You can’t hashtag a human’s worth

On this Labor Day, we’re honoring human dignity.

We’re saluting the soldiers, policemen, firefighters, paramedics, and anyone who runs toward the flames while everyone else scrambles to flee.

We’re tipping our hats to the laborers, on whose sweaty backs we built this great country.

We’re welcoming the immigrants, because who would America be without them?

And we’re doing it without a single hashtag because hashtags make things trend and even viral trends are fleeting.

Don’t get us wrong, we love a good hashtag. They act like witty breadcrumbs through the Internet and foster global conversation.

But, they’re also capricious and can be discriminatory. In some cases they trivialize a deep and genuine human need. Sharing a hashtag doesn’t solve the problems the real problems they seek to address.

Respect is an eternal right and every single person in this world deserves it.

Black lives matter.

All lives matter.

Police lives matter.

His life matters.

Her life matters.

They all matter. Of course they do.

We honor them today and every day by understanding that human dignity is an inalienable and inclusive right.

If you woke up today, if you’re breathing, you matter.

And you don’t need a hashtag to tell you that.

Happy Labor Day from Molly B and Me.