A Letter to Americans, from a Canadian

We're worried about you

Hey, America. Sup?

Sorry. Stupid question. Everyone knows what's up, and most of us know it's not good. Speaking as a Canadian with many American friends (and readers), I want to remind you of a small bit of your history.

JFK was a pretty decent president. In 1962, he spoke at Rice University regarding exploring space and going to the moon. He said that Americans choose to do these things "not because they are easy, but because they are hard." It epitomized the human spirit to choose to do difficult things, even though they may take years to accomplish.

Speaking as someone who studies and writes about history, I can say that building a nation based on equality, kindness, fairness, and freedom has always been an extraordinarily difficult thing to accomplish. America has ... not always been so great at that. Better at it than many, but also surpassed by several other nations. Across the decades there have been some strong advances in these areas in the United States. Alas, of late, you've gone tragically backwards. Not "slipped" back, but violently shoved by an uncaring elite who cultivated and nourished the innate fear and hatred that many hold in their hearts.

Here are a couple of harsh reality checks for you, again based on my study of history.

1. No one is coming to save you. An outside country won't do it, the courts won't do it, the Democratic Party won't do it, and Kamala Harris won't do it. She tried to last November, but too many failed to show up to support her and here you are. It's great that you voted for her, but since not enough of you did it's still your mess to clean up.

2. Your persistent resistance is the only thing that possibly can save you. Organized, working at the local level, and relentless resistance. Here is an example of how one person can make a difference. In 2004, Wangarĩ Maathai became not only the first African woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize, but also the first environmentalist to do so. The Nobel committee said of Maathai, “She thinks globally and acts locally.” For two decades she was the nemesis of an oppressive single-party regime that ruled Kenya, fighting for open and fair elections in her country. In 2002, as a member of the National Rainbow Coalition, she was elected to parliament, securing ninety-eight per cent of the vote. In that same election the Rainbow Coalition unseated the Kenya African National Union, which had been ruling the country for forty years. The following year Maathai formed the Mazingira Green Party of Kenya, which embodied the environmental mission of the Green Belt Movement. That same year she was appointed Assistant Minister of the Environment. The author of four books, Maathai wrote of her own achievements: “What people see as fearlessness is really persistence.”

The fascists like to call people who care about others "snowflakes," but I know that you know what happens when enough snowflakes come together.

Creating a storm, becoming an avalanche, these things are not easy. Like JFK said, you do it because it is hard. Become a snowflake, join with others, and relentlessly resist. This is a lot more important than planting a flag on the moon.

Speaking of that flag, it’s time for you to fight for it.

If you want to learn some more history about people fighting for their rights, get both volumes of my books On This Day in History Sh!t Went Down.