Our ideals and institutions have been built with an aspiration of justice and freedom, and a true democracy.
But, our democracy has failed to include all people from the start.
As a country, segments of the public have fought to be institutionally acknowledged as human since the beginning. That fight is being erased violently daily.
It's no longer useful to hold onto the belief that our country has always been founded on peace and high morals.
We have a violent history that has been minimized, hidden, and erased to suit the form of freedom we have called American.
Violence has been the foundation.
Genocide and slave labor.
Rape and take.
The erasure of human dignity has been the American legacy.
We have to face it to face now.
We have to know what we are fighting for and what we are willing to let go of.
WE CAN'T WAIT FOR CHAOS TO SUBSIDE
BUT WE CAN DECIDE HOW TO ENJOY THE RIDE
We exist beneath our identities as Americans.
We can choose how we relate to the land we live on and the people we connect with.
We can choose how we want our world to be, and we can craft it daily.
We can let go of what has felt so sacred and supreme when we learn its true roots.
This isn't burn it to the ground and start anew.
It's grieve what you thought you knew.
Learn the language of your system.
Trust your disgust.
Listen in the silence.
Acknowledge the violence.
Clarify what you need.
Ask for it consensually.
Rage on a page or a song or a street.
Lean on people you love, let them come to you, too.
Let the structures of nonconsensual dominance fall.
Ground your power, connect with others.
MAKE THE STICKERS
