Textbook Example of How You Speak Truth to Power

Watch this, and see what humans can do.

My spirit wants to stand out on the street corner at dusk and flash a secret signal that points endangered people to trap doors and attics and underground railways should it come to that. (Will it come to that?)

I assign my greatest concerns right now to immigrants who tend to our most basic societal needs like planting and harvesting food, and caring for those in ill health. And to trans people, particularly trans kids – whom I’ve read have been calling mental health hotlines in record numbers these last few days – and to those who are raising them.

With my best intentions in hand, MLK Day came and I shared quotes on my social media, and spoke in a crowded church where I reminded folks that MLK did more than practically anyone else to move humans toward the Promised Land, and he was given only 39 years on Earth!

And when I was done I’m like, SO WHAT ARE YOU ACTUALLY DOING TO HELP, JULIE? (Knowing that I feel paralyzed by anxiety over all that is happening, and tend to feel that I’m doing NOTHING useful.)

Maybe you’re asking yourself that, too. (WHAT SHOULD I ACTUALLY DO?) If so, here are my thoughts on a few simple things you can do right now:

1. Message trans friends and colleagues, “You’re safe with me.” Message friends with trans kids, “Your entire family is safe with me.”

2. Without making any assumptions about your immigrant friends’ legal status, message them asking, “How are you feeling in light of everything. Are you okay?”

3. Send up some prayers or thanks to the lawyers – the “essential workers” of this dystopian era – who have been lying in wait and are now in full attack mode against Trump. For example, the Attorney General of my state and twenty-one others have filed suit over Trump’s executive order ending Birthright Citizenship – a right enshrined in the Constitution.

4. And for a big dollop of inspiration, watch the 2 minute speech of Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde calling Trump out to his face at the Inaugural Prayer Service on Monday, over which she presided in the National Cathedral. She freakin brought it, y’all. Spoke truth to power. Brought some Jesus to Judas. Made me stand up a little bit taller, too.

I’m not saying we can all be like Bishop Budde, or Martin Luther King Jr. I just think it’s worth drawing some inspiration from profoundly courageous humans as you reckon with the tough question of what these times will ask of you.

xo

🤗 Here’s a hug for anyone who read this far. I’m in this with you.

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