It was always WOKE...

As a people, we used to tell our stories over a fire. These stories were not simply for entertainment; they were a way of working through our everyday lives and the trauma that came with it. It was a way for tribe to come together to learn lessons and to better understand one another to keep us united in our efforts to survive and keep our humanity. That being said, there has always been a moral to our stories; it has always been WOKE.

Now, in our efforts to return to this way of telling stories to reconnect with one another, AI has come along to sell us entertainment and keep us distracted from ourselves. All at the expense of our land, water, and clean air. It may not seem like much now, but these will lead to larger health issues that have already plagued our communities for years due to the pollution caused by Cancer Alleys, fallout from nuclear testing sites, and the on-going effects from agent orange from the Vietnam War. All of these has led to Americans developing chronic conditions that have been passed down from generation to generation as congenital disorders. Yet, with the passing of the Big Beautiful Bill, the current administration will have you believe that you must work to earn the privilege of healthcare, when the well has already been poisoned by greed and colonization.

As of recently, I have seen advertisements for class-action lawsuits against corporations that have polluted our air. But that is not the solution, this is a band-aid. For what is money, what is anything if you do not have your health? The solution is and always has been to have every American covered under universal healthcare. This is something that is not a privilege, but a right. When renowned anthropologist Margaret Mead was asked what the first sign of civilization was, she responded by saying it was a healed femur bone. When an animal has a broken bone, it usually marks then end. But for us, it marked our humanity, our way of saying “no one gets left behind.” This act marked the kindness and compassion we once held for our people, the human race. There is no us or them, only we. To care for All over Most.

“I'm not interested in anybody's guilt. Guilt is a luxury that we can no longer afford. I know you didn't do it, and I didn't do it either, but I am responsible for it because I am a man and a citizen of this country and you are responsible for it, too, for the very same reason... Anyone who is trying to be conscious must begin to dismiss the vocabulary which we've used so long to cover it up, to lie about the way things are.”

― James Baldwin