Upstander Reflections

When I was riding around DC the day before president Trump's inauguration, I looked at the diverse students on my bus and wrote these words. “ I see in these students’ hope for our country. My eyes tear up as I write that phrase. Let me write it again. I see in these students hope for our country. ” These students were teenagers then. They are in their twenties now. On president Biden's inauguration, fourteen days after January 6, 2021, another young person in their twenties took the stage. Stole the stage, I should say. Amanda Gorman recited her beautiful poem, The Hill We Climb . There is one line in her poem that I think reveals our country’s path forward.   American is more than a pride we inherit, it’s the past we step into and how we repair it. I began writing over four years ago for the first time in my life, to defend the “pride” I inherited. As I wandered around the National Mall the day before president Trump’s inauguration, the placards spoke to me. I was bewildered

I killed Adam Toledo. Maybe after a little reflection, you will confess that you did, too?  Media outlets will tell you that a Chicago Police Officer killed Adam Toledo. However, I paid for the bullet that entered his chest. The officer may have fired the gun, by my votes and my tax dollars authorized and trained him to use it.  That officer patrols the streets at night while I sleep safe and sound in my bed. “Shots fired” ring through the static of his radio and he responds, running down an alley after a man carrying a gun. He does that for me. Why? So I can sleep safely and soundly. I pay him to do that. If you live in Chicago, you do, too.   But you know what else helps me sleep safely and soundly? Blaming the death of Adam Toledo on that same officer. That’s what it’s all about right? Me sleeping safely and soundly.  Tonight I’ll pay someone else to watch over “my” city while I sleep. Meanwhile Adam Toledo is dead, the officer that fired the shot wishes he was, and I’ll sleep safel