The Trump administration has declared warâon immigrants, on the LGBTQIA+ community, on women, on people of color, on the very Native Americans whose land we stand upon. He has insulted and provoked nations across the world, shown utter disdain for diplomacy, and made clear his intent to gut Alaskaâs natural resources for profit. He promised to âmake America great again,â but instead, he has spread terror among its people, turned us into the pariah of the world, and fashioned himself into a near-religious idol.
He has ignored cries for mercy. He has targeted the vulnerable, the innocent, and the marginalized. He has sown hatred, pitted neighbor against neighbor, and shifted blame onto those he deems lesser. Sound familiar?
Tyranny thrives on silence. It feeds on the fear of those who know injustice is happening but do nothing. I, for one, refuse to cower. I refuse to surrender my voice, my rights, or my country to the grip of authoritarian rule. I will stand with my siblingsâof every gender, every race, every creedâwho call this nation home. We will not be bullied into submission. We will not stand by as history repeats itself.
The average age of an empire is 250 years. America was founded in 1776, and the cracks are showing. The men who once fought to break free from tyranny left us with a declarationâa reminder, a warning, and a promise:
âWe hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness⊠That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.â
These words were not meant to be relics of the past. They were meant to be a blueprint for action. The world has grown. Humanity has changed. Our understandings of what it means to be free has broadened.
We are not the first generation to witness the rise of oppression, but we have the power to be the generation that stops it. The time for complacency is over. The time for excuses is done. The time for a new Declaration of Independenceâfrom fear, from corruption, from tyrannyâis now. If America was ever truly the land of the free and the home of the brave, then let us prove itânot with empty words or blind patriotism, but with action, with defiance, with an unrelenting demand for justice. Stand with me. Stand with those who have been silenced, trampled, and cast aside. Stand against the forces that would see us divided, afraid, and obedient. The foundation of this country was laid by those who dared to believe in freedomâreal freedom. I believe in freedom for all. That promise has been broken time and again, but we do not have to accept its ruin. We can fight for it. We must fight for it. And we will.
This is our rallying cry.
New Declaration Of Independence
