You Are The Hero You’ve Been Waiting For (second attempt)
Sorry… I expected more, too.
Hi, readers! I made a mistake when I published this post on Friday. I made the foolish decision to send it out myself, instead of letting Kelly do it, like she usually does. That meant that I accidentally sent it only to my paid subscriber list, instead of my entire subscriber list. If this writing already made its way to you, please forgive the double email, and thank you for your ongoing support. It means a lot in these challenging times. - WKB
I have some really bad news for you. I apologize in advance for what I have to tell you. But here goes.
No one is going to stop the ongoing fascist takeover of America except for you.
You, the person reading this, right now.
In the movie about this moment, you’re the hero. The camera is zooming in on you. You are the one – despite not being ready, not being prepared, not being trained (or not yet finished with your training) – on whom the fate of the universe rests. (If not the universe, at least the United States of America corner of the universe.) I know it seems unfair. It felt unfair to Luke Skywalker. It felt unfair to Neo. It felt unfair to Katniss Everdeen. It felt unfair to Moana, Joy, and those dogs from Paw Patrol. (Editor’s Note: Not Chase. He’s a fucking cop.) It weirdly felt unfair to Superman, and he is like the superhero version of the apex of white supremacy… but much nicer. It is all on you to save the rest of us. Sorry.
You really have to figure this out. You have to do this until the doing is done. You can’t hope for Gavin Newsom or Barack Obama or Kamala Harris or even Pete Buttigieg, AOC or Bernie Sanders to save the world. Of course it would be awesome if they showed up, but even if they do, they will only be showing up alongside you. They don’t have the skin in the game that you do. They have summer homes and winter homes. They do things like “go on retreats.”
As far as I can tell a “retreat” is an extremely privileged person’s way of saying a “vacation.” Instead of “relaxing, you “charge your batteries.”
Even if those people do show up next to you and say all the things that you want to hear, I hate to tell you that they are all humans. And some of them and their equally human colleagues have a record of showing up, then disappearing, then doing something the complete opposite of what they said. And then they (or their sycophants) act like it is ridiculous that you point out that they aren’t doing what they promised because either we were lucky they showed up at all, OR they are playing some sort of ninth dimension Star Trek chess that only they (or the people who donate to their campaigns regularly) can understand.
It doesn’t matter that Gavin Newsom had Dr. Phil on the latest episode of his podcast. It also doesn’t matter that they just had a friendly back and forth conversation even though Dr. Phil is currently embedding with ICE so he can get content for his nonsense.
“GAVIN NEWSOM SAID HE WILL STOP SENDING CALIFORNIA’S TAX DOLLARS TO THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT AS LOG AS TRUMP CONTINUES TO INVADE LOS ANGELES!” - A Democrat Through and Through
Oh wait. According to The New York Times, he has already softened that stance.
And that’s why the revolution that this country desperately needs is on YOU. You take this more seriously than any politician ever will. You have a life that is important. It is relevant. People depend on you. And you are someone who depends on others who are either being directly impacted by President Demon or they will be shortly. You may have a passport but you can’t just pick up and go. You want the best for your community and your country, not just for your corporate donors and for the people who think exactly like you.
You have a big heart, a limited budget, and several pulls on your time, but still you can AND WILL save this country. Because you can’t afford to sit back and hope that someone else will. You can’t afford to wait on some politician with white teeth and good hair to take care of all of this. They rarely do because they don’t want to chip a tooth or mess up their hair, even when their hair empirically sucks.
It is on YOU! Just like it was on Harriet Tubman, Dolores Huerta, Angela Davis, Yuri Kochiyama, Rosa Parks, Mahatma Gandhi, Malcolm X, Marsha P. Johnson, Winona LaDuke, Ed Roberts, Octavia Butler, and others!*
Just like right now it is on Greta Thunberg, Linda Sarsour, Mychal Threets, Amanda Nguyen, Niya Kenny, Alice Wong, Nick Tilsen, Tressie McMillan Cottom, AND YOU AND ME TOO!**
The names I listed are all just regular people who at some point decided that enough was enough. They weren’t elected to any high-ranking political positions. They weren’t groomed for leadership by oligarchs. They weren’t even successful every time, but they all understood (or understand) that it is on them to do their part to clean up the white man mess that is America.
So no more looking to the skies or to the ‘Gram for someone to save us. No more waiting for election day to choose a new hero. The time is today for you to save us all. Fascism is here. Authoritarianism is here. We are in the soft opening of a dictatorship. And just yesterday, we crossed the rubicon when it became totally okay in our government’s eyes to toss a sitting United States Senator to the ground for asking a question “too loudly”. And if you don’t think that part of the reason that they threw him so hard was because his surname is “Padilla” then I have a MAGA membership card for you to fill out.
Not to get all shout-y and ‘90s era Henry Rollins on you, but this is the time. Tomorrow (Saturday, June 14, 2025) is a nationwide rally to claim the United States of America as a place for “No Kings.” I hope you can attend one in your area, or keep up with the goings-on from your home, or have conversations all day with people in your community about how America was started to be an anti-monarchy, and as fucked up as the country has alway been, we are NOT going back to monarchy. And once again, I encourage you to look in your own lane and your own tool box to figure out what you have and what you can do to defeat Trump and Trumpism. Hell, if you have a sharp stick you can offer it to a Trumper so they can stick it where the sun don’t shine. My six year old spent time at the library reading to a dog. It both made her a better reader (an anti-racist activity for a Black girl) and it let the dog know that my kid is friendly. Hopefully that dog spreads the word around when the animals decide we need their help in defeating Trump, too.
Library dog to the other dogs during the revolution: “BARK! BARK! BARK!”
Translation: “Leave that kid and her family alone. She read the hell out of Pantaloon.”
Google local immigrants’ rights groups.
Offer to buy food for a struggling neighbor.
Get one of those signs that are all about how welcoming your home is to immigrants and scientists.
Bone up on your Krav Maga in case you have to Krav Maga a MAGA.
Crochet some antiracist macrame and put it in the free box outside your home.
Google “volunteering opportunities” and include your zip code.
Write a big check to a mutual aid fund or a local non-profit if you have “big check” checks.
Ask for specific help in the comments.
Show up even when you don’t feel like it. Even when it is hard. Even when you’re tired. (Who isn’t tired all the time, anyway?)
Feel your fear. Push through it. And save the motherfucking country.
WHO IS LITERALLY WITH ME?
*If you don’t recognize some of those names then fire up the ole’ Google-ator.
** Once again, if you don’t recognize everyone, fire up the ole’ Google-ator.
June Office Hours: Celebrate Pride with Artist Wendy MacNaughton
Friday June 20th 12pm - 1pm PT / 3pm - 4pm ET
Next Friday we’re having Office Hours with the artist Wendy MacNaughton. You might know her from her Draw Together Studio and here on Substack at the Draw Together Grown Ups Table.
Part Mr. Rogers, part Bob Ross, part jumpy-castle party—DrawTogether is an educational drawing universe that grows kids-of-all-ages’ creativity, curiosity and confidence through the joyful act of art-making. Since its launch, DrawTogether has attracted hundreds of thousands of viewers from around the world, all excited to draw with host and #1 NYT-Bestelling illustrator (plus social worker and professional goofball) Wendy MacNaughton— aka “WendyMac.”
On Friday, I’ll be visiting Wendy’s studio where we’ll . . . draw together! In celebration of Pride month!
My paid subscribers can participate in the Office Hours live stream on your computer via the Substack website or on your phone via the Substack app. If you don’t already have the app, click here to download it:
You’ll get a notification from Substack once Wendy and I go live. When you open Substack app, look in the upper left hand corner. You’ll see our faces and a little red LIVE rectangle. Click on our faces to join. Once you’re in, you can type questions and comments in the chat. See you then!
Support a Beloved Oakland Teacher’s Professional Development
Ms. Awele is a dedicated theater teacher who, in addition to teaching and directing plays, also produces the Oakland Unified School District’s MLK Oratorical Festival. Maybe you saw the Emmy-winning HBO documentary about it, We Are The Dream? She’s been offered a coveted spot in the Prague Shakespeare Company Summer 2025 4-week Intensive, a transformational classical theatre training and mentorship program. This opportunity isn't just for Ms. Awele; it's an investment in the future of theatre education in Oakland.
My “Who’s With Me?” stand-up tour returns to the Berkeley Rep for a good cause, June 17-22
A couple weeks ago I found out that the Berkeley Rep, where I did my rtwo esidencies to get back into stand-up comedy, lost funding from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) at the direction of the Trump administration. I immediately emailed Johanna Pfaelzer, the Artistic Director of the Berkeley Rep, to see if there was anything I could do. A couple days later, Johanna called me and we put this run of shows together.
June 17th through the 22nd, I’ll be performing my show “Who’s With Me?” at the Berkeley Rep. Proceeds will go to help 13 Bay Area theater arts and dance organizations (including the Berkeley Rep) to make up for loss of funding that the Trump administration pulled.