WE ARE ONE:

A Call to Nonviolent Courage and Collective Liberation

This article is deeply inspired by the words and work of Rev. Dr. David Alexander, whose most recent Substack piece broke something open in me. His clarity, compassion, and courageous truth-telling stirred the same ache I’ve been carrying quietly—the ache that comes from witnessing oppression in real time. Watching people torn from their families, criminalized for seeking safety, demonized for daring to exist—all of it streamed across our screens, narrated by pundits, debated like theory. My heart is broken. And I know I’m not alone. So I write this, not just as commentary, but as a cry. A call. A response to the injustice we are being asked to accept—and a reminder that we don’t have to.

There are moments that split history open. Not with fireworks, but with clarity. Not with celebration, but with confrontation. Moments where we stop pretending. Where the story we've been telling ourselves cracks wide open and we're forced to ask: who are we, really?

This is one of those moments.

The ICE raids in Los Angeles are not just news headlines or policy disputes. They are deliberate, orchestrated acts of dehumanization. They are violence—state-sanctioned, media-framed, morally bankrupt violence. And they are designed, specifically and strategically, to provoke.

But here's the part we must understand: they want us to react with rage. They want the chaos. They want shattered glass, burning cars, tear gas in the air, so they can spin it back into a story that justifies more crackdowns, more surveillance, more power.

It's a trap. And we must not take the bait.

Our liberation will not come from reaction. It will come from revolution.

Not the revolution of bullets and bricks. The revolution of disciplined defiance. Of sacred nonviolence. Of spiritual resistance that does not cower and does not conform. A revolution that understands—we are one.

If we keep framing our current struggle through the roles of victim, villain, and savior, we stay locked inside a loop that limits all of us. It’s a story rooted in fear, not liberation. Yes, there is real harm being done. Yes, there are systems built on cruelty. But reducing anyone to a static role—whether as helpless, heartless, or heroic—keeps us from the deeper transformation we’re called into.

Dr. David in his recent article on The Liberation Lens invites us to step out of that old story.

He asks us to stop seeing undocumented immigrants as helpless victims, ICE agents as irredeemable villains, and public leaders as the only ones who can change things. We are being invited to stop outsourcing our agency and start owning our power.

What if we saw everyone as a dynamic participant in the unfolding of consciousness itself? What if, instead of reacting to roles, we related to each other as whole people—flawed, capable, evolving, and sacred? That shift is not naïve—it’s revolutionary. It opens the door to creative, strategic action rooted in truth rather than fear. And that’s where real liberation begins.

That word—"illegal"—is an assault on sacredness. It’s a political fiction meant to obscure a deeper truth: that the people being targeted are part of us. They are workers, caregivers, dreamers, risk-takers. They are mothers and fathers and children who bleed like you, love like you, hope like you.

They are not a threat. They are a mirror. They reflect what this country could be if it lived up to its highest values.

And yes, their labor is essential. Their contribution—economic, cultural, spiritual—is vast. But they are not valuable because they are productive. They are valuable because they are people. Period.

They are not "alien." They are not "other." They are us. And we are them.

Let’s be clear: nonviolence is not a posture of politeness. It is not submission. It is not about staying calm to make people comfortable. It is about standing in a radical, unshakable truth—that love is stronger than hate, and that dignity is non-negotiable.

Nonviolence means confronting injustice without becoming it. It means refusing to meet fear with fear. It means refusing to make people enemies—even when they do evil—because we understand that evil thrives on dehumanization. Our job is to interrupt that cycle. To expose the system, not explode it.

We do that by showing up. Loudly. Lovingly. Strategically.

In the Civil Rights era, images of nonviolent protesters being brutalized changed the public conscience. The fire hoses, the dogs, the batons—those weren’t just acts of violence. They were turning points.

This moment is no different.

The images from the raids, the cries of families being separated, the footage of neighborhoods being terrorized—these are the new Selmas. The new Birminghams. But only if we rise to meet them.

We are being invited into a moment of moral clarity. Of spiritual conviction. Of visible, public, creative nonviolent resistance that makes it impossible to look away.

New Thought is not a luxury philosophy. It is not a comfort cult for manifesting sports cars and beachfront homes. It is a powerful, world-shifting spiritual technology designed to awaken consciousness and liberate lives.

We teach Oneness. But what does that mean when a neighbor is being deported?

We teach Love. But what does that mean when armed agents knock down doors in the night?

We teach Abundance. But what does that mean when families can’t access healthcare or housing because of where they were born?

It means this: our spirituality must leave the sanctuary.

It must leave the Sunday livestream.

It must leave the Instagram affirmations.

It must make our movement move.

Because New Thought is a revolution disguised as a teaching. And now is the time to throw off the disguise.

We are calling on all New Thought communities, ministers, practitioners, centers, and spiritual seekers:

Get out into the streets. March. Meditate publicly. Sing. Organize. Protest. Preach.

Do it in peace. Do it in prayer. Do it in power.

Let your signs say not just "Stop the Raids" but also "We Are One."

Let your chants declare not just policy, but principle: That every person has dignity. That every soul deserves safety. That love is law and justice is love in action.

Do it with clarity. Do it with creativity. Do it without apology.

We are not fighting against ICE agents. We are not fighting against politicians. We are fighting against an idea—the idea that some lives matter less than others. That cruelty is justified. That walls make us safe.

We are fighting that lie with the deepest truth we know:

We are One.

We are Love.

We are not afraid.

Let that be our testimony.

Let that be the echo of our footsteps in the streets.

Let that be the truth we carry into every protest, every council meeting, every moment where silence would be betrayal.

We are not here to be quiet. We are not here to wait for the perfect policy. We are not here to spiritualize injustice away.

We are here to build the world we know is possible.

A world that works for all. A world without cages. A world without “illegals.” A world without fear. A world of dignity, safety, belonging, and love.

And we will build it. Together.

With courage. With vision. With Spirit on our side.

We are One. And we are rising.