No matter the color of your skin, the language(s) you speak or the flag(s) under which you were born and raised, you are equally valuable to me, both for the things we share and the ways in which we differ, and I will consider you a member of my tribe, with much to teach me and much I can teach you.
Whether you are a billionaire or barely scraping by, you are equally rich in what you can contribute to the world around you simply by being the person you are, and I will be grateful for what you do.
Whatever paths you have walked, whatever struggles you have faced, I will value the wisdom gained through your experience and support you in such recovery as you might need.
Regardless of your gender identification(s) or the gender identification(s) of those you love, I will celebrate that identity and that love with you and work toward a world where it cannot be diminished or denied by another.
If you have difficulty seeing, hearing, walking, or any other activity, I will not consider you disabled, only that your methods of interacting with the world are different from mine, and equally valid.
Whatever your political views, I will hear them with respect, and even should I disagree with you I will not consider you lesser than me for holding those views.
Whether you consider yourself Christian or Muslim, Jewish or Hindu, Buddhist or atheist, or hold any of a thousand other beliefs, I will listen respectfully and allow you the freedom to act in accordance with your beliefs, save only that I will not facilitate any action which might curtail that same freedom for another.
Each of you has a unique way of being a part of this world, and I will support and celebrate yours with you, and invite you to support and celebrate mine in turn.
Because you – all seven billion of you – are my family, my people, my tribe. We each sing a different melody, and yet we can weave them all together into a greater harmony.
Millennia of hard-wired tribalism will not simply dissipate overnight, but that is no reason not to try. We cannot solve our societal imbalances by ignoring them and hoping they will go away. Peace and justice cannot come from the barrel of a gun or the passing of a law. We will be one tribe only when each of us is able to believe equally, to act equally, to love equally.
I will work mindfully toward that day, for us all. #PledgeToHumanity
That Other Blog, Way Over There 