I'm a Midwest transplant, a boomer and second generation US citizen. I am enjoying the West Coast.
My family known as the Germans from Russia immigrated from the Steppes of Russia which is in the area of Odessa in modern day Ukraine. Katherine The Great had opened up the area for homesteading and the Germans who settled there flourished.
The pending Russian revolution prompted a mass migration of Germans back to Germany and many fled to the shining shores of promise, the USA, looking for freedom and political asylum.
I feel the sting of the political persecution my family was subjected to. Not all of them made it out and they were sent to Siberia. Communication was censored. Because of my roots, I have always taken up the cause of activism.
Two things stand out to me now. I find it sad that many Americans idolize Putin as people have lost the bloody history of Russia and oppression. The people there suffer.
The next point of sadness came for me when, the Supreme Court ruled in the Absolute Presidential Immunity case. This still brings tears to my eyes.
Living in a dictatorship is bleak, cruel, and the rising fascism in this country is something we thought we would never see.
The statement that Democracy is on the ballot in the coming presidential election is not overstated. We must vote but we also must volunteer or speak out if we love our freedom. Together let's put our hearts in to it.
- Linda