What did you do during the coup?

To all the people saying “we should be out on the streets believing in democracy” and “we’re all in this together”. And to anyone who thinks we should respect this institution that has been built on the blood of our ancestors and is just as flawed as any other institution that has been built on blood and greed.<br><br>What did you do while they were rounding us up and putting us into concentration camps? What did you do when they rescinded those rights that you still have? What did you do when they killed a child in the womb? What did you do when they were gassing us, beating us, and imprisoning us for protesting? What did you do when they were starving our children and letting our elderly die of COVID? What did you do when they were ignoring the warnings of scientists before a hurricane came and destroyed a good portion of the country, leaving people homeless?<br><br>I know full well that this is the least of what our ancestors have gone through. This is nothing compared to what the Native Americans have gone through, what the slaves went through, what women and lgbt and disabled people have gone through.<br><br>I think we should take this time to mourn for the democracy that we never had.<br><br>We should take this time to mourn for any of the freedoms we had, which was just a privilege that we did not realize we had because we are privileged. <br><br>And we should take this time to mourn for all of the suffering and killing and starving and executions that we have not seen from within this country but is now here.<br><br>But this is the USA we are talking about. We are the country that has been built on blood and greed, who has ignored our own people’s suffering in the past, and has always valued money above all else, democracy above all else, before the welfare of its people.<br><br>So now that you are going through what we have gone through, now that you are being shown that you are nothing but a commodity, now that you are fearful and suffering, what will you do?<br><br>Will you continue to mourn? Will you continue to cry? Will you continue to sit inside and watch Netflix? Will you continue to read books and shake your head? Will you continue to write Facebook posts and Twitter posts and do nothing else? Will you continue to “educate yourself” and then do nothing with what you have learned? Will you continue to vote and think that that’s enough? Will you continue to demand that we all follow your example of doing nothing? Will you continue to continue the status quo because it is comfortable for you?<br><br>Or will you do something about it? Will you listen to our voices? Will you listen to the voices of the oppressed and learn what we have learned and do what we have done? Will you learn how to be brave and courageous and fearless, even though you are privileged in comparison? Will you take the time to learn about our struggles and how we have overcome them?<br><br>Will you listen to us when we tell you that we are not afraid, that we do not need your pity or your sadness or your sympathy?<br><br>I was not brought up with the privilege that you were brought up with. I have been in survival mode my whole entire life. And I will not cry and mourn. I will survive. I will thrive. I will rise above. And I will not go quietly into the night.