First Generation Liberal

I am a first generation liberal. I was not born and bred by liberal parents. I was not raised with the words of FDR and JFK. I am the first in my family to be a registered Democrat. I am still learning what a Democrat is. It’s a moving target but the foundation is stable…government funded education, healthcare, and welfare in a mixed economy. Socially liberal. I slowly migrated away from my Reaganesque childhood to meander in the land of “socially liberal but fiscally conservative” people. Until I learned that you can’t really separate the two enough to say that, and finally I washed ashore on the vibrant island chain of intersectional feminism.

So I read the news and op eds and npr panels with big gaping holes of historical knowledge and government savvy, but also with sincere humanity and faith in who I am and what I stand for. I participate in discussions with other first generation liberals and I know my place when I’m around those who have a more pure bloodline. I’m a political orphan, self taught, but scrappy. I also retain ties with those who have not set sail from the conservative motherland, who squat stubbornly in the desert of the disengaged, disenfranchised and self defeated. I cannot free or drag them away from their chains of ignorance and inaction, I have tried. The best I can do is keep the invitation to the journey extended to them, and in doing so remind them that we are both human from the same original continent.

When my daughter was born I gave her the middle name of Marianne, it’s a combination of both her grandmothers’ names. Marianne is also the modern name for the Roman Goddess, Libertas. She is French and we know her best in the United States as Lady Liberty. I hope to raise my daughter to be a liberal, not the blue blood kind of course, but comfortable and educated enough to walk amongst them. May her name remind her of where she comes from. And also guide her to where she’s going.

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