There is a lot going on right now. For many of us it feels like the world is falling apart. For others, daily life may feel normal though still tenuous. Our basic necessities have grown increasingly expensive, and prices may continue to rise. We watch as neighbors and friends are removed from their homes. People are not acting as kind to one another as they previously were. In this climate, some of us may have the impulse to close ourselves off to protect what we have and not make waves. Others may want to get out there, protest everything that is happening, and fight.

MARY E. MENDOZA

I recently heard someone get frustrated that a friend of theirs was not more actively pushing back against everything happening around us right now. It gave me pause to hear this coming from someone who seems generally aware of societal inequity and different levels of privilege. The person they criticized is someone who may be at risk if they draw attention to themselves. So, I asked my acquaintance to consider that not everyone is standing on even ground and we are all doing what we feel we can do.

There is no wrong way to resist. Some people get out there, protest, and put their bodies at risk, and that is a choice that they get to make. Others fear retribution, deportation, incarceration, or death, so they choose to stay home. There is no reason to make each other feel badly for those choices.

It seems to me that, in this climate of uncertainty, what we all need is more kindness and understanding. Not everyone comes to every issue in the same way — that is part of the reason we are where are — but if we begin to accept that we are in this together and treat each other with respect, we may find that, despite our different ways of showing up, we have much more common ground than we might have thought. Now is the time to come together, not bicker about the best way to burn everything to the ground. There are plenty of people out there who want to focus on total destruction. My guess is that most of us do not.

In that vein, I implore you — my neighbors — to show up for each other in whatever way you can and to avoid judging others because they may not choose to engage the way that you do right now. A couple of weeks ago, some neighbors of mine came over to help me when something of mine broke in my house. They spent more than an hour diagnosing and fixing the problem, then followed up to make sure I was okay. I felt well held and cared for in a way that I have not in a long time.

Yes, change only happens with action, but kindness and support are also action. Love is action. Sometimes just getting up in the morning and doing your job is action. In a world where our children fear getting shot or stabbed at recess, living by example and being a good citizen matter just as much as going out and marching in the streets. Showing up in the way one feels comfortable is enough right now. People are struggling. Our neighbors are hurting and, in a world as unpredictable as the one we are facing, we cannot ask more of people than that.

Mary E. Mendoza is an assistant professor of history and Latino/a Studies at Penn State University.