We can and must hold multiple truths. We can analyze nuance and complexity while keeping moral clarity. We can seek to understand a mob while we stand against it. We can recognize the manipulation of white working class grievances by a narcissistic oligarch without losing sight of the individual culpability of thousands who have enthusiastically embraced their role as shock troops.
The capitol assault was, of course, what unrepentant white supremacy and proto-facism look like today. It’s everything I stand against. But looking at the faces in the crowds, I can’t help but wonder who might have also once attended a Flobot concert, or found meaning in our music. I can’t help but wonder what questions they’ve been asking that brought them to this answer. I can’t help but see lost souls wandering in the desert, nor can I help wanting them to find their way home.
So, let’s be clear.
When we put on flag bandanas and declare ourselves new American insurgents, we are appealing to a very specific American lineage- to a path paved by abolitionists, suffragettes, freedom riders, labor unions, and movements of marginalized peoples building solidarity based in compassion.
The power of the people is a beautiful sight to behold, but when the purpose of that power is to undermine the votes of millions at the behest of one man’s ego, we are witnessing the blasphemous corruption of a sacred tool.
Lest there be any confusion, we stand with all those who are working to expand democracy, not constrict it, to face the past, not ignore it, and to build a world based on compassion and kindness, not brute force.