when i was a kid, i played a game that a lot of jewish kids play. it’s called the anne frank game, and it goes like this:
when the next holocaust comes, who will hide me? which of my neighbors will take me in? whose attic? whose basement? whose truck? when they come to get me, which of my friends and teachers and acquaintances can i trust?
and as i got older, the game changed. i stopped asking the question. because i had learned the answer:
mine. my attic. my basement. my truck. my home. i hide my neighbors. i help my friends.
the next four years will require from each of us an unprecedented capacity for moral courage.
we will be asked to make choices that are more difficult than any choices we have ever faced. we will be told, and told truthfully, that to do good will hurt us. that to do good will put us in danger. that to do good will put in danger our loved ones, our family, our friends.
the next four years will require from each of us an unprecedented capacity for love.
love is not enough. it is not food, or healthcare. it is not a bulletproof vest. it is not a visa, or a bail bond, or a roof over someone’s head. nevertheless love will be necessary; nevertheless love will be all that keeps us alive, some days.
i do not have blind faith in human goodness. i have studied history. i do not rely on human ability, or american ability, to choose kindness over cruelty, bravery over courage, death over life.
i do not rely on these things - but i hope for them. i have hope for your courage to open up your attic, your basement, your truck. it is your duty to do so. we must love one another or die.
we must hope for the best, but prepare for the worst - fascism is not known for its respect for the rule of law - but there are things within you that no evil can take. and there is courage within you, and love within you, and you can take the small and blazing life that has been given to you and devote it to that love, and that courage, and to kindness, and defiance, and hope.
the road ahead is very dark, and the strength of the enemy is very great. we have no choice but to move forward into that darkness; but we will do so together, and we will do so with our hands clasped, and we will do so singing.
you are fabulous creatures, each and every one. and i bless you: more life. the great work begins.
pixelskylines
amandla
jacobvanloon
origamiaround
