Kaitlin SB

This image showed up in my FB memories from 5 years ago. Slap in cops taking selfies and opening barricades with the words Capitol Occupation and it could be from this week.

Some folks have been talking about the white supremacy of this country and police repression against human rights and environmental activists for a long time. Black and Indigenous people have obviously been talking about it and actively fighting it since the beginning.

If you’re more new to this, thanks for waking up, thanks for opening your eyes. It takes work to do that, so thank you.

But note the “call to action” at the bottom from 5 years ago. It’s not enough to just share images on social media. We shouldn’t be shocked when white supremacy or violence against people standing up for human rights is on flagrant display in the United States anymore, that’s this country’s roots and legacy in the world.

Until we deal with it, that’s the only birthright we as a country can lay claim to. Which is sick and rotten and can’t just be shrugged off as if we are beyond it. Because clearly we are not.

Congress just went on recess after what happened this week. Scurried home, hoping things will blow over. That’s what goes for leadership in the United States. That’s not good enough. Things aren’t going to change until we address the foundations and roots of the problem.

The United States is a country built on the idea that some human beings are only property, that the earth is here for the taking, that genocide is a righteous mandate from God, that women are less than, and above all, that those with wealth and property are higher humans than anyone else.

Until we face this, and root the false assumptions that come from this out of ourselves, our institutions, our laws, our politics, our economy, our relationships, our constitution... this is never going to end.

But I think it can end, it has to end. Because ultimately I think it is an unnatural state we are in. Balance is the natural state of the world. And justice is another word for balance. This week should be giving us all pause for what we are going to actively do in the times ahead to bring about justice and balance. Finally.