I wanted to start with a quote from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr’s Letter from a Birmingham Jail.

First, I must confess that over the past few years I have been gravely disappointed with the white moderate. I have almost reached the regrettable conclusion that the Negro's great stumbling block in his stride toward freedom is not the White Citizen's Counciler or the Ku Klux Klanner, but the white moderate, who is more devoted to "order" than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice; who constantly says: "I agree with you in the goal you seek, but I cannot agree with your methods of direct action"; who paternalistically believes he can set the timetable for another man's freedom; who lives by a mythical concept of time and who constantly advises the Negro to wait for a "more convenient season." Shallow understanding from people of good will is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will. Lukewarm acceptance is much more bewildering than outright rejection.

I had hoped that the white moderate would understand that law and order exist for the purpose of establishing justice and that when they fail in this purpose they become the dangerously structured dams that block the flow of social progress. I had hoped that the white moderate would understand that the present tension in the South is a necessary phase .of the transition from an obnoxious negative peace, in which the Negro passively accepted his unjust plight, to a substantive and positive peace, in which all men will respect the dignity and worth of human personality. Actually, we who engage in nonviolent direct action are not the creators of tension. We merely bring to the surface the hidden tension that is already alive. We bring it out in the open, where it can be seen and dealt with. 

As Dr. King notes, nonviolent direct action does not create tension. Existing tension is surfaced by that action. That tension is already there, being felt, day in, day out by those affected by it. It is those of us in the community, and those of you in leadership, who may be able to go through our days, unaware, or unthinking. But that is a privilege.

Last Sunday, we surfaced that tension. In putting back the pride flag, and modernizing by adding the Trans flag, we took the tension that our neighbors, and our children, were already feeling from the flag being removed, and surfaced it to the Mayor. And the Mayor felt that tension. Chalk, not expensive, not permanent, not destructive, not violent, made the Mayor feel the tension, and that tension compelled her to respond.

Initially that response was wildly off base and inappropriate.Her public statement, still not retracted or followed up on, completely missed the point.She assigned the source of the tension to chalk on stairs, not to her own actions, and the removal of the painted flag. 

But by Monday night’s HRC meeting, she had realized the error of her ways. She promised a pride crosswalk, but confusingly, promised it on County roads, not Town property she actually controls, a project she could move forward herself. Now a week has passed, there’s been no follow up statement, no public commitment, no announcement of conversations with the County, nothing has fundamentally changed from the day the steps were erased.

So maybe we need to update King’s speech for 2026 in West Orange.

I have almost reached the regrettable conclusion that the LGBTQIA+’s great stumbling block in their stride toward freedom is not the Transphobe or the Straight Pride commenter, but the cis, straight moderate, who is more devoted to "order" than to justice.

So Council members, what will you do?
Not photo opportunities.
Not platitudes.
Not thanks for bringing this to your attention.
Who has already contacted the County?
Who has already amplified the community’s demands to the Mayor?

Who is an actual leader?
And who will remain a leader after the election?