Gabriel Mahia

On a same-day visit to both the Holocaust Museum and the National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC), my world view shifted dramatically. The urgency of history, coupled with the current political climate and social unrest, compelled me to write. The time for complacency is over; it's time to engage, learn, and act. Democratic norms are the invisible glue that holds our society together. They're the unspoken rules we follow, the collective agreement that makes cohabitation possible in a complex, diverse society. It's like a morning routine that sets the tone for the rest of the day; we hardly notice it, but its absence creates chaos. In much the same way, our daily habit of adhering to democratic norms, like respecting the rule of law or agreeing to disagree, creates a sense of stability that we take for granted. But what happens when the foundation starts to crack? The same unsettling feeling you get when you skip your morning routine is the exact sens...

On a same-day visit to both the Holocaust Museum and the National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC), my world view shifted dramatically. The urgency of history, coupled with the current political climate and social unrest, compelled me to write. The time for complacency is over; it's time to engage, learn, and act. In a single day, I walked through the chilling corridors of the Holocaust Museum and the transformative spaces of the NMAAHC. The experience was nothing short of a jolt to my soul, an awakening of the urgency to confront hate—both historical and current. As I transitioned from one museum to the other, my eyes opened wide to the undeniable parallels between Nazi Germany and America's own turbulent past and, alarmingly, its potential future. You may think you understand history, but until you see it juxtaposed against the haunting echoes of the present, you're skimming the surface. We've all heard the saying, "Those who do not learn h...

On a same-day visit to both the Holocaust Museum and the National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC), my world view shifted dramatically. The urgency of history, coupled with the current political climate and social unrest, compelled me to write. The time for complacency is over; it's time to engage, learn, and act. Economic uncertainty is like quicksand. The more you struggle without a clear strategy, the deeper you sink. The analogy may sound dramatic, but it captures the essence of how economic unrest can birth a volatile political climate, giving rise to populist leaders who offer easy solutions to complex problems. Take a moment every day to digest a piece of economic news or data. Make it your routine. In today's high-speed, meme-driven culture, it's easy to get lost in the noise and ignore the signals that history is sending us. But let me stop you there. Before you scroll past this post, think about the weight that history carries, especially th...