It does make a difference. You make a difference! Thank you for your thought-provoking and thorough observations. I appreciate you so much. I was born in Germany on a United States Air Force Base, and I have great love for the country. I'm sorry to hear that the fanatic right is rearing its head even more all across the world. I'll buy your book in a heartbeat!
It is extremely frustrating to see how this has unfolded right in front of our eyes!!
Knowing that there are so many people in America with these views, along with such hate for anyone who is not just like them is, I thought, a no brainer.
How does MAGA still feel that Trump and his regime are still for them, and that they are going to make everything better, is astonishing! These very people are the ones who will have their social services cut because most of his voting base are in these assistance programs. Red states are heavily subsidized by federal funds, yet he has them convinced they will be getting more when all the evil fraudsters are out!!
It just so happens that all of the cuts to these vital programs are not scheduled to take place until after the 2026 midterm elections.
I’m hoping and praying that the June 14th No Kings Protests will sway some of the representatives to vote NO on “The Big Bullshit Bill!”
Thanks for keeping us informed. Knowing we are not alone is very helpful.
I’ve recently found a group within my county that is more hands on than just phone calls and emails. It all starts local!!
thank you for sharing...I personally NEED to hear about American's abroad ...to keep me out of denial and the like.
Yes, so many of us are awake. And yet even amongst my friends, most are so overwhelmed and full of anxiety if I bring anything up...and that is telling. I know many of my friends cannot change their lives and up and move abroad. It seems like a matter of continuing to live the best they can while not dropping into complete and utter dispair.
Which I absolutey get.
And there are small, ever so small wins it seems...we just need so many more.
It is also difficult as someone who is plugged in and paying attention to weigh what is vital and really as horrible as others paint (did they fall into the collective group think...or is this really urgent and as scary as they say).
And...I do think your book matters.
Just like my work matters (Deconstructing Patriarchy). They are all pieces in the puzzle to help those that will maybe at least hear if not listen to how we KEEP getting here eveyr 50-100 years. We NEED to take 50K foot vision if we want to stop repeating this aweful pattern.
I’m an American like you and spend a lot of time in Germany with friends I’ve known forever who have lived both in the US and Germany. From time Trump was elected, we’ve all known how difficult this would be. It took longer for the men to accept this new horror, particularly the Germans my age who were born at the end of the war and remember the wreckages, the hunger, the homelessness, and how long it took
Always remember your own advice. It doesn’t matter how many times we have to wake people up during these troubling times. Thank you for sharing your insight, it’s like a treasure trove of knowledge!
Yes! Your voice has already made a difference. Authoritarianism depends upon people feeling powerless and isolated, thinking they are the only ones feeling this way. The best way to combat this is to form community and share your concerns. I was most encouraged by a video I saw of a woman with a bullhorn shouting warnings not in English when immigration agents are spotted in her neighborhood. It reminded me of the Irish resistance "rubbish bin lid brigades" formed by ordinary citizens who banged trash can lids to warn neighbors when arrests were being made.
Fight like hell. Rest. Strategize. Fight like hell again. Wash. Rinse. Repeat. Grieving, mourning, acknowledging the profundity of this treacherous moment is part of our work but -- said lovingly --we cannot afford to succumb to helpessness whether manufactured, learned or otherwise. As a 2Spirit AfroIndigenous activist it is my core belief that we can and indeed must, look a seemingly unsurmountable obstacle dead in the face and still hold space for an unshakeable resolve and will to not be defeated by it -- we can and must hold space for both. Mourn, yes. Grieve, yes. But We do not have the luxury of entertaining defeatist belief systems at the expense of the fight in us, nor can we afford to speak power into our fears. As your article leans into, people of the global majority in the U.S., (misnomered as 'minorities') have historically been terrorized by systemic marginalization, human rights abuses and deeply embedded systems of inequity at the hands of hate and fear-filled bigotted racialists. But for us, resilience, determination, and the will to fight back is a demographic imperative. More protests, more education, more push back, more anti-racists/anti-classists elected officials, more phone banking, more boycotts, more petitions, more marches, more injunctions, more law suits, more strategy, more poems, more blogs, more posts, more prayers, more chants, more meditation & manifestation, more art, more sit-ins, more crying, more breathing, more speaking truth to power, more smiling, more no-matter-what joy comes in the morning type moments, more amicus briefs, more blackout days, more pressure. It is up to We The People to defend then rebuild our Democracy. And when you feel tired, defeated, and caught in a 'futility loop'-- rest, breathe, lean on community and replenish. Then GET BACK UP and fight like hell. Your voice is needed!! Pa'lante! ✊🏽🫶🏽🫂
I still live in the US but as a 74 yr old citizen here I can assure you that your observations and concerns are valid.
This element (racist, bigoted, right wing authoritarianism) has been entrenched in this country for as long as we’ve existed. Mostly our shared moral values, sense of right and wrong, and basic humanity have kept that in check.
Now we live in a society where the majority of Americans do not agree with what is happening to our government but also feel helpless to stop it. In this moment we lack leadership, we are scared, we take to the streets in groups that are fragmented around the country and because those numbers don’t reflect something “newsworthy” mainstream media largely ignores them.
You ask “what would I do?” and here we ask “what can I do?” I want to believe our democracy can survive but as the days pass I am unable to see how. But just maybe young people like yourself will show us the way. Please don’t give up. Please keep writing. We need your voice.
As a full-time nomad from the US, I feel the same way. Some days I feel like I'm running away when I should be there standing with my countrymen. And I feel helpless being somewhere else. I have a dream to have a place for my friends to come if the worst happens. That's what I'm working on, being the safety net for people to fall into. I hope everyday my efforts are in vain and things change, but im scared they won't and I'll only be a lifeline for people to escape.
What you are doing is important, it greatly matters, and I’m so grateful for the opportunity to read your thoughtful and educated words and insights. It’s really a unique and needed perspective. Keep going. There are already little cracks everywhere, hope isn’t lost. Do what you can, with what you have, from wherever you are. Thank you for all that you do!
Thanks so much for posting this. I've been following and appreciating you for a while now, and have often wondered how you were coping emotionally with all that's going on. I, too, am an ex-pat American who immigrated to Canada more than 50 years ago, but I too have family in the US and what I see happening there breaks my heart. We also have our own demons up here. And I worry about that very permeable "world's longest undefended border" separating us from the US. Sometimes I fantasize about fleeing to Europe, but I am getting a bit old for that kind of thing, and then there is my family here. And is anywhere ultimately safe with such people in charge?
Still, I keep fighting. They want us to quit and I won't do it. I have children, grandchildren, and now even a great grandchild whose lives will unquestionably be affected by the cruelty and disrespect for the Constitution being normalized in the US. I am doing all I can to practice radical kindness. We need to keep empathy alive until this storm rages itself out.
With both houses controlled by maga Republicans, there's not going to be a quick fix out of this. Our federal courts have been helping to an extent but even those are are weighted towards the right in many places. I would like to say what I feel might have to be done but I'm basically afraid to say it over social media.
Former President Clinton expressed concern about whether the courts can hold until ‘26. I’m in Indiana, and I’m afraid many here don’t see a problem with what is happening in LA. Many do though.
Until they could go back to school. But they never talked about the war, nor were they taught it in school. I came to realize they had no idea how it had happened to them. Just as we have no idea how it can be happening to us. We know it’s happening but it’s too much to take in, so much evil in our once mostly welcoming and inclusive country.
It does make a difference. You make a difference! Thank you for your thought-provoking and thorough observations. I appreciate you so much. I was born in Germany on a United States Air Force Base, and I have great love for the country. I'm sorry to hear that the fanatic right is rearing its head even more all across the world. I'll buy your book in a heartbeat!
It is extremely frustrating to see how this has unfolded right in front of our eyes!!
Knowing that there are so many people in America with these views, along with such hate for anyone who is not just like them is, I thought, a no brainer.
How does MAGA still feel that Trump and his regime are still for them, and that they are going to make everything better, is astonishing! These very people are the ones who will have their social services cut because most of his voting base are in these assistance programs. Red states are heavily subsidized by federal funds, yet he has them convinced they will be getting more when all the evil fraudsters are out!!
It just so happens that all of the cuts to these vital programs are not scheduled to take place until after the 2026 midterm elections.
I’m hoping and praying that the June 14th No Kings Protests will sway some of the representatives to vote NO on “The Big Bullshit Bill!”
Thanks for keeping us informed. Knowing we are not alone is very helpful.
I’ve recently found a group within my county that is more hands on than just phone calls and emails. It all starts local!!
thank you for sharing...I personally NEED to hear about American's abroad ...to keep me out of denial and the like.
Yes, so many of us are awake. And yet even amongst my friends, most are so overwhelmed and full of anxiety if I bring anything up...and that is telling. I know many of my friends cannot change their lives and up and move abroad. It seems like a matter of continuing to live the best they can while not dropping into complete and utter dispair.
Which I absolutey get.
And there are small, ever so small wins it seems...we just need so many more.
It is also difficult as someone who is plugged in and paying attention to weigh what is vital and really as horrible as others paint (did they fall into the collective group think...or is this really urgent and as scary as they say).
And...I do think your book matters.
Just like my work matters (Deconstructing Patriarchy). They are all pieces in the puzzle to help those that will maybe at least hear if not listen to how we KEEP getting here eveyr 50-100 years. We NEED to take 50K foot vision if we want to stop repeating this aweful pattern.
I’m an American like you and spend a lot of time in Germany with friends I’ve known forever who have lived both in the US and Germany. From time Trump was elected, we’ve all known how difficult this would be. It took longer for the men to accept this new horror, particularly the Germans my age who were born at the end of the war and remember the wreckages, the hunger, the homelessness, and how long it took
Always remember your own advice. It doesn’t matter how many times we have to wake people up during these troubling times. Thank you for sharing your insight, it’s like a treasure trove of knowledge!
Yes! Your voice has already made a difference. Authoritarianism depends upon people feeling powerless and isolated, thinking they are the only ones feeling this way. The best way to combat this is to form community and share your concerns. I was most encouraged by a video I saw of a woman with a bullhorn shouting warnings not in English when immigration agents are spotted in her neighborhood. It reminded me of the Irish resistance "rubbish bin lid brigades" formed by ordinary citizens who banged trash can lids to warn neighbors when arrests were being made.
Last time it took 80 million deaths before people realized they HAD to unite against Fascism. Wonder what it will take this time ??
Fight like hell. Rest. Strategize. Fight like hell again. Wash. Rinse. Repeat. Grieving, mourning, acknowledging the profundity of this treacherous moment is part of our work but -- said lovingly --we cannot afford to succumb to helpessness whether manufactured, learned or otherwise. As a 2Spirit AfroIndigenous activist it is my core belief that we can and indeed must, look a seemingly unsurmountable obstacle dead in the face and still hold space for an unshakeable resolve and will to not be defeated by it -- we can and must hold space for both. Mourn, yes. Grieve, yes. But We do not have the luxury of entertaining defeatist belief systems at the expense of the fight in us, nor can we afford to speak power into our fears. As your article leans into, people of the global majority in the U.S., (misnomered as 'minorities') have historically been terrorized by systemic marginalization, human rights abuses and deeply embedded systems of inequity at the hands of hate and fear-filled bigotted racialists. But for us, resilience, determination, and the will to fight back is a demographic imperative. More protests, more education, more push back, more anti-racists/anti-classists elected officials, more phone banking, more boycotts, more petitions, more marches, more injunctions, more law suits, more strategy, more poems, more blogs, more posts, more prayers, more chants, more meditation & manifestation, more art, more sit-ins, more crying, more breathing, more speaking truth to power, more smiling, more no-matter-what joy comes in the morning type moments, more amicus briefs, more blackout days, more pressure. It is up to We The People to defend then rebuild our Democracy. And when you feel tired, defeated, and caught in a 'futility loop'-- rest, breathe, lean on community and replenish. Then GET BACK UP and fight like hell. Your voice is needed!! Pa'lante! ✊🏽🫶🏽🫂
I still live in the US but as a 74 yr old citizen here I can assure you that your observations and concerns are valid.
This element (racist, bigoted, right wing authoritarianism) has been entrenched in this country for as long as we’ve existed. Mostly our shared moral values, sense of right and wrong, and basic humanity have kept that in check.
Now we live in a society where the majority of Americans do not agree with what is happening to our government but also feel helpless to stop it. In this moment we lack leadership, we are scared, we take to the streets in groups that are fragmented around the country and because those numbers don’t reflect something “newsworthy” mainstream media largely ignores them.
You ask “what would I do?” and here we ask “what can I do?” I want to believe our democracy can survive but as the days pass I am unable to see how. But just maybe young people like yourself will show us the way. Please don’t give up. Please keep writing. We need your voice.
As a full-time nomad from the US, I feel the same way. Some days I feel like I'm running away when I should be there standing with my countrymen. And I feel helpless being somewhere else. I have a dream to have a place for my friends to come if the worst happens. That's what I'm working on, being the safety net for people to fall into. I hope everyday my efforts are in vain and things change, but im scared they won't and I'll only be a lifeline for people to escape.
What you are doing is important, it greatly matters, and I’m so grateful for the opportunity to read your thoughtful and educated words and insights. It’s really a unique and needed perspective. Keep going. There are already little cracks everywhere, hope isn’t lost. Do what you can, with what you have, from wherever you are. Thank you for all that you do!
I appreciate your insight. Brings up mixed feelings and bad memories.
Thanks so much for posting this. I've been following and appreciating you for a while now, and have often wondered how you were coping emotionally with all that's going on. I, too, am an ex-pat American who immigrated to Canada more than 50 years ago, but I too have family in the US and what I see happening there breaks my heart. We also have our own demons up here. And I worry about that very permeable "world's longest undefended border" separating us from the US. Sometimes I fantasize about fleeing to Europe, but I am getting a bit old for that kind of thing, and then there is my family here. And is anywhere ultimately safe with such people in charge?
Still, I keep fighting. They want us to quit and I won't do it. I have children, grandchildren, and now even a great grandchild whose lives will unquestionably be affected by the cruelty and disrespect for the Constitution being normalized in the US. I am doing all I can to practice radical kindness. We need to keep empathy alive until this storm rages itself out.
With both houses controlled by maga Republicans, there's not going to be a quick fix out of this. Our federal courts have been helping to an extent but even those are are weighted towards the right in many places. I would like to say what I feel might have to be done but I'm basically afraid to say it over social media.
Former President Clinton expressed concern about whether the courts can hold until ‘26. I’m in Indiana, and I’m afraid many here don’t see a problem with what is happening in LA. Many do though.
Until they could go back to school. But they never talked about the war, nor were they taught it in school. I came to realize they had no idea how it had happened to them. Just as we have no idea how it can be happening to us. We know it’s happening but it’s too much to take in, so much evil in our once mostly welcoming and inclusive country.