I hate the fact that my ideals about social justice or equality are viewed from the lens of politics.

When the Black Lives Matter movement happened, I was called a “liberal,” and now that Roe has been overturned, I am again looked at as a “liberal.”

I am neither.

I am a human being who has empathy and care for other human beings. I know firsthand what it feels like to be the underdog and to feel powerless in a world that is committed to seeing you a specific way. Yes, I have my own experiences as a woman, but I also know what it feels like to be lumped in with “white people,” and most importantly, privileged white people when I am not that either. If anything, I identify more with people of color due to my own economic class and religious upbringing.

All that aside, those things do not matter in the end. What matters, what has always mattered to me, is equality. True human equality. There is absolutely no reason why Black Lives Matter needs to be a “political issue” nor does Roe v. Wade. The underlying issue in all of this is the fact that we as a human species are being led to believe whatever propaganda the media and politicians want us to believe.

I believe that people of color should have equal rights and young girls and women should be able to choose whether they are ready for the responsibility of a child—and that puts me in a box of “liberal”? So, I believe that police officers should be afforded proper mental health care and should be coached/partnered with a qualified mental health professional. That makes me against the police? And because I believe that women should have the right to choose what is best for them, this makes me a liberal who hates all Christians and life itself?

This is insane!

I am a spiritual being in a human costume that believes in equality regardless of race, creed, gender, sexual preference, or ethnicity.

Period.

Stop labeling me as something that fits your agenda. No, I am not looking to “take all your guns away.” Yes, I do believe there needs to be stricter gun laws in place, and if you are one of the many responsible gun owners out there, then I do not see how that affects you.

I am also a veteran of the Iraq war.

I have shot several guns in my day from pistols to M-16s, and I know that if I absolutely had to, I would have used my gun in whatever way I was trained. I also know what it is like to be involved in scary situations that you are not sure how to handle, and my God, I could have used a mental health professional at my side during those times.

I am also a woman.

I would love to say that I do not understand how humans can be lumped into these “black or white” categories, but the truth is I totally get it.

Humans crave what they can fit into a box and label what they deem to be for them or against them. I had a back-and-forth encounter with a trump supporter (I did not capitalize his name on purpose), and she assumed that because I was against trump that meant I was idolizing Biden.

The problem is that if you cannot separate yourself from your politics, then you are missing the point. Humans. Human beings doing the hard thing called life. Human beings making the hard decisions after hard lessons. That is what I idolize if that is what makes you feel better.

Those choices are for no one to judge. Especially old white men and women with deep internalized misogyny and racism.

So, please stop lumping me and others who just want freedom into your ideals.

I see both sides of the spectrum, and quite honestly, I have been disappointed with both.

The democrats have had more than enough time to codify Roe, and they never acted. So, bottom line, if the bright orange stain on America’s perfect flag was what it took to wake up humanity, then so be it.

Look, I am not so stupid to think that those who are uneducated will still stop waving their trump flags loud and proud, but I can see that there seems to be enough of us who are ready for progressives in the position of power, those who can see people as people with real-life lived experiences regardless of color, gender, sexual preference, or the fact that they are a cop.

This world needs a healthy dose of compassion and empathy.

Those things do not stand a chance in the face of ego.

I have more than enough compassion. I even have it for these right-wing conservatives who think they understand what it means to be free.

But that compassion will not keep me quiet.

I am for human rights. Period.

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