“Not everything that is faced can be changed. But nothing can be changed until it is faced.”

—James Baldwin

The West and its mythology are drenched in prejudice regarding race, sexuality, gender, religion, ethnicity, and anything under the sun that makes humans different from one another. Throughout the book, we’ve shined a light on that bias and oppression and also on those who struggled against it. This is a story of the land we live on. It’s not just a tale about people who were Black, Chinese, Indigenous, Jewish, white, Mexican, and others; it’s a story about all of us, together. Everyone and no one can take center stage. It’s a story of community, or at the heart of it, striving to become one.

We cannot honor history by shying away or ignoring uncomfortable topics and truths. America was built on genocide, enslavement, terror, and untold horrors, mainly at the hands of white European people—not solely, but largely. And then they stole our history and replaced it with lies of their greatness, our subservient place in a false hierarchy, all the while creating tension between different groups to strengthen their position with bullshit like “model minorities.” We are forever struggling under that oppressive weight.

We must uncover our history and embrace the diversity of the country we all live in. We must give credit and praise to the community that should be, and transform the one that is.