Way back in 1990 I spent a few years as a crunchie (see Urban Dictionary for a proper definition). As a punk, it pained me to hang out with the great unwashed, Birkenstock crowd. But they had hash—HASH and It’s like smoking butter.

Besides smoking hash, I began to attend meetings for various crunchie groups. I learned about the Green Party and was one of the founding members for the Ohio State University Green Party. I believed then, as I do now, that sustainability for the humans on this planet is really important.

Not a fan of the Green Party now because they launched into national politics which is more mulch than grassroots. Try to get some people on your local school boards and go from there.

As crunchies do, I ended up at a Pow Wow where I discovered the joys of fry bread and actually learned to set up my own tent! Wow, I was practically part of the Crow Nation! (no, no I was not) It was at a Intertribal Pow Wow where I first saw t-shirts for the “European Walk of Apology” which was a walk across the US to coincide with the 500th anniversary of the traditional Columbus Day celebrations.

It was the funniest thing I had ever heard of.

I really thought it was a prank when I first heard of it but I was down for the party. Even when I met the organizers who were from Ghent, Belgium and they were in no way laughing, they had a legitimate office space, I still though it was a prank.

I went to their offices and I learned that this walk was actually an environmental protest against the nuclear testing that the US had been conducting on Western Shoshone native land.   I had always hated nuclear weapons growing up in the shadow of Rockwell International where our parents built parts for the B-1 bomber. Now, that I had met some Indians so this whole thing didn’t seem so funny anymore. It all felt more personal.

I dedicated about a year of my life to selling t-shirts, answering phones and attending very long organizational meetings. I watched people come in from all over the country to help, to volunteer, because they believed. And as unbelievable as it sounds, The Walk Across America for Mother Earth really happened. Taylor Mac actually turned the event into a nutty musical, it was great!

Through this political action and a few smaller ones I was involved with I met many people emboldened by righteousness. I see that in the Antifa protesters. And honestly, who could support Nazis?

“Jews will not replace us.” Seriously, what movie studio do you want to run? What the hell are you even talking about?

But, as a former young semi-revolutionary kid myself, I don’t support your face covering, or your violence. I get that the right wing trolls people. How about you uncover your faces, be proud of your actions and we can start a GoFundMe to pay your legal bills?

Look, if I can go back to my whiter-than-white B1 Bomber building community and talk about a European Walk of Apology for nuclear testing on Indian lands you can uncover your faces.

Fighting white supremacists is something all Americans, all people, can get behind. I do it with my smiling face. You should, too.