I’m a dad. It’s the one thing I always knew I wanted to be. As the primary caregiver to two young boys, I spend my days teaching them courage, kindness, and the difference between right and wrong.

I’m a Jew. Like many American Jews, my family was shaped by the Holocaust. The lessons of “never forget” and The Poem were ever-present and profoundly simple. They leave no room for silence in the face of a crisis.

I’m a history teacher. I studied it, earned my certification, and taught before changing careers. History teaches what happens when opposition parties choose passivity in the face of authoritarianism. (It doesn’t end well.)

I’m a risk-taker. I left a stable career path to pursue a dream. In 2016, as tensions rose across the country, I entered a new field — sports analysis — because I believed in the power of sports to unite people around something fun. I hoped that by writing about sports, I could help individuals feel more connected.

I’m a millennial. I graduated into the worst job market in generations. I still live near my childhood home — but in a climate noticeably changing from the one in which I grew up. I’m old enough to remember when Columbine dominated the news for months, yet young enough to have still been in grad school when our leaders gave up on gun reform after Sandy Hook.

I know good policy can save lives. I am affected by a rare medical condition that led numerous hospitalizations before I stabilized in my mid-20s. Without protections contained in RomneyCare, and later in ObamaCare, I would not have been able to afford the medication that keeps me alive. I understand, firsthand, why healthcare access must be protected and expanded. I’ve experienced how government has the power to save lives.

I’m new to this. I’ve never run for office. Before this campaign, I’d focused my volunteer efforts at my kids’ school instead of politically. But our Democratic leaders are failing to rise to this moment. They called Donald Trump an existential threat, yet they’re falling back on the same strategies they used against past Republican administrations which they never described in such stark terms. If elected Democrats won’t take their own words seriously, they must be replaced by someone who will. The lessons from history are clear: we must fight, boldly, broadly, and now. As I tell my children, we must always do what’s right, even when it’s hard. And we must protect others, especially when bullies try to harm them.