Beasts & Monsters: A Halloween Reflection

Beasts & Monsters. 

That's all I see this Halloween.

Not the ones in the closets or under a bed, but the ones on stages and carpets stained red.

As I reflect on this month that has transpired, the darkness has left us both broken and tired. 

By those with power and prestige. 

Beasts & Monsters.

Who have misused their positions and manipulated situations. 

Who have abused and assaulted, with their fame grossly flaunted. 

And when I read the front page news and check my Twitter feed, I find that "they" - the white, American, male - looks just like me. 

Beasts & Monsters. 

I learned as a child that our sins will find us out. And that darkness will lose to light in the final bout. 

Yet we mourn with those who have found the courage to scream out.

Beasts & Monsters. 

Not in the darkest of shadows, but in the whitest of houses. 

On stages, platforms, films, and cable news. 

"What we allow, we promote."

And it's at this point, I choke. 

For what have I done to promote the systems and norms that allow for these...

Beasts & Monsters to shine by day and prey by night?

O Lord, I pray, that today will be the day where masks will be torn off and victims set free. 

Where the ones who hide behind "non-disclosures", money, and power, will find their lies untangled and their fortunes soured.

Lord, may truth win the day. 

May the Beasts & Monsters go away. 

May what is, no longer be.

And - O Lord - may it start with me.