Dear Friends:
As I advised last month, I’m on sabbatical in July to work on my second book,
Being Ellen,
which included a planned hiatus for
The Ripple
until next month. However, developments of this week compel me to write to you this morning.
I suspect that like me, many of you are hurting over the horrific words—
Send Her Back!; They Should Go Back to Where They Came From!—
and the myriad of racist implications being directed at four Congresswomen, all of whom are people of color. One of those Congresswomen, Ilhan Omar, represents my district in Minnesota.
I wonder,
How can this be in America? Is this what it has come to? Are we at a breaking point?
I’m writing to plead that you not run to a corner of fear for refuge. Please not be afraid, but brave. Summon that bravery from every fiber that remains. Take that bravery from your heart, because as I have found in my work—the work of a transgender woman who does not fit in, who is “Other”—99 percent of all humans have good empathetic hearts. We do. I am convinced of that, in part because of how people from across America have accepted me.
What we are hearing now—the chants, the new political talking points—are reactions to change that is inevitable. They are the embodiment of fear of “Other.” I know from my work that it’s entirely possible to get past that fear. We just simply need to do the hard work of becoming familiar with those who are “Other.”
You reading this have already done some of that work. After all, you allow me, Ellie Krug, a human who is “Other”, into your life every month. If you can do that, so can most anyone else.
We just need to keep our heads down, our hearts open, and our voices ready to say,
Enough! This is not America! This is not who I am!
As I have repeatedly made clear, I want to avoid politicizing
The Ripple
or my work since what I do is intended to benefit ALL HUMANS and not simply those of one political camp or one socioeconomic group or skin color.
But this morning, with my heart hurting for our country, I needed to say something.
Thank you. I care about you. Now I must go back to writing my second book. Talk to you in August!
ellie
