Upstander Reflections

A people without knowledge of their past history, origin and culture is like a tree without roots. -Marcus Garvey In the past few weeks, many trees in Texas, Florida, Puerto Rico and the Gulf Coast have been uprooted by hurricanes and lay to waste, scattered across the landscape. So, too, have our “American” values. Protesters and counter protesters have continued to clash over the memorialization of Confederate leaders. NFL players have expanded their protests during the playing of the National Anthem, igniting a feud with our president and vice president. And most recently, an “Average American” used legally-purchased, semi-automatic weapons to open fire on concert goers in Las Vegas, killing 58 and wounding more than 500. Sparking an age old gun control debate. The quote I’m invoking this week comes from Marcus Garvey. In this quote, Garvey is talking about Africans. He was a proponent of Pan-Africanism. He felt like Africans needed to reclaim knowledge of their past th...

This week the president rescinded DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals). This program, started by President Obama, allows children that were brought to the United States without proper documentation to stay and work and/or go to school. There are currently about 800,000 people registered for DACA. These undocumented immigrants were already in our country and DACA gave them an opportunity to come out of the margins of society and participate more fully. This is why they have been nicknamed the Dreamers. DACA gave them the audacity to strive for the American Dream.      There is not a lot of argument that the DACA recipients are good, hard working people. Everyone seems to agree on that because, well… they are.   Center for American Progress In his address, Jeff Sessions said: This does not mean they are bad people or that our nation disrespects or demeans them in any way. The argument instead is an argument about the “rule of law.” I...

This blog started when a group of students inspired me. A presidential candidate called their families “drug dealers, criminals, rapists.” He promised to build a wall separating them from their families, and to accelerate putting many of them behind that wall. Then he won. They had already invested time and money into attending the inauguration. They refused to back down. They marched through the capital wearing hats that read “upstander” across the top. They had no idea what the reaction of Trump supporters would be to their presence. They feared violence, but they went anyway. They were upstanders.   The upstanders in DC two days before the inauguration Their presence mattered. Them, along with so many others that day, sent a clear message to the president that this is their country, too. Since then, people have flooded airports protesting the president’s travel ban (which judges later ruled unconstitutional), officials within the government have leaked classif...

This week the president threw his support behind the RAISE Act . The RAISE Act is a new bill being introduced to congress that would dramatically change how legal immigration works in the United States. Here are the main points of the RAISE Act:     The amount of legal immigrants admitted would be cut in half. The United States seeks immigrants that are highly educated, young, speak English, are rich or predicted to be rich, and/or have received international awards.    If this doesn’t sound like your ancestors, then you are like me. My grandparents spoke English (with an Irish accent) and were young. However, they barely went to school and had no money or international awards. Whether you’re an immigrant American, African American or Native American, you are probably wondering: how does this help me? If all we bring in is super smart, rich, English speaking, connected people, doesn't that make it more difficult for me to compete for quality...

“We are getting nothing done!” -John McCain The past few weeks my family and I have been traveling. We went to my brother’s family’s cabin in Northern Wisconsin and all the way down to Atlanta, Georgia to visit friends. In total we logged about 2000 miles and set foot (or at least tires) in six states. Meanwhile in Washington, the House and Senate have been unable to produce any legislation on health care. They have tried and failed a few times, prompting John McCain to utter the above quote in a speech he made to the senate, days after being hospitalized for brain cancer.   John McCain addressing the Senate on July 25, 2017 CNN When I heard this quote, I immediately thought about all the Americans out there that are “getting things done!” Without these Americans, our family vacation would have been impossible. Without these Americans, much of what we do on a daily basis would be impossible. We filled up at gas stations run by entrepreneurs. We rode next to prou...

One of my favorite parts of The Wizard of Oz is when the ragtag group of travelers arrive in the Emerald City. The Wizard himself lives there so the place is well fortified and seems like a sort of utopia. The weary travelers get all cleaned up and treated like royalty.      Dorothy, enjoying some pampering from the good people of The Emerald City. Source However, it doesn’t take long for Dorothy and company to figure out that the whole place is a sham. They follow the “wizard’s” command and get the witch’s broom, but he can’t fulfill his end of the bargain. “Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain!” That’s how I felt last week as the G20 summit was transpiring. This is a yearly meeting when the 19 wealthiest countries and the European Union get together to discuss “important” matters. There were protests. There are always protests. There were photo opts. There are always photo opts. This year the big hype was around the new American preside...