I have Captain Mal’s speech in my head this evening. Only, it isn’t really about misbehaving – it’s about fighting for what is right. In this country, in these times, in our communities – we have a wide variety of people, of opinions, of opportunities – and we must all stand up for each other, for what is right for all of us. That’s not an easy thing to do. To be the first one to stand up, to be the first one to speak up, to be the light shining into the darkness. A lot of times, I see people afraid to speak up for themselves – asking other people to speak up for them. And I get it, it isn’t easy to say the unpopular thing, to call out a leader, to say what needs to be said. But when there is so much wrong in this country that someone like Trump can be elected President, we have to start working harder, fighting harder, to make the changes that are needed.
This happens on a local level, too. Not just on the national stage. And that is where we need to work the hardest. We need to work in our communities, in our neighborhoods, in our cities, in our states. The kinds of changes we need to make, they aren’t just national. They aren’t just in Congress. The folks at the top can say whatever they want, do whatever they want, but if we don’t create change everywhere, these problems are just going to continue.
Our leaders cannot do it alone. We chose them to lead us, but they have to have our help, our support, our voices, to know where to lead. They have to have us working just as hard to make the changes we want them to create. Our leaders are nothing without us, if we are not behind them 100%, they will have no one to lead. And if they are not leading us in the direction we want to go, they need to know that, too. If they knowingly lead us in the opposite direction, then we need to get new leaders.
Many respected figures have stated that they are not giving up, that now is not the time to walk away, that the best way to create change is to stay and do the work. Aside from the few who are walking away, the rest of us have a duty to do that work. It doesn’t end when the decision is made, when the voting is over. Unhappy with the results? Fine, do the work to create change you wish to see. Happy with the results? Fine, do the work to solve the problems that brought you here.
Complacency has brought us to where we are today. No more. It is time to take productive action. To have the hard conversations. To stand up and be heard. To not just shine a light into the darkness, but to bring the light in, and chase the darkness away.
