First name / Hello,,
I have been thinking long and hard over the last week about what I should show up and share with my community at this moment.
Words cannot express my deep dismay and despair for where our country may be headed next.
However, I feel it's more important to start this message by letting you know that the most important decision to be had at this moment is about your own personal well-being and the well-being of those you love.
As I woke up last Wednesday to the news of the new president-elect, the most important question I had to ask myself was:
Will this be the final straw in time for me to leave this country that I did not choose to be born into or would I decide to stay and fight in the preparation for what the new administration has in store?
I have been thinking extensively about where America has been and where it is headed.
Our nation comes from a dark and distraught history filled with slavery, racism, colonization, marginalization, sexism, and many other forms of oppression. And the words that kept playing in my mind last Wednesday were simply that this system is doing exactly what it was designed to do based on who the founding fathers were and where our country has come from.
But what I have decided to do at this moment is to stay and fight because while I hate the history that this country comes from, I still want to believe there are many Americans out there like me who hold hope for what this country could become, and the promise of a future where there is truly justice and equity for all.
I have decided that in the coming months, I will play a much more significant role in creating what the future of this country looks like, and I will be sharing more about those intentions and actions when the right time comes.
But at this moment, my ask for you is simple:
Call in your people and make the decisions that are best for you and your family and community.
I have also taken time to put together a 60-day plan of action for people who share values that we hold dear here at Fearless Foundry. If you would like access to that plan, please reply to this newsletter, and my team will provide it to you as a way to offer some guidance as part of our decision-making and processing.
In the weeks ahead, we have also decided to tighten some of our security parameters and how people get access to our content as a means to ensure that we are protecting our diverse community from any unintended harm.
Sharing resources with people who are a part of our close-knit community is one of those first steps.
If your decision is to stay and fight, know that I am here for you and will offer you any insight and information I have along the way.
If you've decided to leave, because that's what's best for you and the ones you love, I understand you wholeheartedly. I'd encourage you to figure out a way that doesn't come at the cost of the livelihoods and well being of other people; and does not perpetuate a continued pattern of colonization from this country to another place in the world.
Know that no matter where you go, we share a history, and that together we have the chance to rewrite the stories ahead.
I for one, have never felt more called to step up and into the fray to ensure that anyone whose lives and well-being could be compromised by the incoming administration is protected in every way possible.
At my core, I believe we as Americans have fundamentally more in common than we have qualities or beliefs that divide us, and yet we’re stuck inside a system that pits us against each other so that we’re too busy feeling afraid or angry to find that anything in common.
We don’t have to live this way, and I will do everything in my power to help us find kinship, connection, safety, and support in our community and country in the years to come.
Yours in resistance and solidarity,
Madeline
