Dear America,
It has come to a time when life is no longer a joke. We are at a time in our lives where many of us need to make a decision and open up our eyes to see what exactly is happening in our country and the world around us. We're trying to make a country "great again" that hasn't been too great since it was founded. The fact is, we are here now. We're in this great, beautiful land full of high mountains and low valleys and beautiful forests that we are just wasting. We're wasting our time, our money, and our energy fighting battles that shouldn't be fought in the first place. I'm not just talking about the war in Iraq that we have been fighting for 15 years now, but we are wasting our precious resources fighting amongst ourselves about whether we should unite as a nation "under God" or if it's okay to fall in love with someone of the same sex as you, if it's okay to try to crack down on gun control in an attempt to keep weapons out of the hands of criminals, or if it's simply okay to be the person we feel we are.
Dear America,
it's time to wake up. It's time to realize that the time is now to unite with one-another. I lost some of my brothers and sisters that I never got the chance to meet on June 12, because someone decided that they no longer deserved to live. Their lives were insignificant because, it was just a group of "fags", "queens", and "dykes", right? No. These were people. People who lived and loved and were taken from this world way before their time. These were (mostly) Hispanic-Americans that were just enjoying being alive; loving one-another, having fun, and drinking. Then shots were fired. I don't know about you, but I don't want to live in a world where our country's flag flies at half-staff every day, mourning the loss of more victims of senseless violence.
Dear America,
I'm tired to going to bed afraid. Afraid that when I wake up, some of my friends may longer be around because of the color of their skin, and they happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time. I'm tired of going to bed afraid that the country I'm going to leave to my future children, and my young siblings will not be a country at all; just a pile of ashes and dust.
Dear America,
I'm sick of hearing about all of your useless nonsense online; fighting about who is better and who is right, who's wrong; whether or not there is a God, and which God should be followed.
Dear America,
I recall a time when we learned that the founding fathers built this country on freedom, and somewhere along the way, we've lost touch with what freedom truly means. We have a right to love, a right to live without living in fear, a right to practice whatever religion we choose without being persecuted.
Dear America,
What even is freedom anymore? I am disappointed at the country we've become. We focus on dividing ourselves instead of standing united with one-another and loving each-other when it's most important. So that on November 9, 2016, we can know that we made the right decision. And while some of our favorite candidates refused to give up and fought until the very end, that we can now hold our heads high and know that the man who would destroy what's left of this country is sitting in his gold-covered tower, defeated.
I once saw a picture of Hitler and a little girl online with a blog post attached to it talking about how he was just a an, but yet we dehumanize him and make him a monster because he is responsible for the organized slaughter of millions of people. And yes, he deserves to be looked at as though he were the scum of the earth, but he was just a man. Trump is just a man. And I am nowhere near saying that he is going to lead to the deaths of millions of people but he is preaching hate. He may think, somewhere in his mind, that he is helping his country, just as Hitler did, but in the end, the result will be a country even further divided than ever before. A country of white people with no diversity, a country full of the "Aryan" race. The "superior" race. A country without our Muslim, Mexican, and so many other brothers and sisters because his solution to the problem is to build an impossible wall and kick anyone out of the country that isn't like him. Does that mean we're going to leave, too? Go back to our countries of origin so the people who once owned this land can finally be one with the earth and feel like this is where they belong again? Realistically, no. We will stay. And many of us will breed hate because of it.
Dear World,
I know America may be falling apart and we were once considered a "great country" but that doesn't mean it's your time to fall apart, too. I know America isn't the center of everything. I know that many of you will think that is what I'm trying to say, but what I really mean is that we can't all simply fall apart during times like these. Times when murderers are running rampant, getting creative with their weapons, using trucks and bombs, and who knows what else to cause panic, and inflict wounds that may never heal. Now is not the time to bend to their will; to give up just because they think they are stronger than everyone else in the world. There has never been more truth in the words "there is strength in numbers" until now.
Dear World,
I'm sure you're tired of flying your flags at half-staff, too. We're all tired of losing our brothers, our sisters, our mothers, and fathers, and children to the darkness that is slowly consuming what is left of humanity.
We only seem to come together when it "matters", that is, when it is most convenient for us to help each-other out. When we feel like we can wake up the next day and feel good about ourselves, knowing that we helped someone in a far worse situation than our own.
Dear World,
I'm tired of waking up. I'm tired of waking up to a world that no one feels safe in anymore, that many are scared to go outside in anymore, that is full of so much hatred. It's pretty sad when someone considers killing themselves, not because they want to die, but because they feel like if they don't do it first, someone else will tomorrow. We used to live in a world where we could come together and not think there was an ulterior motive. Where we could unite against the evils of the world and take them down. But now, we're too busy fighting and worrying about ourselves, that none o us can afford to help cover someone else anymore.
Dear World,
I hope you're happy with what you're leaving behind for your children, and your children's children, and so many generations beyond that. Because many of us cannot even get up in the morning and look in the mirror anymore without thinking "what's the point?" Because really, what even is the point of living for today anymore if we're going to take everyone down in fire and flames tomorrow? What's the point of trying to enjoy life when many of us know that it will be cut short for us soon.
Dear World,
I can scream and shout at the top of my lungs and I know that no one is going to listen.
But Dear Whoever May Still Be Listening,
I hope you take the time to spread the message of love, of kindness, and brotherhood. And I hope you can come together with a group of peers and decide that enough is enough; I hope all of us that are sick and tired of this garbage heap of a world that we live in can come together, join hands, and be the change. Because right now, we may be the world's only hope of surviving.
Sincerely,
One Voice
