Why I Fight

My Grandfather

So many things I could write about this week. I've been thinking about how small libraries have big ideas that are ignored until a big library follows suit. I've also been thinking about the world of difference between my last job and my current one. I've spent some time thinking about mental health. But I can't stop thinking about the events this past weekend in Charlottesville, and similar events that have been happening again and again in the United States - not just in recent times, but for decades and beyond. That seems more important.

I'm a long time fighter. Here are some examples: Boycotting Coke in the 80s because they were still in South Africa - also posted signs around my high school, even on the Coke machines. Marching for women's rights, and regularly skipping classes to campaign for the same, in the 90s. Embraced and pushed size acceptance in the 00s. As I (and my knees) have aged, I've started fighting with money by donating money to civil rights organizations like the Southern Poverty Law Center.

And now? What am I fighting for now? I'm fighting so I can be the person my grandfather expected me to be. That means there is no one issue that gets my sole attention. Instead, I work for respect for people's humanity, religious differences, race, and beyond. But it also means that I won't back down from defending people who have been disenfranchised and had their voices taken from them. The United States have a long and bloody history of racism, sexism, religious intolerance, discrimination based on gender identity and sexual orientation. We need to respect and appreciate differences, not suppress and destroy them. We need to do this in our professional as well as our personal lives.

Norman Olin never stopped learning and growing and doing what he could to make things better. He was a traveling salesman who joined the Army Air Corps then ran his own business in NYC before finally becoming a high school teacher and college professor. And there was never any doubt that he loved me for who I am. I hope you all have someone in your life or your past who makes you want to be a better person the way my grandfather does for me. If you don't, feel free to adopt my grandfather for your own posthumously. He'd be happy to meet you.