I was born and raised in the glorious pacific northwest. I never had any nationalistic feelings towards it, that felt silly, but I would be lying if I didn't say that the deciduous woods weren't beautiful. The trees that line the highways. The deer and coyotes that poked their heads into the cities now and then. The vast pacific ocean, and the Puget sound that I had visited countless times to go walk the beach.
If you've never been to Washington, that's the best way I can describe it. Calling it the "pacific northwest" is pretty accurate I think, the name bringing up images of dark green forests and oceans. We aren't like Cali, we don't have palm trees and deserts, we don't have a Hollywood sign, and we only really have one major notable city. Our population is less than a third of what Cali's is, yet I like to think of Washington as... humble. Our cities are small, we don't have much to boast about, our sports teams are average, and I can only name two movies that take place in this state. What other way to describe a place like this other than "humble"?
Out of every single one of my friends, I was the only one born and raised here. Which has been an adjustment, as, growing up, most of my school friends were also born and raised here. My dad was as well. But these days, I stand out as different being the only person who's been able to call this my home my whole life, which I feel lucky about. So many people want to move here, it seems, and I never had to!
Though this has always been my home, I've never stayed in the same place for long. I was born in one city, moved to the next, moved to an island, moved back, moved some more, moved up north, and then moved back to the city, and then finally into Seattle. I've always felt in my life that I never really had a home. I could never get comfortable somewhere without getting uprooted, time and time again. There were few things that remained the same about where I lived, but those oceans and dark green trees stayed the same.
I have come to realize lately that I do have feelings for this state. It doesn't make sense, but I do. I couldn't care less about this country, I was led to believe that, being "United States", I should feel nationalism towards this entire land mass, but why should I? Why should I care about states like Florida, or Texas. I love the PNW, but that doesn't mean I have to care about the rest of this country. I also don't necessarily have feelings towards other parts of Washington; I've never particularly cared for the eastern side, though a lot of produce is grown there so I do see it as important to our state, despite the right-wingers that reside there.
This is my home, and fascists are trying to take that from me, from us. I've been urged to leave the US, I've been told it's not safe, and that is true. But I'm tired of running. I've never stayed in the same place for more than a couple years, but one thing has stayed the same...
I will never leave this place, at least, no one will ever make me. This state has been my home, the one constant when nothing else was. I was born here, I made friends here, I learned here, I found love here, I've built community here. Yet I have also felt pain here, shed tears here, been scared here... Born and raised, not by my parents, but by those oceans and dark green trees.
We will not leave Seattle. When the fascists come for us, we need all the numbers we can get. Fleeing will only help in the short term, and fuck everyone else over. We must stand in solidarity, even when it's scary. It is our support network, it is our only chance of survival.
The fascists will have to drag me by my cold, dead body to get me to leave this place.
* Well, I'd happily move to Japan.
Add new comment