{"id":6313,"date":"2026-05-05T13:10:00","date_gmt":"2026-05-05T13:10:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vanessariley.com\/blog\/2026\/05\/05\/write-of-passage-america-is-being-judged-and-we-are-not-ready\/"},"modified":"2026-05-05T13:10:00","modified_gmt":"2026-05-05T13:10:00","slug":"write-of-passage-america-is-being-judged-and-we-are-not-ready","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vanessariley.com\/blog\/2026\/05\/05\/write-of-passage-america-is-being-judged-and-we-are-not-ready\/","title":{"rendered":"Write of Passage: America Is Being Judged\u2014and We are Not Ready."},"content":{"rendered":"<!--[if lt IE 9]><script>document.createElement('audio');<\/script><![endif]-->\n<audio class=\"wp-audio-shortcode\" id=\"audio-6313-1\" preload=\"none\" style=\"width: 100%;\" controls=\"controls\"><source type=\"audio\/mpeg\" src=\"https:\/\/api.substack.com\/feed\/podcast\/196516182\/3cc5f703e48538b6dae465075a595381.mp3?_=1\" \/><a href=\"https:\/\/api.substack.com\/feed\/podcast\/196516182\/3cc5f703e48538b6dae465075a595381.mp3\">https:\/\/api.substack.com\/feed\/podcast\/196516182\/3cc5f703e48538b6dae465075a595381.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n<p><strong>Take a moment and sit with this:<\/strong><\/p><div id=\"vanes-129563502\" class=\"vanes-content vanes-entity-placement\" style=\"margin-top: 2px;margin-right: 2px;margin-bottom: 2px;margin-left: 2px;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/vanessariley.com\/fireswordandsea.htm\" aria-label=\"Fire Sword &amp; Sea\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vanessariley.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/FireSwordSea_HC-scaled.jpg?fit=1706%2C2560&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Fire Sword &amp; Sea\"  srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vanessariley.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/FireSwordSea_HC-scaled.jpg?w=1706&ssl=1 1706w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vanessariley.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/FireSwordSea_HC-scaled.jpg?resize=200%2C300&ssl=1 200w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vanessariley.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/FireSwordSea_HC-scaled.jpg?resize=683%2C1024&ssl=1 683w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vanessariley.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/FireSwordSea_HC-scaled.jpg?resize=768%2C1152&ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vanessariley.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/FireSwordSea_HC-scaled.jpg?resize=1024%2C1536&ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vanessariley.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/FireSwordSea_HC-scaled.jpg?resize=1365%2C2048&ssl=1 1365w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vanessariley.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/FireSwordSea_HC-scaled.jpg?w=1280&ssl=1 1280w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" width=\"569\" height=\"853\"   \/><\/a><\/div>\n<p><strong>A country can be both powerful and fragile at the same time.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>We can be proud\u2014and still be in the wrong.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>And right now, we\u2019re standing in the middle of a reckoning.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>The question isn\u2019t why anymore\u2026 It\u2019s what we do next.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>There\u2019s a hard truth we don\u2019t want to acknowledge. We are here because of apathy, arrogance, and anger.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>And three things can be true at once.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>First, the reckoning\u2014the judgment on America\u2014can be deserved. Our standing in the world, the fall from once being revered to a joke, is deserved. Our actions have impacted for the worse, the world economy.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Second, there are a lot of people getting caught in the gears of that reckoning.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>And third, plain and simple, ain\u2019t nobody got time for this kind of suffering.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>So the real questions of why we are here are over. It\u2019s time to focus on <\/strong><strong><em>how we set things right.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>I\u2019m not here to say \u201cI told you so.\u201d That\u2019s easy, and it doesn\u2019t solve anything. But I do want to ground us in a quick lesson.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>People died fighting for civil rights. Not centuries ago\u2014less than seventy years. There are people caught in pictures screaming at little children, threatening violence because a child wants an education. Less than seventy years, they can still be alive. Their children who grew up with hate are still here, still carrying the hate. But now they are screamers, politicians, footstools in the patriarchy. Heck, they might be leading it.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>The Voting Rights Act passed in 1965. So let\u2019s round up, seventy years is supposed to make up for 400 years of slavery?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>According to the Equal Justice Initiative (EJI) at least 4,400 lynchings of Black Americans occurred between 1877 and 1950.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>The Southern Poverty Law Center and other National Archives, Civil Rights Movement records, estimate 60+ people were killed in direct civil rights\u2013related violence between 1960 and 1965.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>We know the famous names:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Medgar Evers (1963)<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Herbert Lee (1961)<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, and Michael Schwerner (1964)<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Jimmie Lee Jackson (1965)<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Viola Liuzzo (1965)<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Addie Mae Collins<\/strong>, Denise McNair, Carole Robertson, and Cynthia Wesley<\/p>\n<p>They were between <strong>11 and 14 years old<\/strong>,<strong> killed in the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>When I research and one of those photos comes up, you know the ones with hordes of adults screaming and wishing harm on babies like Ruby Bridges.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>I see eyes glazed over with hate, mouths open, screaming curse words, and words at children integrating schools. But I\u2019m supposed to believe that these hateful people\u2019s children and grandchildren miraculously have no more prejudice\u2026you know, the prejudice that forced us to legislate decency and morality.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>That these people in my neighborhood, near my child and other brown and Black children, have evolved.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>The past isn\u2019t gone. It\u2019s merely buried. When no one is watching, hate has a way of rising back up.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Far too many of us got comfortable. We lived in neighborhoods that looked integrated on the surface. We worshipped in spaces where anyone could walk in. We shopped, ate, worked, and convinced ourselves that access meant equity\u2014that if you were qualified, you could get the job; if you worked hard, you\u2019d be fine.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>That comfort made us forget the stakes.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>We can\u2019t be forgetful when others are already standing in unemployment lines. Some are choosing between medicine and groceries. Others were already relying on food banks just to make it through the week.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>And now, more people are feeling that edge. Seventeen thousand people just lost their job as jet fuel prices spike. We had an economy that, for a moment, felt like it was rebounding\u2014strong, even enviable. But instability, policy choices, and global tensions have brought us to a place where the cost of living is climbing fast. Safety nets are thinning. Healthcare is slipping out of reach for far too many.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>There\u2019s a widening gap between those who are managing and those who are barely holding on.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Yes\u2014if you have a roof over your head, a working car, food in your fridge\u2014you\u2019re not doing so badly.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>But that\u2019s not the whole picture. It can\u2019t be. Some folks are:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>One paycheck away. One emergency away. One layoff away from disaster.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>If you\u2019re listening to this essay\u2014on a podcast app, on Substack, anywhere\u2014you have a degree of privilege.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Use that guilt. Bear our responsibility in this mess.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>We were, at one point, moving\u2014slowly, imperfectly\u2014toward a more perfect union.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Then fear crept in.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Fear that equality meant loss. Fear that if everyone has a seat at the table, some people wouldn\u2019t feel special anymore. And that fear dressed itself up in many forms\u2014sexism, misogyny, exclusion, resentment, and yes, good old-fashioned racism.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>You can\u2019t put that genie back in the bottle. There\u2019s no Superman coming to spin the world backward so we undo everything and make better choices.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>This is the burden\u2014and the beauty\u2014of a fragile democracy.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>We get to choose. Even when we choose poorly.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>So now we\u2019re here, in this moment, asking ourselves:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>What else are we willing to lose?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>How much more will be stripped away before we pay attention?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>I am afraid. More afraid than angry. This is a new place for me. And I suppose for you too.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Since three things can be true at once, then we can do three things at once:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>We can acknowledge the reckoning.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>We can care for the people caught in it.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>And we can decide, collectively, that we don\u2019t have time to sit around and take things like voting for granted\u2026 that is, while we still can.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>This week\u2019s book list features books to help us process:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/bookshop.org\/a\/1521\/9780525509301\"><strong><em>How to Be an Antiracist<\/em><\/strong><\/a><strong> by Ibram X. Kendi \u2014 Explains how neutrality and \u201cnot racist\u201d thinking fuel systemic harm.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.asmallplacebooks.com\/product\/walking-with-the-wind-a-memoir-of-the-movement\/473\"><strong><em>Walking with the Wind<\/em><\/strong><\/a><strong> by John Lewis \u2014 A firsthand account of the Civil Rights Movement that reminds us how recent\u2014and costly\u2014those gains were.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.asmallplacebooks.com\/product\/caste-the-origins-of-our-discontents\/162\"><strong><em>Caste: The Origins of <\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.asmallplacebooks.com\/product\/caste-the-origins-of-our-discontents\/162\"><strong><em>Our Discontents<\/em><\/strong><\/a><strong> by Isabel Wilkerson \u2014 Argues that America operates under an unspoken caste system, explaining why inequality persists despite progress.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>And if you just want to raise a sword and cut to the truth, consider purchasing <\/strong><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.asmallplacebooks.com\/product\/fire-sword-and-sea\/T27ORP6AN2DDXMVTMYN7XK46?cp=true&amp;sa=false&amp;sbp=false&amp;q=true\"><strong>Fire Sword and Sea<\/strong><\/a><strong>, my latest release.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Or if you are in need of laughs and inclusivity, preorder or review at NetGalley, a Deal at Dawn. Step into a cliffhanger, where the Duke of Torrance is dying to finally be a father to his daughter but he must deal her with mother, the woman who humbled him and broke his heart.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>All these books from The <\/strong><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.asmallplacebooks.com\/\"><strong>A Small Place Bookshop<\/strong><\/a><strong>. They still have a few signed copies of Fire Sword and Sea.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>You can also try one of my partners in the fight<\/strong><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/vanessariley.com\/fireswordandsea.htm\"><strong>, bookstores<\/strong><\/a><strong> large and small, who are in the trenches with me.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>You can find my notes on Substack or on my website, <\/strong><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.vanessariley.com\/\"><strong>VanessaRiley.com<\/strong><\/a><strong>, under the podcast link in the About tab.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Hey. Let\u2019s keep rising and creating together. That\u2019s the truth, I need you. Like, share, subscribe, and stay connected to <\/strong><strong><em>Write of Passage<\/em><\/strong><strong>.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Thank you for being here.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>I want you to come again. This is Vanessa Riley.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>This is a public episode. If you&#8217;d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit <a href=\"https:\/\/vanessariley.substack.com\/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&amp;utm_campaign=CTA_2\">vanessariley.substack.com\/subscribe<\/a><\/p>\n<div id=\"vanes-1516455264\" class=\"vanes-after-content vanes-entity-placement\" style=\"margin-top: 3px;margin-right: 3px;margin-bottom: 3px;margin-left: 3px;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vanessariley.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/SubstackAd.png?fit=1080%2C1350&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Listen to the Write of Passage Weekly Podcast\"  srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vanessariley.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/SubstackAd.png?w=1080&ssl=1 1080w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vanessariley.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/SubstackAd.png?resize=240%2C300&ssl=1 240w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vanessariley.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/SubstackAd.png?resize=819%2C1024&ssl=1 819w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vanessariley.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/SubstackAd.png?resize=768%2C960&ssl=1 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" width=\"540\" height=\"675\"   \/><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Take a moment and sit with this: A country can be both powerful and fragile at the same time. We can be proud\u2014and still be in the wrong. And right now, we\u2019re standing in the middle of a reckoning. The question isn\u2019t why anymore\u2026 It\u2019s what we do next. There\u2019s a hard truth we don\u2019t [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6314,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[81,793,9,620,756,694],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6313","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-personal-stories","category-politics","category-recommended-reading","category-syndication","category-technology","category-tv-and-film"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vanessariley.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/b37b28d60f3d3976da259f2479e87ef6.jpg?fit=1280%2C720&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vanessariley.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6313","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vanessariley.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vanessariley.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vanessariley.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vanessariley.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6313"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/vanessariley.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6313\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vanessariley.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6314"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vanessariley.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6313"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vanessariley.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6313"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vanessariley.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6313"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}