The Hip Hop Nutcracker is brought to life by a powerhouse cast of a dozen all-star dancers, a DJ, a violinist and MC Kurtis Blow, one of hip hop’s founding fathers, who opens the show with a short set.

This year’s tour includes Ryan Nebreja, who plays The Nutcracker. With a background in acting and breakdancing, being part of this show was the perfect opportunity for him.

“It encapsulates [the] love and joy that I have [had] the privilege to spread throughout the nation,” he said.

Nebreja relishes in the moments when he can really get a good view of the audience’s reactions. It is challenging to incorporate solo dances, choreography and acting seamlessly and in a way that propels the story. When the audience watches that come to life, there is no better feeling.

“I find hearing the reaction and seeing the audience’s smile on their faces have been the most rewarding,” he said. “I want them to take away the holiday spirit and the message of hip hop that Kurtis Blow mentions in the beginning of the show, especially the idea that two worlds that come from different sides of the world could come together and create something beautiful.”

The Hip Hop Nutcracker tour dates can be found here.

Despite this deluge of truth about our deeply flawed system, I beg you to meet this moment and vote.

Harris and Walz haven’t done half as much as they would need to earn my endorsement, but we at least know where they come from. They’re not going to be the revolutionary champions that working families deserve, but at least they come from working families. We have the opportunity to vote for a middle class prosecutor and a school teacher. Their opponents are an openly fascist trust fund billionaire and a power-hungry sycophant bankrolled (and formerly employed) by venture capitalist Peter Thiel.

The term fascist shouldn’t be used lightly. I was recently reminded of its definition by John Kelly, Trump’s longest serving Chief of Staff and a retired Marine Corps General. He said, “Well looking at the definition of fascism…” then defines it, and concludes, “The former President is in the far right area. He’s certainly an authoritarian, admires people who are dictators…”

Another former Army General was covered last month in the Washington Post: “Mark Milley, the country’s top military official during the last two years of Mr. Trump’s presidency, privately told the journalist Bob Woodward that Mr. Trump is a “fascist to the core” and said his pursuit of another four years in office makes him “the most dangerous person to this country,” Mr. Trump…has called General Milley a “loser” and worse, and has suggested that the decorated military officer should be executed for treason because of efforts to ease concerns among foreign leaders after the Jan. 6 assault on the Capitol by Mr. Trump’s supporters.

We cannot let fascism thrive in our government. It’s important to recognize that Trump has been denounced by the most senior members of his own administration, including his Vice President Mike Pence, multiple Secretaries of Defense and a long list of lifelong Republicans who watched him do the job day to day. The previous Republican ticket of George W. Bush and Dick Cheney have declined to endorse Trump and fully endorsed Harris respectively. That’s got to count for something as it’s completely without precedent in American politics.

To vote for Donald Trump is to ignore years of actions that have disqualified him as a legitimate American representative. This person represents the antithesis of American ideals, from democracy as a concept to the tenants of the constitution itself.

He continues to make false claims about voter fraud and claimed he won the election he lost despite never once providing a shred of evidence in dozens of court cases or media appearances. He incited an insurrection on Jan. 6 and had no regard for the safety of his own Vice President, let alone Capitol Police or Congress. Under threat of prosecution, he demanded officials in Georgia “find, uh, 11,780 votes, which is one more than we have, because we won the state.”

The list goes on, and it is painful to relive knowing that none of this has been a red line crossed for tens of millions of our fellow citizens. How have we gotten here?

I wish my vote mattered as much as yours, my siblings in the swing states, but under our current nonsensical and corrupt system it just doesn’t. The 2016 election was decided by less than 78,000 votes across Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin. The third parties had more than enough votes to close that gap, and I’m afraid that voters who reject the two major parties might give it away to Trump again. If we had ranked choice voting at the federal level, then we might be able to break this unjust two party duopoly, but this is the hell we’re living through right now.

Those who seek to divide us from our families and our neighbors do so because it’s in their best interest to keep us fighting among ourselves. They know that once the working class unites against the ruling class, we will be unstoppable to dismantle their systems of brutality. They tell us that immigrants, the press and those with opposing views are enemies. They lie about easily verifiable truths and implore us to believe their “alternative facts”. All the while, they’re robbing us blind, squeezing us for every cent, every moment of attention where they can serve us another advertisement.

Regardless of who wins the presidency, we the people deserve meaningful reform to our electoral process and our system of government as a whole. If for the third time in a generation the popular vote is nullified by the electoral college, might that be the spark that lights the flame? Please keep that in mind when you vote in a state where “your vote doesn’t matter” because it just might.

We must unite across the political spectrum and come together to deliver for the working class and act where we align. But it matters who we rise up against. If we’re living under a fascist authoritarian who aims to turn our military against our own citizens, we are doomed. Use your righteous anger to help create positive change.

Please, vote for Harris today. Tomorrow, we can get back to doing the real work. We must unite against the climate crisis and keep our planet habitable. We must unite to bring healthcare as a human right to all and stop the needless suffering of our siblings. We must unite to reform our corrupt government and make it work for us all. We must unite these divided states to make a more perfect union for the working class. We can and we will be, out of many, one.

Thomas Whidden is an activist, Teamster and the drummer/vocalist for LOCATIONS.