I mostly dedicate this site to my photographic work, but given the recent results of our presidential election, I felt inclined to put some of my thoughts on paper. I hope you take a moment to read them, and that they resonate with you. If nothing else, I ask that you consider what the “promise of America” means.

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A Letter to America

11/6/2024

What is the “promise of America” in 2024?

Is it economic success?  Religious and spiritual freedom?  Personal autonomy in every facet of life?  Or is it simply the idea that anyone has a fair shake, no matter their background or origin story?

America, since your inception, you have prided yourself on being a democracy not only by the people, but for the people.  For nearly 250 years, you have advertised yourself as a beacon of hope, where the world’s tired, poor, huddled masses, yearning to breathe free, could take refuge.  But now, two and a half centuries later, you have become something entirely different.

Now, you are a country of hate, a country of xenophobia that angrily slams its doors in the faces of those same tired, poor, huddled masses who for so long were welcomed to our shores and borders. Today, you have let your true nature into the light, simply because you were told it was okay—because you were encouraged to do it.

America is a nation built by immigrants, both documented and undocumented.  It is a nation forged in the blood, sweat, and tears of those looking for a better life—looking to create something more. 

To overlook the hate, vitriol, sexism, racism, and xenophobia of the Republican Party is to condone it. This was not an election about “the cost of groceries” or “gas prices,” but an election of whether you had empathy for your neighbor or you were only in it for yourself.  No one voting for Donald Trump said, “I want us to make groceries cheaper for our low-income neighbors.”  They only said “I want to pay less for my groceries.”  Today, an “I,” not “we,” mentality won the election.

This mentality is inherently flawed in the face of what a democracy is.  A democracy is not made up of a host of separate “I”s, it is a collective “we.”  A democracy only works if we make it work, together.

As we face the reality of this election, it may be hard not to despair.  It is okay to grieve this loss, to be angry.  However, in the coming weeks, months, and years, it will be on us to make our voices heard and protect what we hold so dear from the forces that seek to take it away.

A sense of profound defeat is understandable in the immediate aftermath of this monumental electoral loss.  But we must not let such hopelessness take root, as a defeated people is a people ripe for control and manipulation.

We must not lose our resolve, as the experiment that is these United States only functions if we participate in it.  Let your anger flow into motivation, and your fear into resilience.  Like your ancestors who came before you, who arrived at our shores yearning to breathe free, you too must yearn for a better America. 

Yearn for a nation where everyone has a chance to get ahead, where all our friends and neighbors have access to the goods and services that a true democracy by the people, for the people, provides.

That is the promise of America.