I spent tonight, side by side among friends and strangers, marching for equality. It was incredible. We marched for what felt like miles, chanting the whole way, simultaneously demanding and begging for civil rights. We walked in peace, not extending a hateful fist to anyone. It was a peaceful demonstration, an act of civil disobedience. However, that does not mean that we were not violated. I heard it before I saw it, a wet and crunchy combination of a smash and a plop. Someone actually threw a bag of ice at us. It hit a girl in the face before falling at our feet. And, on par with cowardly behavior, the thrower was tucked away in an apartment building hiding in a dark room.
It is a blinding statement of affairs when there is a person who feels that it is acceptable behavior to throw things at others. It is a statement about the country that we live in. It is a statement about the way that we treat each other. It is a statement about the short-sightedness of some of the people that inhabit this mortal coil.
It says that our work here is nowhere near finished. It says that those who hold themselves in a higher regard than their fellow man had better watch out because the tide is turning. It says that, although we may face challenges, we will persevere and overcome. It says that this fight, which feels as though it has been going on forever, is only just beginning. It says that we are gearing up to fight even harder. It says that it is going to take more than a bag of ice to make us go away. It says that the bag of ice has made me even stronger. It says that your ignorant and intolerable behavior has had the opposite effect of what it intended. It says that the world is not done turning. It says that change will come because it always does.
Fear usually comes before change. For many, it is the body’s natural reaction to it. I know the world is changing because of how fearful those who are resisting the change have become. They have resorted to lying and underhanded behavior. They have thrown their precious “tax-exempt status” under the bus to stop this change from coming. They have tried to strike fear into the hearts of those who do not know where else to turn. They have used children and God as a defense for their bigotry. Tell me that this change is not coming. Tell me that the world doesn’t change. Tell me that you can’t smell it in the air. Tell me that you cannot feel the electricity crackling underneath your skin. Tell me that you cannot feel it in the deepest part of your heart. The world is changing. It always has and it always will. You just try and stop it.
