Feb 9, 2023 6 min read humanity

Waking Up In A Post-Roe World

WE are the ones who, at the hands of 6 unelected wealthy elitists placed in positions of unchecked power by rich white men who were not elected by the popular majority of this country, are now considered in the eyes of the law, second class citizens.

Image by cstreet | Women's March D.C. Post-Roe ruling 2022 | Fundraising NFT on Foundation

For years, we’ve known of the attempt to roll back the clock on rights for anyone not male and white in this country. The strategy used by a radical, far-right political machine was not, nor has it ever been private. All laid bare for those with open eyes to see, process and watch in horror as it unfolds. For four decades.

And yet many of us were called conspiratorial, alarmist, dramatic or just wrong. We were not. We were right. We always have been.

Who are WE? WE are the marginalized, because of our gender, race, sexual preferences and because we believe in the basic fundamentals of human rights. WE are the ones who, at the hands of 6 unelected wealthy elitists placed in positions of unchecked power by rich white men who were not elected by the popular majority of this country, are now considered in the eyes of the law, second class citizens.

WE are angry. WE are exhausted. WE woke up today in a world where our right to exist is now challenged. We woke up in a reality that is freakishly close to the Handmaid’s Tale, so much so that I will be devoting a fair amount of time over the coming days to lock down my personal opsec, secure my alternative modes of economic transactions and strategically plan my dissent along with my exit from this country once the path to full authoritarianism is complete in 2024.

WE are the ones who warned you all, time and time again, that the biggest risk during the Trump years to our country, as a whole, was the judiciary branch. You did not listen. And here WE are.

Image by cstreet | Women's March D.C. Post-Roe ruling 2022 | Fundraising NFT on Foundation

And don’t think for one second this stops with Roe. The campaign to reverse all of our rights to choose the lives we wish to live is now on the chopping block. And the violent extremists that are lurking on every block of every street in every town, quietly flying their “Don’t Tread on Me” flags while looking for dog whistles to take to their streets and terrorize their neighbors are ready and willing to kill anyone who doesn’t adhere to their doctrine.

Now WE must form underground railroads for women to obtain the reproductive care in states that, for now, can still offer protection for women. WE must protect the young women who’s lives CAN NOT be ruined because their bodily sovereignty has been removed.

Now WE must empower the voices who are dissenting and who are documenting the unraveling WE are all experiencing. YOU must support us. Period. With resources, knowledge, the power of the platforms you build and wield, with your bodies if necessary. WE need the men in this world to be allies, to protect OUR agency and OUR voices.

WE need tools. To my web3 cohorts and colleagues-- we need more tools of protection and decentralized communication and media in the hands of all of US who are fighting to save the world WE are no longer allowed to fully participate in. I know many of my web3 men are building those very tools right now. We meet every day to try and create solutions to these problems. WE need you to KEEP BUILDING! And build with a sense of urgency that now your tools can and will be used to protect your communities, your colleagues, your wives, your daughters and your sisters. Build with an urgency that lives are on the line-- because now they are.

WE need to fight like fucking hell because we passed a tipping point in this country yesterday. The violence that is brewing just under the surface is now going to become a tsunami through our communities. WE need to protect ourselves and WE need to understand that all bets are off at this point.

WE must protect what WE can so the women who are coming of age in a post Roe world will not die in back alleys or have their lives destroyed because of the white men sucking off the tit of power at the expense of every damn human on this planet.

I am pissed. I am filled with rage. And I will document the Unraveling WE are all living through until the tools to do so are ripped from my hands. I will not go quietly into the night. And neither should you.

If you are reading this, I need YOU to take a stand. In whatever way you possibly can. A woman brought you into this world. Return the favor and support ALL the women around you. Now.

And politicians, give the fucking keys to the GenXs. We are fucking done with old ass politicians who keep telling us to vote. Fucking step aside, WE need the leaders of the next generation to step into their power and fix what you have let slowly die. WE don’t need your thoughts, prayers, poems or songs. For fuck’s sake, WE need you to end the filibuster, pack the fucking courts and do your damn jobs. Dem leadership-- this is on you. You left US all out to rot while you kept punting action to the next election cycle and YOU let the judicial branch die a slow and painful death. You must use every tool in your power to put walls of protection up now before it really is too late. This isn’t about voting, we’re past that-- we did vote!! And here we are.

To all the women reading this, I see you. WE will not go quietly into this dark night. I will bear witness to OUR pain. I will hold space for US. I will document the Unraveling and I will listen and amplify OUR voices.

WE are Resilient.

Last fall, we had a thing called “Warrior Exams” at my university. Oral exams where we could recite a poem or something that resonated with us and related to our class content that semester. It’s more of a ceremony to celebrate the end of our semester. I chose to read the following lyrics from one of my favorite songs. My classmates and my professor understood that these are more than lyrics. This is where we are now. This is how we stand.

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