An Alliance

Been thinking a lot lately about the term ‘ally’, and how it applies to current events.

I believe, in their heart of hearts, that most people want to be allies of the downtrodden, the marginalized among us and those without an amplified voice. Those of us who do have an amplified voice want to use it for good.

I have a few million readers? Great, they sustain me. But what can I do with that? How can I stand with the oppressed, how can I give voice to the things that are ignored? At the core of it, how can I help?

That’s where allies come in, and I like to think myself as one.

It’s an odd time in history, where a lot of the times those trying to help end up making things worse by not understanding, or even worse, try to make themselves the story.

That said, as allies go, I am as an imperfect one as they come.

I have thought, I have written, many things in the past that I no longer believe today, yet they are still out there for all to see. I have said hurtful things, I have treated people poorly and I have acted selfishly on occasions too numerous to count.

But I am older now, hopefully slightly wiser, with a better grasp on the world. But I am never, ever going to be a perfect ally.

I am going to say the wrong things, I am going to make quips without forethought and I am going to be ignorant.

What I will be though, is an imperfect ally.

I will listen when I err, I will think before I speak and I will learn from my mistakes.

I’ll never be as perfect of an ally as you deserve, but I’ll never stop trying to be. And at the end of the day, no matter what you think, please know that-

I see you, I hear you and I will try to empathize with you.

-Because I Can.

Quote of the Day

“If you can’t fly then run, if you can’t run then walk, if you can’t walk then crawl, but whatever you do you have to keep moving forward.”
-Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.