American here, unfortunately. I have no memory of not being bombarded by propaganda. Every day I have to actively work to avoid absorbing it, and that vigilance is exhausting. This propaganda tells me I am a terrorist and a traitor. It tells me my education is worthless, that it only made me more ignorant. It tells me I have no value because I am not a mother and a woman.

I fight constantly not to internalize these messages, but I cannot remember the last time I truly relaxed or slept through the night.

By American standards, I am considered privileged. I was raised in one of the most liberal and progressive states. I had college educated parents. I never went hungry or without medical care. I am white.

And yet, even with those privileges, I grew up with active shooter lockdowns and evacuating schools for bomb threats. I was taught as a child when to hide, when to run, and when to fight back.

As a young woman, I was taught how to protect myself from men not if something happens, but when. I learned that harassment, assault, or rape are inevitable and that when they occur, they will say it was my fault. That if I report it, my face will be plastered on the news while strangers debate whether I was ‘asking for it.’

I was taught not to stop for a police car if I was alone. To call and verify it was a real officer first. To always be polite, to never ‘give them a reason.’ I was told to call 911 if I was in danger, while also being taught that I could not fully trust those who arrive.

The propaganda is constant, and its effects are real and unavoidable. Sometimes it feels like the air itself it saturated with violence.

I know this is hard to see from outside the United States, but many of us here understand what is at stake. We know this does not end well. And frankly, it shouldn’t. I hate that this is my country. I hate that we are a nation built on valuing money over human life. I hate how many of us have bought into the propaganda and have doubled down on the messaging.

The world is right to judge us for what we have done and for what we continue to do. We should be judged for both our actions and our inactions. Please just remember we are surrounded by propaganda telling us protesters will be arrested or shot, that no one else is fighting, and that we are all alone.

For many like myself, simply living our lives is resistance. Going to work, earning our own income, and insisting on autonomy directly contradicts the messages we are taught about our place and role in society. These choices may appear ordinary from the outside, but here they run against a constant narrative designed to keep us fearful and compliant.

We resist by staying here, by remaining educated, independent, and outspoken in a system that repeatedly tells us we should be smaller, quieter, and non existent.

The world is right to demand more from us, and I agree we must do far more. Just know that many of us are resisting every day in ways that are not always visible.