Minneapolis, Minnesota

Today I woke to (some of) the most disturbing news. I say some of, because unfortunately, this is just one story in a slew of seemingly unending injustices. I am sickened. To see an innocent man murdered by his own country, should terrify us. Sadly, I think a part of us has become desensitized to it all. These crimes go against the very nature of being human. We evolved and survived by communicating and cooperating. These crimes are incomprehensible. Five and a half years ago, George Floyd was murdered in Minneapolis. Less than a mile away from this, Renee Good was murdered on my mother's birthday: January 7th. Today, not even three weeks later, Alex Pretti was murdered by ICE agents. I do not normally write about politics, but today I woke up and saw another murder. I do not know where we are heading, but it is surely in the wrong direction.

January 24, 2026

I woke up this morning, 

embraced by a warm body and soft sheets.

The first moments are always simple, half awake and lucky. 

Truly awake, the world rears its ugly head. 

How do you reason with stupidity and cruelty?

Urging someone to feel empathy can make a person go crazy. 

Everyday I feel more and more lost and ashamed. 

Dear god, how can I not be complicit,

not be a bystander? 

Even being a bystander is enough to get you killed, 

in cold-blooded, tax-funded murder. 

How do I know people who voted for this? 

Criminals wear masks when committing illegal crimes in order to hide their identity. 

The ONLY people…

Is this image not clear enough?

It feels voiding and beyond me to bargain for any logic 

to be unearthed beneath the blood stained snow. 

The President is a convicted felon, 

but five year old Liam is in a cell,

with his child’s innocence, 

and not the racist, rapist, cheating criminal: President Donald J. Trump.

How does one extricate empathy from people, 

with their ugly lies and lack of morality?

When people wake up cold and alone, 

in a cell of torture and abuse, 

how do they call this progress?

How does it make anyone feel safer? 

Society was built for white colonizers,

but the upper hand is still not enough. 

They teem with ego and greed and hate.

When will enough be enough?

I saw an innocent man murdered today. 

He was helping a woman who had been assaulted. 

I cried and argued with god

just to go about my day in the end. 

What a privilege to take a break from this madness; 

I think I am going insane. 

I am scared.

I think we all should be.