Back in 2017 around the time of the Presidential inauguration, a couple of my Lakota friends gently chided me for my predictions of doom and gloom from the incoming administration. “We don’t like him either, but when have we liked the President? When your people have faced boarding schools and genocide, you learn to think in terms of survival, not whether or not you like someone in the government.” They did, of course, have a point. I am an old, white, heterosexual, cisgender man. I’m even a bit overweight. Although I don’t wear makeup and I don’t comb my hair over my balding pate, I look quite a bit like the person elected president. What my friends were suggesting was that I take a breath, assess dangers realistically and learn to think of the long term. “You’re going to survive this,” they said to me.

These days I’ve been thinking, “I survived one term, but now I have to face another and this time around it will be even more extreme.” I have to remind myself of the advice of my friends. I’m not among the many people who have been threatened with the loss of basic human rights. I’m not one of those who have been directly threatened with physical violence, including the use of the military against private citizens. At least, for now, I’ve not been called “the enemy within.”

I am, however, reminded of the post-World War II confessional words written by German Lutheran Pastor Martin Niemöller. The translation of his speech that is displayed in United States Holocaust Memorial Museum reads as follows:

First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—      Because I was not a socialist.
Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out—      Because I was not a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—      Because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.

There are longer versions of the quote. Niemöller’s original speech names communists, not socialists, mentions those who were sick - the so-called incurables, and adds more information including a dramatically low number for the Jewish victims of the Holocaust. The quote has sometimes met with criticism because of the translations used and because Niemöller himself was an early supporter of the Nazis. Still, reading his words resonate with me. The time may come for me to speak out.

Making an honest assessment of my own personal risk and taking the long game means that while I may not face direct threats to my physical safety, I may, nonetheless, be called to speak out. I pray that I will have the courage to sit with my friends in their fear. stand up with them when courage is demanded, and speak out when others threaten them.

Some of my friends have already begun to speak out in support of others. I’m pretty much staying away from social media this week in order to protect my mental health, but several of my friends have posted and reposted memes aimed at suicide prevention in the light of the direct verbal assaults against transgender and nonbinary persons by political leaders. NPR reported the alarming increase in suicide attempts of trans teens after states passed anti transgender laws. The Trevor Project cited an increase in suicide attempts of 36% - 40%, saying that the total increase in suicide attempts among all ages could be as much as 72% in the light of these laws.

I am trained in ASIST (Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training). I have invested many years of my life working with others for suicide prevention. One of the things that I have said several times when working with persons with suicidal ideation is “Even big problems are temporary.” But those problems are only temporary if suicide is prevented. Once a person dies by suicide, the problems cannot be solved. The President-elect of our country has openly lied about schools and transgender youth. The time may be for me to speak out.

Of course the threat is not just to those specifically named in speeches and restrictive laws. Taking the rhetoric and proposed policies of the incoming administration seriously demands that we seek a long game in terms of environmental protection. It is almost assured that increasing subsidies for oil and gas exploration will have a direct impact on the people of the world. Small increases in average temperatures have a big impact on heat extremes. Hotter and longer heatwaves will result in more deaths. More heat means more evaporation and more evaporation results in extreme rainfall. That means more deadly flooding and more victims. Droughts will be longer and more severe. Drought has already displaced 1.2 million people in Somalia alone. Climate change makes severe droughts at least 100 times more likely. Climate change is making the weather conditions needed for wildfires to spread. Our neighbor to the north, Canada continues to experience record-setting wildfire seasons, which probably can no longer be called “seasons” because the fires burn year round now. The current wildfire crisis in California will have lasting health effects on millions of children. US governmental policies have a direct effect on the quality of life for millions around the globe. The time may be now for me to speak out.

The time to speak out, however, is not the occasion for panic. As my Lakota friends continue to remind me, I need to learn to look at the long game - to think in terms of many generations instead of just my own life span. Several people have sent me a quote attributed to Avis Red Bear:

“Now be brave and fight for what you love. The elders say that one of Crazy Horse’s war cries was, “Maka ki ecela tehani yanke lo!” Only the Earth lasts forever.
 
Stronghearts to the front.”

May our hearts be strong and our voices not fail us as we live in these historic times.