The real reason the City fired Casas was because we exposed the rampant corruption of this city. For a better background of what happened, read: City Retaliates Against Employee For Whistleblowing
I'm writing this blog post from a more personal narrative. My mentor encouraged me to write it, while I felt down. He said I may forget later. I write this for my readers; so, you know what's it's like to do the right thing.
I woke up this morning early. Perhaps at 7am. I felt down. I did work, but after lunch, I just drove back home. I laid in bed for an hour. I prayed and tried to understand why I felt so depressed.
While investigators were fishing for anything Julian did wrong, they asked a number of what I considered offensive questions. They asked if Julian or I ever touched the kids inappropriately. They asked if we were in a homosexual relationship. They fished and fished and found nothing. And still, after finding nothing, because nothing happened, they fired him. And they fired him to hurt me because we've been exposing everything this city has been doing.
I think why I was most hurt about all of it was I can't believe that this could be happening in the United States. Up on the podium, these Council Members and Mayor dress in suits. They smile. They pretend to be the best people in the world, but in reality, they're laundering money and scamming the citizens with a number of kickback schemes.
In an impassioned speech yesterday, I mentioned how they're so willing to fire Julian. But they weren't there, when my kid fell into a drug addiction. They weren't there, when one of my kids did so well in school, then fell into alcoholism. They weren't there when we visited one of our kids in the hospital because his lung collapsed. No - but Julian was there. I was there.
And it's this great sense of injustice, this great unequal dynamics of power, where those in power will spend all the citizens' resources to silence us. It's incredible, really.
Some times, you feel all alone when you stand for something you believe in. You just really wish anyone that could help, would listen.
I've given up a lot to pursue discovering the truth. I'm 31 and live with my mother. I haven't lived at home since I was 17. I hardly make anything. My clients have literally paid me a few thousand dollars all year. I laugh every time people say, "You're a lawyer. You must be rich." Not true.
So, why do we do what we do?
Because, I know we do the right thing. And it's this sense of pursuing what I know in my heart is right that drives me. Thus, we live on. We fight for another day.
I told the Council Members, I believe that we should be glad in our sufferings (although I'm not good at this personally myself) because we know that suffering produces character, and character hope, and hope will not disappoint us. In other words, I know that what the City has done to Julian will only make him stronger. I hope it makes me stronger too and deepens my compassion for humanity.
I don't know where all this is all going. I do know that no matter what happens, victory is already ours. I've already exposed the truth, told the truth, and that one of my other boxers will carry the torch - no matter what happens to Julian or me. People know. You know.
And you know this too: despite all the odds, we're doing our very best to stand up against the horror these people have engineered for us. And we're still going to try because somebody has to.
This week, I've been inspired by Sophie Scholl. Scholl founded the White Rose Society, which passed out documents that exposed the Nazis. For this, at the age of 22, the German courts found this college student guilty of treason. The German state beheaded her.
On the day that she was executed, Scholl said, “How can we expect righteousness to prevail when there is hardly anyone willing to give himself up individually to a righteous cause. Such a fine, sunny day, and I have to go, but what does my death matter, if through us, thousands of people are awakened and stirred to action?”
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