Look at the Fireworks

I'm a repressed theater kid at heart, meaning that I love musicals but I've never done musical theater. And one of my favorites is a little known musical called In the Heights.

Without dropping too many spoilers, the characters live in the NYC neighborhood Washington Heights and are watching in real time as the rent goes up and people move out and gentrifiers move in. And more than once, multiple characters sing about how they figuratively and literally (a blackout happens at the end of Act 1) feel powerless.

And, look, same sis.

I've been told repeatedly to stop watching the news. But even when I stop, I cannot escape the feeling of existential dread because some people would rather have an incompetent white man who should have never run for office in the first place as president instead of the most qualified, in my humble opinion, candidate for president we've ever had, who just so happened to be a Black and Indian woman, now we all gotta find out even though I did NOT vote to eff around.

I'll get over it on the other side of heaven.

Anyway, as much as I would like to share the sentiment of others in the 92% (IYKYK) who've hung up their capes and have decided to chill for (please Jesus) the next four years, I'm trying to chill, but the horrors keep persisting.

And it's barely been a whole month since that man got inaugrated and I'm already tired. I'm tired of him, his handler who's actually running things, that man's handler in Russia who's really running things, the people who unknowingly voted for this because they don't listen and are hardheaded, the people who knowingly voted for this because they're heartless, soulless and brainless, the people who didn't vote because they think they're better than everybody, the people that are looking for Black people to once again put ourselves on the frontlines for the fights they would've never had if they would've just voted for the Black lady, the Christians who want to expedite Christ's second coming by making the world worse (???!!!), the Christians who prophesied of that man's presidency but treated the prophecy as a celebration instead of a warning, the Christians who can only say "let's just pray" and do nothing else, whoever is responsible for lionizing the current Secretary of HHS. Look, there are way more people that I'm mad at but the point is that ya girl is TIDE.

Not just tired, but also feeling powerless.

Because my politics start and end with wanting everyone to be ok. And while there has never been a time in this country when everyone was ok, the current state of politics seems to be making sure that no one except for the super rich and the super stupid will ever be ok ever again.

But back to the musical. One character, Sonny, who's young and full of activist energy, is despairing about feeling powerless and not being heard. The main character, his older cousin Usnavi, tells him "Alright, we're powerless. So light up a candle. There's nothin' going here that we can't handle."

And gosh darn it, but Lin-Manuel Miranda has a point.

The Bible says in John 1:5 "And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not". Ok sure, the light in question is Jesus, but it definitely applies here. Letting our light shine can get us to the other side of this foolishness. It's also recognizing how letting the light shine is going to look different for different people. For some, it will be continuing the good work and helping others. For others, it will be becoming a straight up nuisance. And yet for others, it will be doing both. And then for others, it will be a whole new thing that I can't comprehend just yet.

If there's anything that I've learned, it's that freedom and liberation for all are not solo projects. Every Martin has a Malcolm, Septima, Ella, Medger, Fannie, Baynard, Diane, John, Claudette, Kwame, Angela, and thousands of others working towards the same goal in different ways, letting their light shine through a darkness determined to snuff that light out.

So look at the fireworks as they light up the night sky, and join your light with theirs.

Together, there's nothin' going on here that we can't handle.

Be strong and take heart,

Toyin