Here’s the thing: Grief only feels impossible until it’s felt. Then it becomes something else: A portal; an invitation; maybe even something approaching a prayer. That’s what I felt watching Kendrick and SZA and the dancers express what words hadn’t been able to. It’s how I feel listening to Wipers and Bad Brains and all the other edge-walkers, the ones pushed to the margins for telling the truth. Maybe it’s too late. Maybe the Great Harvesting taking place in Washington right now really is the end of America. And maybe feeling those painful feelings won’t change a thing—but I’m pretty sure it will. And I know this: Until we resolve to face the painful, walled-off feelings about the trouble we’ve landed ourselves in none of this is ever going to change. We’ve got to feel this now.