Get ready to rise

There are a few things I’d like to share with you this Sunday morning in America.

Last night, sitting in a Munich beer hall, I heard Friedrich Merz, the next chancellor of Germany, denounce antisemitism and political extremism.

I want you to know that the crowd rose to its feet and applauded.

I’d like you to remember that, 80 years ago today, this Pulitzer Prize-winning photograph was taken by Joe Rosenthal of The Associated Press:

The United States Marines raising the American flag on Mount Suribachi, Iwo Jima, included an American Indian, a Jew and an immigrant. Three of the men would be killed in action on the island, where the commanding general said, “Uncommon valor was a common virtue.”

Courage is in shorter supply these days.

I want you to know about an 11-year-old little girl, who killed herself in Texas because of the relentless bullying of classmates, who told her that ICE was coming to get her family.

Her name was Jocelynn Rojo Carranza.

She was an American.

She was killed by cruelty.

I wonder from where it seeped into her school.

I read her obituary this morning in Munich.

She loved to dance.

Here is what CNN said happened:

The mother of one of Jocelynn's schoolmates, Jessi Noble, said her 11-year-old daughter, who is white, started coming home from school crying three weeks ago, expressing fear for her Hispanic friends due to chatter and taunting that she heard on campus.

People had been telling her friends that were Hispanic that they were getting deported, that ICE was coming for them," Noble said. "And she was just terrified."

Noble said she was surprised that her own daughter even knew about ICE since her family did not discuss deportations at home.

"There was talk of, 'I'm gonna call ICE on your family. You're gonna get deported.' Just a lot of fear, a lot of picking at each other," Noble said, relaying what her daughter told her about comments she heard at school.

"I was sad," Noble added. "I was sad for the kids to be afraid of something they shouldn't worry about at that age."

Jocelynn didn’t know how many people loved her.

A happy and energetic girl, Jocelynn was often found dancing and singing, Marbella Carranza told CNN. "She would spend the whole day playing with siblings and neighborhood kids who went to the same school as her," the mother said.

"When I heard that she was gone. I don't know, it just shattered my heart. It hurt me really bad," said one of Jocelynn's friends, 11-year-old Genessis Arnal, who went to the sixth grader's viewing on Tuesday night — an emotional scene packed with dozens of friends, classmates and family members.

"It makes me feel sad," Genessis told CNN. "She didn't know how much people actually loved her before she passed away."

I want you to watch something that is of the highest importance.

I want you to listen to Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, speaking before the Illinois Legislature from Springfield, where Abraham Lincoln practiced law.

Governor Pritzker swore his oath to protect the US Constitution on Abraham Lincoln’s bible. He understands his obligations.

This is the most important speech any Democrat in America has delivered since noon on January 20th:

You can find the transcript here if you’d prefer to read it.

The storm has arrived.

Your country needs you.

Get ready to rise.

The republic is under assault, and you are an American .

I want you to remember that today.

Say a prayer for little Jocelynn and her family.

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