What do you call a government that strips away rights, undermines its own institutions, and seeks to silence those who refuse to conform to its narrow views? What do you call leaders who promise salvation while sowing fear, scapegoating the vulnerable, and consolidating power for themselves and their allies? To put it plainly, this is fascism—an authoritarian takeover unlike anything the United States has seen before. We have reached a moment of reckoning: will we confront reality as it is, or allow apathy and self-delusion to lull us into compliance?

In recent years—and accelerating since the November Presidential election—major American corporations have made headlines for rolling back their Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives. From Target scaling back its Pride Month merchandise and cutting DEI programs to Walmart quietly dismantling its diversity efforts, these decisions are not just corporate missteps but deliberate choices that signal a retreat from the values of inclusivity and equity.

It’s been one day. Just one day since Donald Trump was sworn in as the 47th President of the United States, and already the cracks are showing. The apathy that had been slowly seeping in seems more defined than even before. The embers of in-fighting are spreading. And while these reactions may feel inevitable, even justified, they are dangerous. Let me be blunt: this is not the time for indifference, cynicism, or despair.

              Each day I find myself more astounded than the next; confused and feeling betrayed by both the world around us, and the people who inhabit it, each of us. So vastly different has the world turned out to be than the one that my grandparents, parents, politicians, teachers, and our communities told us would be waiting for us. Hard work, degrees, grit, resolve, good talent led most of us not to rewarding and well-paid careers but toil, angst, and economic realities vastly different from those of the generations before us. “Be kind to your neighbor” “Love the stranger as yourself.” “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you” is not the hyper-individualistic, hyper-capitalist, hyper-nationalist, Batman-esque billionaire villain world that we now reside in. To put it plainly, somebody lied or so much has changed.

In just a few short hours, midnight will strike and another year of life shall have come around to greet me. As each year passes, I am more grateful than the last to make it to see another. Recently while scrolling through Twitter (now known as X. One of several dumb decisions by idiot mega-billionaire Elon Musk.) a follower commented that for many Black men coming into their 30s, this was statistically the half-way point of life. I immediately had to look up the statistics and found this to be true. The life expectancy of a Black man in the United States is 69 years old. As midnight strikes, I inch closer to that 34-35 year range. This immediately made me think of my own grandfather and father, both recently deceased in the last few years, my grandfather in 2019 and my father in 2023. One just entering his 50s, the other not yet 70. The unfortunate reality laid bare so close to home.