Why Pitchforks & Torches?

One of life’s constants: moving sucks and moving long distances sucks geometrically worse. Our latest of too many has been the worst, because for the first time, all our worldly possessions are in the same place at the same time. So, digging through the remnants of my life has been an exercise in self reflection.

Long ago, I decided to let my freak flag fly in relation to my diverse, eclectic, tastes for style, entertainment, and life in general. That resulted in things like these Hulk Hands from 2003; things that illustrated commitment to my sense of self and connection to others, rather than childishness or frivolity as my detractors would claim.

I was raised to stand up for what was right. The guy running for president on that 1989 University of Louisville campaign slate? I used to have memorable political discussions with him in our dorm, and it sometimes seemed we had some serious philosophical differences. But, he recruited me to run for that Senate seat, because we both respected one another as a person of character, passion, purpose & principle. Gerald died senselessly while I was in law school, and the world lost someone of remarkable potential. I lament not seeing him as a figure of righteousness and integrity during last summer’s racial strife. I wish I could have told him that we weren’t so different, but that I just didn’t know what I didn’t know. I could never fully appreciate what his experience was. but I had briefly become an HIV positive, gay, African American man and it had certainly opened my eyes.

I have been a quiet firebrand since my youth. If I saw injustice I pointed it out and to whom didn’t matter. I argued with my bosses at U of L when their actions were inconsistent with their words. I gave the bureaucrats at UK hell for asinine policies. I called out a college academic official for being a racist. I annihilated an adjunct instructor when she humiliated a student with ADA accommodations for whom I was proctoring an exam. I yelled at a former college president and high ranking state office holder who (allegedly) sought to have me defraud the federal government and then use me as a scapegoat. I stood up for a student who was (allegedly) assaulted by a school Dean. I lambasted a college disciplinary committee for putting the school at risk for discriminatory, arbitrary policies. I represented terminally ill clients. I wore a red ribbon and loudly told why to those with questioning glances. I advocated for systemic government health change. I defended a kid charged with capital murder (You would have been proud, Gerald) & made sure he had another opportunity at life. I argued down predatory lenders taking advantage of those in desperate straits. I witnessed and decried racial profiling; I fought the NCAA weasels and got a player released from a scholarship. I taught. I trained. I encouraged. I empowered. I trusted. I grew.

I never sought authority or managerial roles. Those who do almost never deserve them. But, I can trust my motivations and sense of honor, and I can’t say that for 90 percent of humanity. Last year, I stepped in front of a runaway political train to protect my libraries, my patrons, and my staff. It wasn’t the first time. I have had my character assassinated and slandered. People I had respected threw me under buses because they lacked spines and integrity. Evil has sought to coerce me to submit and deny my beliefs to protect my self interest. Those things will never sway me. I realize we live in a world filled with gray, but some causes exist only in black & white. I have done my best to use the system to make compromises for the greater good. I have taken the high roads when others have gone low. But, I lost my way in a fashion. I ended up only compromising myself and found high roads have just been scenic paths leading nowhere. I choose not to go low, but now will seek the straightest routes to the truth. I want express tunnels.

I say all this because I am having to reinvent myself at an age when many begin winding their careers down. I had some successes and many disappointments. What I still have is the knowledge that I did the honorable thing, brandished my pitchforks, lit my torches, and hunted the monsters attacking the common good: injustice; ignorance; greed; bigotry; arrogance; dishonesty; hypocrisy. Pitchforks are common tools for Farmers to clean things up. Torches can burn through barriers after bringing things to light. I’m ready and willing to do both as long as it takes. Monsters, you’ve been warned. I’m coming and I think I can bring others with me.