We have made it a year without a major incident like the series of coordinated attacks on democracy performed on 1/6/21. This is a community achievement worthy of respect and commemoration. And the odds of an event like this being repeated sharply declined today.

But those odds are not at zero. We must remain vigilant. This wasn't accomplished in a vacuum. This was achieved thanks to no small number of community partnerships from the neighborhood to national level.

As we continue to move forward, and it's an absolutely certainty that WE ARE GOING FORWARD, each and every one of us has a responsibility to search out and rediscover the common ground that defines who we are together as members of this growing and changing American body called 'the electorate.'

This process will require the uncovering and cleaning and treating of wounds for we all know that a bandage is something more than a covering. This process will not be without pain, for we know are ready to acknowledge that pain, and we know the costs of avoiding that pain, we know the costs of cowardice. And we know that we each are strong and supported enough to bear just a little more discomfort and pain on behalf of those less privilege, those less fortunate, and those more vulnerable than us, those who have faced the failures of our society in our stead for too long. We will no longer excuse or neglect the fact that we have neighbors suffering for societies shortcomings while many of us share in its excesses.

We have looked up and seen the stars. We are not alone in our dreams and visions.

It's getting clearer. It's getting sharper. It's getting easier. Now is the time to focus. Now is the time to push. Now breathe.