It’s okay, they tell you.

They say there’s nothing to worry about.

They tell you you’re exaggerating.

That you’re being a catastrophist.

And you wish you could believe them.

But you can’t.

You look around.

Everything is falling apart.

Lines that were first clear are suddenly blurred.

Yes, it’s been bad before, but never this bad.

This is new, uncharted territory. Everything is uncertain.

You’re scared.

And yet, you go on with your life as if nothing is wrong.

You play the part.

You go to school.

You go to work.

You don’t allow yourself to feel, or maybe you’re just too busy.

But every once in awhile, you can’t help but look around.

You peek at the headlines.

You allow yourself to see.

And then you can’t help but feel.

Even though you are going through life like everything is okay, something deep inside you violently rebelling.

You try to mask it, but it won’t go away. No matter how much you try to stuff it down, it keeps resurfacing. Everyone may say it’s okay— you may tell yourself it’s okay— but that part of you rebels relentlessly.

This is not okay.

You desperately try to stuff it down, but that that inner voice doesn’t like to be stifled. The more you try to muffle it, the more strongly it resurfaces, over and over again. It comes back up each time with more force until there comes a point where you can’t pretend it isn’t there it any longer.

This is not okay.

It’s kicking from inside of you, thrashing, threatening to rip you apart. It’s the most intense emotion you’ve ever felt. So intense that it stops being an emotion, and materializes into something physical. In your chest. In your stomach. And yet, you can’t quite grasp it. It’s driving you insane.

This is not okay.

It nags you nonstop. It screams so loudly that at this point, not paying attention would be absurdity.

This is not okay.

It’s awful and inconsolable. You feel like you’re going to explode. You can’t stand it. You don’t know what to do with it any more.

But you are not alone.

There are millions of us. Millions fervently rebelling from within. Unable to accept what is being forced on us. Silently howling:

This is not okay.

This is not okay.

This is not okay.

In our history, there have been times that struck a similar tone to these. And in those times, people ignored their inner voices. They felt what you are feeling right now, but did not not act on it.

And what happened?

Oppression.

Destruction.

Disaster.

Followed by regret, cries of Never Again!, and everyone agreeing that the lesson has been learned.

Yet here we are.

When a voice deep inside is telling you something is wrong, don’t ignore it.

This is not okay.

This is not okay.

This is not okay.

Listen to that voice. Don’t resist it.

Don’t let anyone tell you that you’re not seeing what you can clearly see with your own eyes.

Don’t let anyone convince you that you’re not feeling what you obviously are.

Don’t let anyone manipulate you into doubting everything you stand for, into denying you’re even hearing that inner voice at all.

This is not okay.

This is not okay.

This is not okay.

Let that voice consume you. Become that voice.

Because you are not alone. We are all raising our voices together.

This is not okay.

This is not okay.

THIS IS NOT OKAY.

THIS IS NOT OKAY.

We will not make the same mistakes that we read about in our history books.

We will raise our voices.

We will act. 

No matter how steep the mountain is, we will climb it.

No matter how tough the opposition, we will fight.

We will not shut up.

We will not back down.

The arc of time is long, but it bends towards justice.

And justice is in our hands.