THE ARC OF JUSTICE
For Chelsea Manning

New Years Eve 2016

Dearest,

At the other end of the night
there will be a band playing
songs only you know I like
and there will be cake
-yellow cake with pink icing.

There will be a fallen tree
covered with moss to sit on
or even lay down on
if the mood strikes
and most likely it will.

There will be no reason not to relax except a desire for some other
diversion.

The air will be fresh
and only slightly humid
-just warm enough
to make your skin glow
and rise to my touch.

(Content/TW: Discussion of racist and ableist violence, mentions of sexual violence)

Dear fellow organizers, activists, rabble-rousers, and rebels,

Dearest Queer Family and Our Beloved Allies,

We are heading into unknown and potentially dangerous times. Everyone with a liberal mindset, everyone living any sort of marginalized life is responding with great apprehension. Yes, it’s likely that many of the freedoms we take for granted will be rolled back. The usual suspects will most likely be targeted for further marginalization: women, children, people of color, the working class, the elderly, and of course anyone who falls outside of cisgender heteronormativity. I’m so, so sorry.

Dear Baby Queers Everywhere,

First, are you okay?

That's important to ask because you're important to me, and though it may seem hard to believe lately, you’re actually important to lots and lots of people. And we all want you, before anything else, to be emotionally and physically healthy.

That matters just the same way that you matter.

Dear Fellow Revolutionaries,

I write to you as a dusty-kneed soldier of the great unfolding rebellion that is America.

I write from the heart, in a pivotal moment in which each of us must decide whether to lead with love or fear. I urge you to remember: Only love is real.

I know a lot of good people who voted for Trump. They aren’t against immigrants and immigration. But they sought a different direction for America.

I don’t believe 2016 was an election about policy or politics. It was an election about culture, values and who we are as a country. It was an election outcome determined by voters who don’t think government works for them.