Why Speaking Up Matters - Guerra Americana

Growing up in Europe, with grandparents who lived through World War II, the state of the world today sets off real alarm bells for me. I can still hear their stories—stories that always began with “that could never happen” right before it did. Those memories feel so relevant now.

Recently, I spoke with a young Ukrainian woman whose mother had used those exact same words. I’ve sat at dinner tables with Europeans, Americans, Latin Americans, and Middle Easterners, and we realized that every one of us—each from different corners of the world—had been touched by a looming threat created by a small group of people, a threat we all felt powerless to speak against.

It brought me back to a moment in Boston, when I wandered into the New England Holocaust Memorial by chance. A stark, chilling place—and anyone who has been there knows its weight. The poem engraved there has stayed with me ever since. And it reminds me why speaking up matters.

"First They Came"

First they came for the Communists

And I did not speak out

Because I was not a Communist

Then they came for the Socialists

And I did not speak out

Because I was not a Socialist

Then they came for the trade unionists

And I did not speak out

Because I was not a trade unionist

Then they came for the Jews

And I did not speak out

Because I was not a Jew

Then they came for me

And there was no one left

To speak out for me

Lutheran pastor Martin Niemöller

Guerra Americana 2025 Acrylic on Canvas 48 x 36 inches