I was never safe in my home of origin. Not really safe. I learned too early that I wasn't safe outside either. Summer games & picnic crumbs gave way to sunset rape, in a bed of gravel, before bedtime, which for a girl of 13, was 9 pm. I tried to make myself safe so many ways, but it wasn't until I found a Tang Soo Do Karate class in my local community center that my fantasies of safety became real, with sweat & blood. I suppose my background could be an easy way to understand why I did what I did, but I think that shorthand answer doesn't define it. I spent years doing a traditional method known as iron fist training. I started w sand, then dried beans, then newspaper taped together, then steel ball bearings, then pine boards, then steel plate. Something I'd only ever seen in movies became mine. I enjoyed the attention of performing on stage with complicated kicks & speed combinations, moving quickly left to right leaving splinters & brick dust in my wake to a chorus of grimaces from the audience. I loved the practice. But above everything, I loved the feeling that no matter where I was, no matter what I faced, I already had all the weapons I needed to keep myself safe. No matter what my brain dreamed up for me to be afraid of, here was real, physical evidence that I could face it. I experienced unspeakable abuse. But when I needed to rise above it there was a method there for me to use. This country is no different. We've been abused in ways unimaginable just 4 years ago. We are reeling from it, dizzied by the left & right punches, nauseated by the kicks to the gut. It seems almost insurmountable at times, & hopeless at other times.
I got up. Gravel embedded in my knees. Almost impossible. Reeling from the pain. It feels like that now. But there is a clarity in the pain we are feeling now. The pain that draws our attention almost every minute of the news cycle. This political pain has been made flesh & suffering. We can all get up together. Lean on one another & use directing principles like I did to temper ourselves for the fight. There are tools all around us. Social media has made it possible to make an impact & stay on top of things like never before, & grow relationships & make alliances. We don't have to go through the pain of systematically hardening our striking surfaces like I did, but we do have to go through SOME pain. You may have to give up some free time to running an information group online. You may have to give a few hours on the weekend to mentor or teach. You might have to donate more than is comfortable or even give your time to phone banks or outreach events registering people to vote. It might look like spearheading a writing campaign to Congress or running local events supporting your favorite candidate. There's thousands of ways to prepare for the fight of our lives. Just pick the one that works best for you. Sand? A stack of paper? A steel plate? What are you ready to do for your safety? The safety of your family & your country? Can you tolerate What happens if you don't? We do it because we're #StrongerTogether #OneFight #OneVoice1
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