Well, my last post didn’t age too well, and while I’m still processing everything going on, I hope everyone is taking much needed time and space for yourself.

It has taken a minute to gather my thoughts and process, as since November 6th it has been a very emotional, mental, and physical experience for me from the headaches and dehydration from all my tears shed since then.

Yes, my salty progressive tears.

And so while I watch from afar the news that affects me indirectly because I am not stateside, or rather directly through my family’s livelihood, it would feel easy to have an escapist mentality. In fact, I’ll be the first to admit that even during the Obama administration, I had dreams of escaping America’s borders for a life abroad. And now, that I am sitting in a desirable corner of Europe, I desperately want to move back home to the United States.

BUT WHY??? YOU’RE LIVING IN SPAIN!!??

And? It’s nice ever so slightly depending on whatever metric you’re using, but I desperately want out. Maybe it is the times I’ve felt more than unwelcome that have made me feel like Spain is not for me. Maybe it’s because I’ve never felt at home here, and the realizations of sometimes missing the slow life in Togo, but then having most everything at my fingertips here, it still feels like not enough.

In more serious ways, I cannot buy into the public healthcare here. Sure, medical care is cheaper, but I’m not living the universal healthcare dream. It’s near impossible to integrate in two years without being a resident. Or more trivial things, that when a video circulated of Julianne Moore discussing her time in Madrid talked about the magical grocery store below a department store that was just so astounding…except I want to throw up from the smell of rotting pig legs that adorn this particular grocery store, and the amount of cheese that reeks because it’s near the end of it’s usable life. And yet, to some, it’s so magical.

The best Spaniard is Jose Andres. I will die on that hill.

So then why the United States?

I agree, there’s more to Europe than just Spain. In fact I loved the Netherlands so much, the Provence region of France was nice too, and I have a feeling I’d love Germany.

However: I’m not the type to give up my belief that we can do more for humanity. My country needs good people now more than ever. Not everyone has the means to leave, and we cannot leave them behind.

“If there are no good people left in this world, I want to be the last one.” -Alexandria Ocasio Cortez.

This is the ethos I’m choosing to live by.

Europe by no means is perfect.

I hope we all can agree that neither is the U.S.

But there is an extremely real threat occurring within the borders of the United States and it is not the immigrant, it is not DEI, it is not trans people.

It is the perversion of our means of success and ability to provide for our families because of the increasing wealth of few, and the failure of our politicians.

I can’t ever set aside my feelings if you’re someone that espouses hate. But if you’re struggling to feed your family because your job is on the line or cut, if you’ve been in cycle of poverty that never seems to cycle you out,

I want to feed you and I want us to share a table.

I want us to speak to each other and help each other because that is what humanity is about. I see you as human and nothing less.

I believe that we can see doctors and get the healthcare we deserve without putting it off because of financials and the lie of insurance.

I believe our kids can go to excellent schools, in every neighborhood, and have the right to feel safe, to feel like every opportunity can be theirs if they want it. That when they choose to attend college that is affordable, they make it through and don’t go hungry in between.

I believe that our economy can also protect our planet.

I believe that predatory lenders should be shut down for keeping families in poverty.

I believe that our homes large and small do not have to poison us with lead pipes and have heat and air conditioning due to our changing climate.

I believe that with equitable taxes, we can get all that we as tax paying citizens deserve.

I believe that those who cross borders for a better life are no different from my ancestors that did so 100 years or more prior to now.

I believe.

It will be hard, it will be mentally, physically, and emotionally taxing. But they put out their playbook. It’s going according to plan. We know what is at stake.

We just need to plan better and fight harder for these beliefs that make us uniquely American.

But how? I do not know, but the groundwork begins now, electing leaders that truly represent and don’t forget the people and communities that put them there.

I know it looks like helping our neighbors where we can. It’s standing up for them when their security is at stake.

Again, act like you’re the last good one. Because for now, that’s all that makes the most sense to do.

And with that, I’m returning this summer. I’m more than ready now to hit the ground running.