On 9/11, Islamophobia, and Being United in Hate

TW: Mentions of September 11, harm, islamophobia.

I remember the events of September 11, 2001, vividly.

I was at work, sitting in the break room, about to eat lunch when I looked up at the television and witnessed one of the most horrific events of my lifetime. Everyone in the break room stopped what they were doing. No one knew what to say, what to do. We all felt powerless, small, insignificant, and scared.

Scared of the reality we were now living in.

Scared of what this means for us as citizens.

Scared of the unknown.

So people were driven to come together, to face the unknown. And on paper, that kind of mutual support and solidarity sounds great. In reality, though?

It was far from great.

Some people view 9/11 as a dark moment in U.S. history that "united us all as [U.S.] Americans." And it did unite a lot of U.S. Americans. We came together. But it also united some folx in some other ways.

It united them in a campaign of hate against their fellow citizens.

What unfolded in the years that followed was a level of islamophobia and hate that still shakes me to my core because it's still happening every day. I have so many friends and colleagues who still fear for their lives and safety because the level of "national sentiment" and "U.S. pride" that flooded this country after 9/11 fed into the casual, everyday racism and xenophobia that the United States was built on in such a way that it has never truly petered out or died down. I have witnessed "good people" and "patriots" harass folx and resort to violence without thinking just because they believe they've pegged someone as a "terorist" or "not a 'real' American."

And I've witnessed this in 2025.

Truth is, the United States is a country built on hate and too many of its citizens are more than willing to participate in said hate. We could be better but it's much easier for many of us not to be.

If you decide to sit and reflect on September 11, 2001, I want you to also reflect on how complicit you were in getting caught up in the wave of "American pride" that swept this country. I want you to reflect on how much of this you still prescribe to. And I want you to realize one thing:

Pride in one's home or way of life does not, and never has had to, represent harming others.

I wish more U.S. Americans understood that, but their ancestors and forefathers didn't get it either, so...

Love and strength to all of those personally impacted by the tragedies of September 11. May today provide you peace and healing.

This Week's Opening Thought: July 14, 2025

Trigger warning: brief mentions of sexual abuse, pedophilia, and human trafficking.

This week's opening thought: It is wild to me that after everything we've all collectively had to endure with y'all's president and his administration, not to mention the things they've done that have targeted the most impoverished and vulnerable communities in our country, that the one thing y'all's president's fanbase is angry with him about isn't his "big, beautiful bill," tariffs, constant warmongering, and the upcoming widespread harm to their lives, medical care access, and financial situations but the DAMN JEFFREY EPSTEIN FILES.

Like, I'm not against outing pedophiles, abusers, and wealthy creatures who have engaged in assault and human trafficking. Far from it. Get 'em all, regardless of their political affiliations. But MAGA folx, y'all's president gaslighting y'all about the Epstein evidence and documentation we've all known has existed for some time is the one thing that was somehow the final straw? I mean, he's been gaslighting y'all MAGA folx for years now and doing harm to you and your families for 10 years, but this was somehow all that y'all could stand and y'couldn't stand no more? Y'all are burning your MAGA hats and posting TikTok diatribes with tears in your eyes over this situation when he's been dogwalkin' y'all for a decade and telling you to your face that you're better off with him as y'all's president when you weren't? And you've been defending y'all's president and his billionaire buddies for years because he told y'all to, even when it was obvious they were doing heinous things he was protecting them from having to atone for, but NOW you're enraged?

I ... don't even know how to begin to unpack that.

That's gotta be some damn good Kool-Aid for y'all to keep drinking it this long. What did he do, swap out the sugar for Sweet'n Low?

White supremacy is wild, y'all.

On Superman, "Wokeness," and Pro-Immigration

Me when the fragile people of pallor are freaking out about the upcoming Superman film being “woke” and having a pro-immigrant stance.

Image description: A montage of images of SpongeBob SquarePants laughing or trying to suppress laughter.

Oh, bless y’alls lil’ papier-mâché hearts.

Superman is a literal extraterrestrial (see: alien) whose parents sought out asylum for their child in a land where they believed he would be safe and cared for, as his homeworld was dying an explosive death due to, ironically, climate change.

Superman was created by two Jewish immigrants as an allegory for the experience of immigrants in the United States and the strength of the human spirit.

Superman has been punchin’ Nazis and sh—ty people since Action Comics #1. Dude literally worked over some slumlords in one of his earliest adventures and spent his first year battling crappy human beings. He’s always been about using his powers and privilege to protect those less fortunate and most vulnerable.

How so many of y’all don’t understand that Superman has always been what y’all describe as woke and pro-immigrant is beyond me.

It’s gotta be a case of widespread kryptonite poisoning.

[Image description: A montage of images of SpongeBob SquarePants laughing or trying to suppress laughter.]

On An Election and A Country's True Identity

I'm not surprised. I'm saddened, but I’m not surprised.

I'm unsurprised that 59% of men of pallor and 52% of women of pallor voted the way they did. I'm sadly not surprised that after everything he said and will do to immigrants when he takes office, he still got 54% of the masculine-identifying and 37% of the feminine-identifying Latine and Hispanic vote.

I'm saddened, but I’m not surprised.

I am disheartened but unsurprised.

I didn’t need a reminder, but for those who did, this election was a firm reminder that the United States is precisely what it has always been: a country steeped in individualism and fear of moving forward, unwilling to be progressive and care for all its citizens, and legitimately uninterested in trying to be the country it likes to claim it is.

He won this election, and it wasn't even close in the popular or electoral vote. A party with a platform of hate, oppression, and regression will be in complete control of the Government come January 2025, and it wasn't even a fight.

And I know so many of y'all voted for this man and this party while playin’ in the faces of the people in your life who you know their policies and governance will do extreme harm to. Most of y'all are quick to bust out a Black Lives Matter sign or bring up trans and reproductive rights just to have a smoke screen to vote against everyone’s best interests.

I loathe that most of y'all won’t own your hatred and fear of losing what you think is exclusively yours - rights, privileges, and safety from tyranny.

I loathe that most of y'all won’t own who you are in front of those your choices impact.

I loathe that most of y’all will be shocked when the people you elected do the exact things you hired them to do and you find yourself and your families adversely impacted and in physical, mental, emotional, and economic distress.

But I’m not surprised.

You're Americans! That's what Americans do, right?

I'm saddened. I'm disheartened. I'm not surprised, though.

This is the American way, y'all.

Note: This poll data is from a subsection of the voter base from 10 states.

On Write-Ups, "Performance Improvement Plans," "Managers," and "Leaders"

Write-ups and "performance improvement plans" exist because most "managers" don't know how to have adult, human, centered conversations with their team members to address issues in real-time and view being vulnerable and connected to their team members and colleagues as weaknesses.

Most write-ups and "performance improvement plans" address things that should've been, and still could be, addressed in a one-on-one, actively engaged conversation and regularly scheduled 1:1s.

If most "managers" and "leaders" used write-ups and "performance improvement plans" as human-centered support tools after exhausting all means of straightforward communication instead of weapons to force compliance, we'd be having different conversations about work.

If most "managers" and "leaders" used write-ups and "performance improvement plans" as a means to remove toxic, oppressive, racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, ableist people from the workplace, we'd be having VERY different conversations about work.

Don't @ me. Tell me when I'm tellin' lies.