Dear Keith, I Don't Want To Be An Activist Anymore Either
Dear Keith,
No, I don’t want to be an activist anymore either. There are many other ways that I’d rather be spending my time and energy, too.
For instance, I want to take even more beautiful pictures and exhibit them in galleries and museums all around the world. I want to spin house music and classics at parties that exist wherever we are and help people feel a higher high, a spiritual love through dance. I want spend lots of time with my nieces and nephews (and perhaps my own children, someday), teaching them everything that I know and encouraging them to be their own personal best. I want to continue to define and redefine my own personal best and strive toward that vision. I want to luxuriate in the fruits of my labor and revel in my own self-actualization, too.
I will accomplish all of those goals and more or I will die trying. However, today I live in a world that continues to murder people like me - people like you and me - just because we exist. Today I live in a world where too many of us are begging for our lives while the camera is rolling. Today I live in a world where too many of us are bumping and grinding against each other to songs that advocate our murder. Today I do not live in a world that is either post-poverty or post-racism or post-sexism or post-homophobia or post-HIV/AIDS, so my presence is required.
It has often been said that to whom much is given, much is required. I am typing this on a laptop that’s sitting on an icepack to keep it from overheating. My Internet connection usually is not. There are better web developers and people who know much more about the Web than I do. However, there are also people who could not pay me to produce the website that I produced for you. No, I do not have a lot, but that has been enough to make a difference.
No, I don’t want to be an activist anymore either, Keith, but take a look around. I know what I have to offer and I know that this world requires it of me. If we are ever to become a world that is post-poverty, post-racism, post-sexism, post-homophobia and post-HIV/AIDS, it will be because our best people showed up and continued to show up to contribute their best in spite of the personal sacrifice of their own lives.
Donald Andrew Agarrat