The morning of my birthday in 2014, a pickup warrant dragged me across an abandoned dirt lot by my ankles. My subordinate was gaining on us. I starred her down until our eyes met. I nodded for her to let it go.

I felt scared, but not panicked. My adrenaline induced reaction was to escape, but I didn’t try. As long as both of his hands were on me; he wasn’t able to pull the trigger of his pistol. The goal was to protect the community, not myself.

Ground zero was on the other side of a 14-foot tall cinderblock…

On Friday morning, April 23rd, I woke to the inevitable. After months of positive case counts mounting in Iowa’s school system, children are dying. Based on projection models, it’s only the beginning.

To be sure I wasn’t misinterpreting the data or suffering the delusional effects of a conspiracy theory, I reached out to Sara Anne Willette with the Iowa COVID-19 Tracker project who confirmed my worst nightmare.

On August 4, 2020, Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds (R) ordered the state’s 327 school districts to open for a minimum of 50% in person classroom instruction. …

“Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing.” — Benjamin Franklin

Chances are, only seven people will read this, but that’s okay because I’ll never reach my goal without executing actionable steps. My goal is to write, even if it’s not what people want to read.

I compromised. I included a flashy headline and image because it’s an expectation. If you feel mislead, I totally get it.

I’m not a fan of flashy headlines or imagines either, but what’s a girl to do? It’s the standard norm for internet publishing.

Ahh…

You probably clicked on the headline because…

“U.S. Senate Candidate Joni Ernst references the true meaning of Second Amendment and says she believes in the right to defend oneself from intruders or oppressive government.” — 2014 campaign.

• The Republican party is blatantly racist. They don’t bother hiding it anymore.
• White supremacists hunt and kill citizens by the handfuls. It’s commonplace in our country.
• Police murder people of color like it’s a sport, while the narrative is that I should fear unarmed black men? What. The. Actual. Fuck.
• Asian hate crimes are trending. Red states are pushing anti-transgender legislation and refusing federal requests to help house migrant children…

For the past seven years, my daughter has struggled with substance abuse. She’s addicted to heroin and meth. After six months of inpatient rehabilitation treatment, she recently returned home.

She continues to struggle. Her mental health is declining. During the last five weeks, we’ve watched her transform into a shell of herself, regardless of taking part in an intensive outpatient treatment program and weekly one-on-one counseling sessions.

The pain she suffers is so immense, I can feel it. Two nights ago, I called her out on it. I can see the pattern, and it’s time for her to get help.

…

Society

If you haven’t heard, 38-year-old U.S. Representative Matt Gaetz, a Republican from Florida, is under investigation for the possible underage sex trafficking of a 17-year-old girl who he took across state lines, and a slew of other sexual conduct related charges.

Gaetz inappropriately refers to the 17-year-old as a woman. If he continues to use the word “woman,” people will indirectly forget that by law and morally, she was a child when the alleged offense occurred.

The most notable thing about this event?

It made claims of sexual harassment against New York Governor Andrew Cuomo (D) disappear from media headlines…

Relationships

I have a family member (we’ll call him Bob) who is an outrageous conspiracy theorist and bully. We’ve been in one another’s lives for nearly three decades. During this time, he’s been irrationally stockpiling and prepping for the end of the world.

His stories never end, and I’ve heard them all. The September 11 attacks were an inside government job. Former president, Barack Obama, isn’t black or mixed race. He’s Muslim and planted in The White House to take over the world.

He genuinely believes that Nicholas Kristof is a spy for North Korea and refuses to rule out the…

Mental Health

I’m a woman of action, and incapable of doing nothing while others are suffering. I’ve repeatedly proven this to myself throughout adulthood by joining the Army, earning a degree in Advanced Behavioral Science and investing almost two decades of fieldwork in violence prevention.

Battered by defeat, I forced myself to accept that the world doesn’t want to be saved and threw in the towel.

I grew tired of fighting, but I’m riddled with anxiety sitting here on the sidelines. It’s a moral instinct I can’t shake, regardless of promising myself that I’d learn to let it go. …