Why I'm Still Hopeful

 Yesterday gave me reason to hope, but I want to share with you ongoing reasons I am hopeful.

At my parents’ continuing care community, a bunch of the vibrant seniors are doing their own postcard campaign. When I visit, they’re always exchanging bags of postcards and discussing the way they still can do their part. Many of them spend time each day calling congresspeople too. They may not all have the mobility I do, but they have much better handwriting!
Another reason for hope is the people I know who show up every week in Flemington and Frenchtown advocating diversity and protections of minority people. There are people who show up in Plainfield when I call for help about immigrant families. So many people are doing their little bit every day, not just at the big rallies.
There was a young man at the protest in Franklin yesterday who pointed out that many people are not informed. I’ll even add that they are misinformed. It’s shocking how many people hear that I help immigrants and they immediately jump to assumptions that the immigrants deal in fentanyl. (Smart people, even, can make the most mind-manipulated assumptions.) But hearing that from a young adult made me think how much civics education has been eroded since the No Child Left Behind act prioritized literacy snd math, and since cable media has offered a post-truth world view.
However- if people are not informed, or misinformed— this past weekend has opened up an opportunity for conversation that can open doors and make connections. Those of us who read, who listen to legislators, who know history, who love the diverse fabric of America, and who may someday be older or unwell or need governmental protections—- we need to take this opportunity to keep one another informed and on our toes.
I don’t want to wake up from the American Dream. I don’t want it to turn into the American Nightmare for folks in detention centers or beaten onto the ground by ICE. I want to believe in the beauty of our many dreams united in a great experiment. I know we are all created equal; this is the time for making sure others understand it, too!

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