Muhiyidin Moye leapt across police barricades to snatch a Confederate Flag from the hands of racists. He was a Black Lives Matter Activist. He was shot and killed.

The first two things I said are heartbreakingly heroic. The third thing I said is heartbreaking.

2 months into 2018, and already there have been too many shootings to count. I could google. I could list them. But why? So I could pretend to be informed and you could pretend to care.

When I hear about Moye, I’m inspired to reflect on what’s going on. When Arthur Jones hears about Moye, he’s inspired to run for Congress in the 3rd Congressional District.

Arthur Jones is a White Supremacist and neo-Nazi.

It’s tempting to visit Arthur Jones, since he’s running in Illinois. It’s tempting to visit his campaign headquarters. It’s tempting to request an interview at a local diner. But why? So I could tweet how funny it is for a Jew to kibitz with a neo-Nazi and you could retweet.

I’m starting to feel different about the whole thing. I’m starting to feel like the lack of action on my side is a cop-out. I need to do more. If Arthur Jones isn’t afraid to run, then why am I?

MORELLI 2020: “Make America Greaterer.”

Under my platform, freedom of speech is not free of consequence. Every time Arthur Jones opens his mouth, we’ll stuff it with a matzo ball. Under my platform, White Supremacy is emotional terrorism. Every time a tiki torch terrorist lights a match, we’ll light a match and fart in his direction. Under my platform, statues of historical scumbags shall be replaced by those with the grace to stand up for the rest of us when we were too afraid, or too lazy, to try. We’ll build a statue of Moye. We’ll build a statue of Erica Garner. We’ll build a statue of Erica Garner’s dad. We’ll build a statue of Emmett Till’s mom on Liberty Island in New York Harbor to replace The Statue Of Liberty. No offense to the French who gifted us with Lady Liberty. Please understand, I don’t consider The Statue Of Liberty a scumbag. But I do think she’s been too God Damn lazy for too God Damn long!

We cannot move forward without looking back. But at the same time, we cannot allow ourselves to be dragged backwards by unapologetic bigots using the the fear of yesterday to scare us from looking inward at our own shortcomings lest we take them out on someone else.

Moye’s life matters. Think about it. Then leap across barricades in your own life.