Ken Feinleib expresses the exhaustion and frustration that we collectively feel in the wake of yet another mass shooting but exhorts us to rise up and continue to try and move forward.
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I’m tired of the hate. I’m tired of the guns. I’m tired of the murder. I’m tired of the mourning. I’m tired of the division. I’m tired of the bigotry. I’m tired of the racism. I’m tired of the misogyny. I’m tired of the homophobia. I’m tired of the antisemitism. I’m tired of the scapegoats. I’m tired of the jingoism. I’m tired of the blather. I’m tired of the greed. I’m tired of the self-interest. I’m tired of the politics. I’m tired of the hand-wringing. I’m tired of the excuses. I am exhausted and I can’t keep doing this, feeling outraged and spent and hopeless over the new tragedy and waiting helplessly for the next one.
I’ve worn the right color and signed the petitions and shared the memes and donated and marched and called my representatives and voted and voted and voted and voted and voted. And little has changed. For every step forward, it seems like there are three steps back.
But we have to go on. There is no choice. We have to pick ourselves up and continue to do what we’re doing.
For the women. For the people of color. For the immigrants. For our LGBT brothers and sisters. For our children. For ourselves. For the country we want this to be. For the rest of the world.
We have to continue to organize and fight. Against the lies and the money and the hate hate hate hate hate hate hate.
We have to support the candidates we believe will make the changes we want and defeat the ones who haven’t or won’t. And if you’re in a place where your vote won’t make that much of a difference because it’s so far to one side or the other, donate or volunteer in the races where the tide can be turned.
Because what choice do we have?
As painful and futile as it sometimes seems, we need to stay engaged, to become even more engaged.
Getting beaten down, losing hope, and giving up is exactly what they want us to do. And fighting amongst ourselves instead of against them.
We must dry our tears, again and again and again and again, and keep trying to move forward.
Photo Credit: Associated Press/Rick Rycroft
MANY Americans are pulling together
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