“we have a choice: to spend a lot of time fighting for what we know is right, or to just accept what we know is wrong. we must stand up for our rights and the rights of others, even if most people say we can’t win.” (susan polis schutz)
the time is now. we have a choice.
one of the things i didn’t mention from my view of the IG post of the mom speaking to her little five year old son – about listening to his teacher during a school emergency – also hit home for me.
addressing the context of that post was a comment from another young mom. she wrote about her reluctance to let her little boy wear light-up shoes to school. this should stop you in your tracks – like every other single thing in talk-talk about school shootings.
think about this.
she decided not to let her little boy – her five year old – wear light-up shoes to school.
light-up shoes.
and why not, you ask?
so that – in the event that a mass shooter is in the room – her tiny little boy does not light up in a dark classroom by moving his feet ever so slightly.
it is a despicable and horrifying thought and a stunning picture of where this country has come in zero effort of protecting its children.
but, hey, don’t forget all those thoughts and prayers – pathetic, passive excuses for inaction.
my little boy – now all grown up – wore light-up sneakers for a vast part of his little childhood. he loved them and we loved that he loved them. it never once occurred to me that his tiny shoes could be a death sentence for him. it never once occurred to me that he might light up in a dark classroom or a dark closet or a dark stairwell. it is a grossly vapid conscience this country has adopted – that has parents owning defense for their children against guns to the point of picking out footwear that doesn’t more easily enable a person with a weapon of mass destruction to kill their child.
what the absolute hell????
and now, that same little boy of mine – who is all grown up – who is gay – who is a recording and performing artist – lives in a city upon which the administration of this country has just declared war. announced in the most blatantly depraved meme, this administration is invading, looking for the light-up shoes.
the rights of the people of the city of chicago are being annihilated with this invasion. it is a constitutional failure of epic proportion.
and yet, i know that we have family members cheering on the sidelines, which, frankly, makes me want to vomit. even the silent – those who refuse to speak about what is happening – accepting what is wrong – they, too, are complicit. how.do.they.sleep?
this is my son – our son. these are his friends, his colleagues. this is his community. this is a city just down the road full of neighborhoods and people, diverse and vibrant, doing their best at a time the leadership is doing their worst.
just like every other place upon which they are siccing their thugs.
it is unconscionable.
and the time is now.
and everything inside me wants to write to our son and implore him not to wear light-up shoes.
*****
read DAVID’s thoughts this MERELY-A-THOUGHT MONDAY
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