|
My 7-year-old daughter is obsessed with the current Korean anime hit on Netflix. If you haven’t encountered it yet, it’s not only their top streaming film of all time but was also No. 1 at the box office just weeks ago. The soundtrack’s single has held the No. 1 spot on U.S. and global music charts for a month straight.
I often hear her in her room belting out that climatic song’s chorus at the top of her lungs:
“No more hiding, I'll be shining, Like I'm born to be!
. . . We're goin' up, up, up, It's our moment.
You know together we're glowing, Gonna be, gonna be golden”
The story is simple: a K-pop girl group leads a double life as entertainers who secretly fight demons. But one of them carries another secret—she’s half demon herself, the product of her parents’ forbidden love. The villains form a demon boy band to compete, steal fans’ souls, and expose her identity, furthering the traditional hero’s arc: a showdown between good and evil, weakness turned to strength, and redemption, but set to the power of music and sisterhood.
I hope my daughter finds affirmation and independence in that story. But as a gay kid who grew up searching for hidden messages of acceptance, I can’t help but hear those lyrics as something deeper—a rallying cry for all the communities being abused in America today.
Families ripped apart by deportation after decades here. Being unhoused criminalized instead of solved. Life-saving healthcare denied to women and stripped from trans youth. Medicaid cut, vaccines restricted, mental health lifelines for queer kids eliminated. Teachers silenced, truth erased from classrooms. Qualified Black, brown, and queer leaders dismissed as “DEI hires.” Cities militarized. And at every step, our democracy pushed closer to fascism.
However, life is complex. The world is complicated. People are multifaceted. Very little is ever purely good or purely evil. That’s why the traditional hero’s arc can feel so deceptive. We live in gray areas, where paradoxes shape our lives and conflicting truths can both be real. One person's villain can do good at times, while another's hero can perform detestable acts. Yet our brains crave simplicity, neat categories, and clear lines. That’s what makes the hero’s arc so alluring—because it offers clarity where life rarely does.
And when complex acts occur, it is natural to seek such clarity and blame but instead find chaos. Initial reactions are just that, reactionary, and illogical, such as the unjust calls last week even from the president that progressive charities such as Community Shares be shut down as the enemy.
Yet these very populations being harmed by current policies are those that Community Shares of Greater Cincinnati and our 31 local member charities and dozen fiscal sponsorships exist to serve, center, empower, and amplify. We may not be able to easily shape D.C. or Columbus, but we can influence what happens locally—on our streets, in our schools, in our neighborhoods.
That’s why your support matters. Giving to Community Shares is not charity—it’s resistance. It’s solidarity. It’s a declaration that we will not be erased, we will not be silenced, and we will not stop fighting for justice. In the current chaos, that work is more important than ever. However, we must temper our passion with compassion. We must be careful not to oversimplify, and not to demonize others unjustly—even though that same weapon is too often turned against us. And we must keep searching for the good in one another, no matter how deeply it may be buried—or how deeply someone believes it may be buried in us.
Together, we will rise. Together, we will shine. Together, we’re “gonna be, gonna be golden.” Give here.
T. Duane Gordon, CEO
Community Shares of Greater Cincinnati
| 
