My great-grandparents spoke of a county that, only 80 years ago, banned and burned books, allowing for full control of education. They stripped Jewish people and many other marginalized groups of every right they had and not only called for but followed through with genocide. They were fascist and we needed to stop them. So, we went to war.

My grandparents spoke of many countries that, only 60 years ago, banned books, controlled education and media, restricted human rights, and were places where voting did not exist. They were communist countries or were on the verge of becoming communist and we had to stop them. So, we fought several proxy wars.

My parents speak of a region that, only 20 years ago, banned books and controlled education, silenced media, and took away freedom after freedom. A region where women had no rights, LGBT rights did not exist, and democracy was needed. We were told they needed American freedom, had weapons of mass destruction, or were responsible for 9/11. So, we went to war.

We bombed and occupied all of these countries for years because that’s what had to be done to protect our freedoms, our rights and our democracy. Or so we were told.

I speak of a country that, today, restricts women’s reproductive rights and attacks LGBT rights in any way possible way. I speak of a country that tries to reinstate Jim Crow laws in Mississippi and has restricted the participation of black voters in Charleston, S.C. I speak of a country that, since its founding, has taken and continues to try to take away the rights of Native Americans, such as the attempted bill that would have allowed children to be removed from families. I speak of a country that sends a militarized and tyrannical police force to any peaceful protest or low-income neighborhood.

I speak of a country that is currently trying to control education through the mass banning of books and the hiding, washing away, and ridding of history. I speak of a country whose government ignores the majority and approves projects such as the Willow Project or millions of dollars in military support to countries around the world, while ignoring gun violence, homelessness, student debt, inflation, the mental health crisis, and every other issue that directly impacts its people. I speak of a country that is doing all the same things that it claimed were the reasons we needed to go to war. I speak of a country that, every day, shows that does not care for its people and would rather feed the war machine than feed its children. I speak of America.

I speak of an America that supports countries who it would have gone to war with as far back as 1945. I speak of an America that is actively supporting genocide in Palestine, actively trying to take away our rights to vote and the rights of others to exist, controlling our education and media, and stripping away our democracy layer by layer. No matter your political affiliation, it is important for everyone to remember: if they take away the rights of those you don’t agree with, they will take yours. Now, more than ever, Americans need to stand together to ensure their government listens to us when we say enough is enough. It is the people who hold the power, not those who believe they are in power. If we do not hold the power, then we are not a democracy.