white, cis-hetero America to finally wake up — because what feels shocking and new? Black Americans have lived this way their entire lives. Asian communities, Hispanic communities. Queer communities. And Indigenous peoples—here first, slaughtered for existing, then shoved onto land we 'graciously gave' them.
This isn't unprecedented American darkness.
This IS America.
It always has been. The question is whether the people who've been insulated from it will finally pay attention.
