Radicalized by Standing Still

I am the radical left you’ve been warned about.

• I am the radical left you were warned about—by those who profit from your silence and inaction.
• I’ve been radicalized by the taking of innocent hostages by Hamas, by the bullets, bombs, death, and suffering inflicted by Netanyahu on the people of Gaza, Putin’s annexation, attack, and invasion of Ukraine, and the needless deaths caused by Musk, Trump, and Rubio by defunding USAID.
• I’ve been radicalized by Kristi Noem’s kidnapping and trafficking of international students who were exercising their First Amendment rights.
• I’ve been radicalized by the widespread rampant corruption and lawlessness of the Trump Administration and the complete silence and fealty of the Republican party acting as co-conspirators and accessories after the fact.
• I’ve been radicalized by “The Big Beautiful Bill” approved by the House, intended to eliminate basic healthcare for millions of Americans to extend and fund tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans and corporations.
• I’ve been radicalized by a political party hellbent on accelerating extreme weather events, death, destruction, and suffering by denying science, denying climate change, and eliminating critical climate action.

I’ve been radicalized, been radicalized, been radicalized.

• I’ve been radicalized by Richard Nixon creating the Environmental Protection Agency and stating: “Clean air, clean water, open spaces - these should once again be the birthright of every American."
• I’ve been radicalized by thinking that all people should be treated equally, without regard to race, gender, and/or economic status.
• I’ve been radicalized by thinking we should always value diplomacy over conflict, human rights over oppression, democracy over tyranny.
• I’ve been radicalized by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Angela Davis, Blaise Bonpane, and Charlie Litkey.

I’ve been radicalized, been radicalized, been radicalized.

• I believe consenting adults have rights to love who they want, who they wish to pray to —or not pray at all, and not be discriminated against.
• I believe people have a right to be true to their own gender identity.
• I’ve been radicalized by Harvey Milk, Audre Lorde, Bayard Rustin, and Sarah McBride

I’ve been radicalized, been radicalized, been radicalized.

• I’ve been radicalized by the belief that any meaningful democracy requires a well-educated, informed, and engaged society.
• I believe that any society aspiring toward freedom, justice, democracy, and equality: public and higher education must be accessible, affordable, world class, and unfettered by politics.
• I am radicalized when books are banned and libraries are attacked.
• I’ve been radicalized by Horace Mann, Noam Chomsky, Randi Weingarten, Nikole Hannah-Jones, and Elizabeth Warren.

I’ve been radicalized, been radicalized, been radicalized.

• I believe unbiased news, trusted information, investigative reports, and important societal knowledge should be free and readily available to the public.
• I believe that any meaningful democracy requires the freedom and safety of journalists.
• I’ve been radicalized by the belief that trust, facts, and evidence should not be obscured by media platforms, their algorithms, and the billionaires who own and hide behind those platforms.
• I’ve been radicalized by Aaron Swartz, Molly Ivins, Walter Cronkite, and Heather Cox Richardson.

I’ve been radicalized, been radicalized, been radicalized.

• I believe all workers should earn a living wage and decent benefits for their effort.
• I believe in Unions and that all workers should be able to unite and collectively bargain.
• I believe that every person should pay taxes and fund societal priorities in accordance with their ability determined by their income and accumulated wealth.
• I believe government must be honest, transparent, and accountable stewards of our tax investment and allocate our funds in accordance with our societal values.
• I’ve been radicalized by the fraud of “trickle-down” economics which leads to extreme wealth concentration and is an intentional attack on democracy.
• I’ve been radicalized by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, John Kenneth Galbraith, Bernie Sanders, and Robert Reich.

I’ve been radicalized, been radicalized, been radicalized.

• I’ve been radicalized by the bombs, death, and suffering in Gaza.
• I’ve been radicalized by the anguish of those waiting for the hostages to be released.I’m radicalized by the cries of mothers in Rafah and by the sirens in Tel Aviv.
• I’m radicalized by the belief that every child, parent, and individual in Gaza is entitled to peace, security, food, housing, and medicine.
• I’m radicalized by the belief that the people of Israel have a right to peace, security, and to exist.
• I believe all war criminals identified by the International Criminal Court including Putin, Netanyahu, Gallant, and Hamas leadership should be held to account for the death and suffering they have inflicted on the innocent.
• I’ve been radicalized by Anwar Sadat, Menachem Begin, and Jimmy Carter.

I’ve been radicalized, been radicalized, been radicalized.

• I believe all people should act as stewards to protect our oceans, lakes, rivers, valleys, mountains, and skies.
• I believe the United States and all nations should work toward peaceful global collaboration and cooperation.
• I’ve been radicalized by the knowledge that nuclear weapons are a plague risking all life on Earth.
• I’ve been radicalized by the belief that we all live on a tiny blue dot life raft/planet in a vast and expanding universe -and that we are all related.
• I’ve been radicalized by Black Elk, Rachel Carson, John Trudell, Greta Thunberg, Sylvia Earle, and Carl Sagan.

I’ve been radicalized, been radicalized, been radicalized.

• I believe that no individual is above the law regardless of wealth or standing.
• I believe when Nixon wasn’t prosecuted for Watergate, when Reagan wasn’t prosecuted for Iran/Contra, it has led to the rampant lawlessness and corruption of today.
• I’ve been radicalized by rulings from unethical, incompetent, and corrupt judges and justices such as Alito, Thomas, and Cannon.
• I’ve been radicalized by Daniel Ellsberg, Archibald Cox, Lawrence Walsh, Robert Mueller, and Jack Smith

I’ve been radicalized, been radicalized, been radicalized.

• I am radicalized by moms and dads of BIPOC children who worry every time their child leaves the house.
• I am radicalized by Nixon’s “War on Drugs” -responsible for policies like mandatory minimums, three-strikes laws, and stop-and-frisk which disproportionately affects people of color.
• I am radicalized by Reagan’s racist dog whistle “Cadillac-driving welfare queen”.
• I’ve been radicalized by Michelle Alexander, Dave Chappelle, Ibram X. Kendi, Howard Zinn, and James Baldwin.

I was in the center.
I am in the center.
I have not moved.
The train has been pulled to the far right —
by Powell, Reagan, Murdoch, Musk, Thiel, Adelson, Trump, and the forces of organized wealth and insatiable greed.

If this is radical—
Then so is justice.
So is truth.
So is love.
I’ve been radicalized.
And I am not alone.