To my 4-year-old little girl: Walk Out

March 14, 2018
To my 4-year-old little girl:

Walk out.
Leave. Stand up, and walk out. Lead the way out the door.
Across the country, young people got up and walked out of school, to call attention to gun violence.
When it’s your turn to walk out, I hope you do.
Have the courage to face wrong, to stand up for justice, to speak for the voiceless.
Oppose unjust laws. Demand change. Imagine a better world, and then work towards it. Do what needs to be done.
Risk everything— your money, your feelings, your dignity, your reputation, everything but, God forbid, your life— to do what’s right.
There will come a time when you will be the only one to see what’s right. Be strong enough to be the person who speaks up, when no one else does. Stand up for the weak, the defenseless, the helpless. Be there for others.
Some will try to silence you, with violence, with threats, with very real repercussions and punishments.
Walk out, anyway.
There’s a time for peaceful protest. That time is when you and others say it’s time, not when the system allows it.
People don’t get justice when they wait for permission from people in power. Justice comes when people demand it.
Unjust systems and laws and and people will try to stop you. Hate will try to stop you.
Hate killed King and Kennedy and Óscar Romero.
Hate killed Joe Hill and James Chaney and Jonathan Daniels and Heather Heyer.
Have the courage to step up, anyway. Risk it all, so that others may be free and safe. When you are afraid or discouraged, keep going.
Step up for love and justice and equality and peace.
Raise your voice for the victims.
Do justice, love kindness, walk humbly.
When your time comes: Walk. Out.