Witness love

 - by Dustin Woods
  Visionary Columnist

Last February, I wrote about our need to step into a position of love in response to the pervasive hate sweeping our country. I feel like my message from last year has even more salience today, as we increasingly see our government take purposeful actions to harm our populace.

Millions will lose their healthcare due to the end of subsidies for health insurance costs. Masked government officials are violently interacting with people on the street. We've even watched these civil servants perform their duties with such disregard for life that even innocent American citizens are being gunned down in their cars.

If only this were a novel situation for our country, but unfortunately, it is not.

February is also Black History Month, and it makes me think of the countless African Americans who have had their lives cut short after someone with government authority decided to make themselves judge, jury, and executioner. Philando Castile comes to mind most prominently. I remember watching the video of that tragedy very vividly.

If you are a minority in this country, predominantly a racial minority, your life isn't valued by our society as greatly as everyone else's. To me, this is a tragedy, especially in a country where equal treatment under the law is supposed to be our bedrock virtue.

How do we show up for our fellow Americans, and/or neighbors, with love in our hearts and change on our minds? These acts may be brutal and push some of us out of our comfort zones.

However, when we see some governmental impropriety, like an overzealous ICE raid or a heavy-handed police interaction with a minority, let's not turn our heads and avoid the situation. Also, recording the interaction certainly would be beneficial. As long as we aren't interfering with an investigation, we have the right to record public spaces and government officials. The revolution will be televised, more aptly digitized and streamed. We should all be able to watch the atrocities being carried out in all of our names so that we may decide if this is the way we want our power to be wielded.

Now that we pretty much all have a camcorder in our pockets, we are positioned to protect the peace in our society, our own way, by recording the truth for posterity so those in power may not pervert it. " If you see something, say something" was the phrase of the 2000s. If you see something, record it! Perhaps this verbiage ought to be the phrase of the 2020s.

Now is not the time to turn our heads, tune out, or let apathy take hold. Witness love instead. Take action.

As hard as it is to watch these atrocities, we must not look away. 

The Gayly online. 2/13/26 @ 12:37 p.m. CST.