The people are rising.
Give them forty days of this, and they’re rising.
They are rising in town halls. Rising at electric car dealerships owned by a man who would scorch the earth. They are making signs and marching and being annoying and being that person. They are, by the thousands, making inquiries to run for office.
The people are rising because they looked around for someone else to rise instead and realized that what they had was a mirror.
They are rising because first they thought no one else would and then they saw they were not alone. Now they are rising together.
They were waiting for others to be the first mover, the advance team, the vanguard. Then they got fed up and loaded their van with snacks and signs and water, and went.
They are refusing to be ruled. They know that the only appropriate time to hear “coup” is when you are speaking to a baby. They are rejecting the artifice of the deal.
They do not wish to obey in advance.
They are watching the big buildings of the republic, and the important people inside of them, crack and tremble, and they are marveling that little old them has more courage than all the big institution people.
The people are rising. They are claiming their birthright to speak. And speak loudly.
They are speaking clearly. They don’t sound like many of those who are called senators and representatives. They don’t get lost in caveats and qualifications and “as it relates to” and “in terms of.” They say what they feel: They want to be free.
The people are rising. No longer trusting blindly the people and places they used to. Thinking for themselves. Asking for trust to be earned. Assembling their own infrastructure of reality. Seeing new truths in the scared or condescending silences.
They have come to the place of not minding being That Person. The person who brings it up. Who says the thing. Pushes. Who ruins dinner to save the republic.
The people are rising. Remembering not only what they are against but also what they are for. Painting a lush tomorrow. Inviting people in. Making space for latecomers.
The people are rising. Once they do, nothing is ever the same. Will you rise, too?
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