Our Time is Now

OUR TIME IS NOW: The Excerpt

For too long, I stood on the sidelines, waiting for a champion. Waiting for some towering figure to rise and speak the necessary truths—to confront the system that profits from our silence and sacrifices our community for convenience. Every day, I watched and waited, tired of seeing our mothers, our daughters, our loved ones, treated as disposable, constantly sacrificed like lambs within a rigged game.

I was once an NYPD Sergeant, a man who saw the system from the inside out. My shield became a burden when I realized the rule of law was dictated by politicians and the privileged, not by justice. When I blew the whistle on quotas, traditional criminality, and the devastating retaliation that follows an honest oath, I learned the full, brutal cost of speaking up.

But the most painful lesson was realizing that the Blue Wall of Silence I fought in the NYPD is mirrored by a communal silence in our own AAPI community. We were taught to bow our heads, to keep trouble at bay. That time has changed. In this new era, silence doesn’t buy safety; it guarantees we get screwed.

We are neither light enough to be fully accepted by one world, nor "colored" enough to be fully embraced by another. This feeling of perpetual marginalization has gone on long enough. We are constantly being played, only remembered during election time when votes or donations are needed.

I am done waiting. I am tired of standing idle. My fight against the largest police department in the country was the necessary training. I am choosing to be the voice now.

The age of keeping our heads down is over. The world is at our fingertips; our power is ready to be unified. This isn’t a blog post; this is a declaration.

It’s time to push for us.

IT'S OUR TIME.

Steven Lee Former NYPD Sergeant, Lamplighter/Whistleblower, and new AAPI Advocate