IF THIS IS WOKE, COUNT ME IN!

Hello Beautiful and Kind Human Beings.

Welcome to this week’s Fielding Thoughts Article. I appreciate your support and interest very much.

Wishing you all joy!

Most days, I scan the news headlines and just shake my head in disbelief. I barely recognize our country and our democracy. Systemic dismantling and execution of a cruel strategic plan is happening right in front of us.

Let’s stop pretending this is about budgets or bureaucracy.

This is a direct assault on children and families—wrapped in politics, masked by ideology, and fueled by cruelty.

The current federal administration is actively slashing funding for school nutrition, early childhood education, after-school care, and family support programs—because these things are now seen as too “woke.”

Let that sink in.

We’re cutting meals for hungry kids.
We’re defunding classrooms and caregivers.
We’re gutting programs that build the future.
All in the name of fighting a culture war.

When did compassion become a partisan issue?

Because while these life-saving, kid-supporting programs are being targeted as “leftist,”
those same leaders are fully funding efforts to mandate the Ten Commandments in public classrooms.

Let me be clear:
I am a person of faith.
I pray. I believe. I’m proud of my spirituality.

But I also believe faith belongs in your heart, not forced on every chalkboard.

I believe in a God of love, not a government of control.
And I believe in freedom of religion—not religion as law.

I used to be called a centrist.

Now? I’m labeled “woke.”

If being woke means:

• Feeding kids before teaching them fractions

• Funding schools instead of fear

• Standing up for teachers, science, climate, and LGBTQ+ youth

• Believing that healthcare, education, and clean air aren’t partisan luxuries but human rights

Then yes—I’m wide awake.
And I wear it like a badge of honor.

This is more than politics.

It’s about priorities.

When your platform requires punishing children to prove a point, you’re not conserving values. You’re erasing them.

We are watching a systematic defunding of the American future—one school lunch, one library, one after-school program at a time.

And we are being told to stay quiet, nod politely, and not rock the boat.

No thank you.

So what do we do?

We get louder.
We show up.
We speak out.
We protect what matters.

Because the future doesn’t belong to the loudest voices—it belongs to the boldest hearts.

🔦 ACTION STEPS:

✔️ Talk to your community – What’s being cut? What’s worth fighting for?
✔️ Contact your reps – Ask them where they stand on school funding and kids’ programs.
✔️ Vote accordingly – Your ballot is louder than any bullhorn.
✔️ Share this article – Let’s flood the feeds with truth, not fear.

And to anyone who still calls me “too woke”?

I say: You’re damn right I’m awake. And I hope you are too.

📬 Let me know what’s being threatened in your schools, towns, and neighborhoods.
Together, we can name it, claim it, and change it.

Forward this if you're done being quiet.
Subscribe if you're just waking up.

In Community and Conversation,

Jim