Gregg GonsalvesVerified account

I work for a university, I should watch what I say, couch statements in sober, scholarly tones. I should not get angry.

I should worry less about the world and more about my professional future. Publications, grants are what matter, not protests or op-eds.

But I saw my government turn away from the suffering and deaths of my friends, colleagues, family in the 80s, 90s, at the height of the AIDS epidemic. Saw Democrats wait until the rest of the country had already decided that who I loved was OK before "evolving" on LGBTQ rights.

And now, it's far, far worse. It's open warfare on all of us, it's state pillage and capture, global economic and political destabilization.

And then I wonder, why are people around me so quiet? Not everyone, but most go about their daily lives, keeping their heads down.

Those that protest, speak out, get angry stick out like sore thumbs, are made strange, exotic, different.

There is some distancing, some idea that this isn't proper, just isn't done here.

And it truly makes me want to flee. When did universities become like this? Historians help me out here.

Like panic rooms, for many, safe, as long as you don't open the door.

Don't get me wrong, there are some people like Jason Stanley, Tim Snyder, Bandy Lee who regularly speak out, clinical professors doing legal and advocacy work, which have saved lives over the past few years.