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Had to get outside today. Found myself at a park, where I felt compelled to defend an immigrant family’s right to be there.
I must admit, it took me a few minutes to speak up. I was initially reluctant to do so—I am not young. I am not in good health. I am not of large frame. And the young men were not nice.
So, I gathered my thoughts & my courage & then, said what I said. Something disarming & then, something more pointed. I ended up babbling something about the gift of this beautiful sun shiny day & was relieved when they turned & walked away.
The father shared his appreciation for my “kind manner.” Said his wife had wanted to leave but when he heard me, he said to her, “See. See, there are still kind people here.” We continued to talk for a bit and they were so lovely. I am happy to have met them & their beautiful children. I am happy I found the courage to say *something.*
Still, I cried all the way home.
We have to stand up for each other now.
@wren what you did was community defense. We need lots of people like you standing up for their neighbors in exactly this way.
You're brave, you're kind, and it's ok to cry and be scared. The important part is you did what needed to be done. 
If anyone out there wants to be more prepared for this situation in the future, some organizations offer bystander trainings that prepare folks to respond to incidents of racism, sexism, or transphobia. We will cover this in a future post on our AIF MA account in more detail but there are many ways to be a helpful bystander in situations like these and being prepared with some options can help it feel less intimidating, although not necessarily less scary.
Thank you. I tried.
I look forward to learning how to be better prepared, more effective, etc.