Speak out..."even if your voice shakes"

 

“TO the States or any one of them, or any city of the States, Resist much, obey little,
Once unquestioning obedience, once fully enslaved,
Once fully enslaved, no nation, state, city of this earth, ever after-ward resumes its liberty.”

― Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass

"Resist much, obey little"--this reminds me of the bumper sticker my dad had on a truck for years that simply stated, "Question Authority." It's kind of my mantra, actually. I don't take anything on face value, and I'm often accused of borrowing trouble. But there's trouble enough, and I don't think too many people look deep enough to see that we are often blindly stepping into mudholes or worse.

That said, the news is troubling me again. In Nicaragua, 94 people have been stripped of their citizenship; they are not not acknowledged in any way--civil death, if you will. This followed a purge of dissidents- 222 of them-- who were also de-citizened and flown to the US just a couple of days before. Why? Because they questioned their government. Of the 94, most were human rights activists, journalists, a novelist, and a poet. I'm pretty sure I'd be in trouble on the daily. 

In somewhat related news, the nephew of Pablo Neruda now has scientific proof that his poet-uncle was poisoned, just hours after entering a hospital. Neruda was going to run to Mexico; his anti-government sentiments had gotten him noticed, and he wanted to work for the opposition in the relative safety of another country. It turns out he may well have been injected with a lethal amount of the bacteria that causes botulism. All because he spoke his mind, politically. 

We take our "freedom of speech" fairly complacently in the US. Under Putin's regime, dozens (more than 42) journalists have been murdered. Dozens more of his critics have met with untimely demises; some here in the US, who "fell" out of closed windows of their hotels or apartments. 

Now, we have some conservatives --okay, call it what it is, neofascists-- who would silence any voice that raises a question. Today, DeSantis in Florida has openly discussed nixing AP courses completely. Control of this sort results in an uninformed (and easily convinced/ led/ lied to) populace. 

I will speak, "even if my voice shakes" (Maya Angelou). If I have accidental privilege, I will use it for the common welfare. Join me?

Take care,

C