Why is the idea of a little civil disobedience so distasteful to some people? Why is it considered so wrong to fight a little harder for something you passionately believe in? Why are people worried about offending others, about pissing people off? This isn’t a popularity contest. This is a fight for civil rights, for the same rights others have. The same rights, I might add, that someone else fought for, and possibly died. Weird, huh, how that is not considered the same thing. Weird, how going to a foreign country and pretty much destroying it and killing hundreds of thousands, maybe millions, in the process is not considered worse than a sit-in or a protest.
Now, to be clear, I am not talking about any form of violence. No one gets hurt and no property is destroyed. At worst, someone might be inconvenienced. But, I would never advocate for violence and that is definitely not what I am speaking of here. I am talking about a peaceful demonstration that might be just a little outside what the law allows for. Maybe.
The thing is, we need to be heard. And the way to be heard is to be loud, to yell at the top of our lungs, that we will not keep sitting in the back of the bus. Or, as my friend, Pam put it, we will not go back into our silk-lined closets, no matter how nice they may be. You don’t get heard by speaking sweetly. We’ve tried.
Like I said, this is NOT a popularity contest. No one needs to like us. No one needs to be us. No one even needs to agree with us. So, why do we care about pissing anyone off? Why do we need their approval?
Oh yeah, because someone allowed civil rights to be put on the ballot. Because someone thought it was okay to vote on the rights of others.
This is not the time to be nice. This is the time to take back what was ripped from our constitution. This is the time to scream back and say "NO!" This is the time to stand up and fight back, to refuse to pander to the majority so they might, pretty please, give us our rights back.
This is not a time for silence.
