When in the course of human events it becomes necessary to cross borders of political, social, linguistic, cultural, economic, and technological construction, we will cross them. Long before there were borders, there were crossers. We are the proud sons and daughters of those crossers, and we maintain that crossing is a fundamental human right. Moreover, we maintain that is right is inalienable.
We reject the artificial borders of the body and mind and spirit. For every trans-human, trans-gressor, trans-vestite, and transcendant living in the crossroads of culture, it is now time to cross.
We live in an age when drums of toxic waste has more right to cross than a human being. Whenever and wherever this is the case, we shall cross.
Our crossing will be a signal for other crossers that now is the time to cross. We'll do so at the crossings, but wherever we cross will become a crossing by the very act of our crossing. Before doing so, we will look both ways. Then, with the positive human spirit, we will cross.
We will cross with other manifestos. These include, but are not limited to, the Prague Manifesto for Esperanto; the Russel-Einstein Manifesto against nuclear war; the song "Manifesto" by Roxy Music; the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights; the Delano Plan, the Spiritual Plan of Aztlán; or any other plans, declarations, or manifestos which spark, incite, or motivate the act of crossing.
When the border expands, we will contract. And when the border contracts, we will expand. And whenever it's time to cross, we will do so automatically.
Where there are tired, huddled masses, anxious to breathe free, we will cross.
Where there is a cop somebody up, we will cross.
Like Martin Luther King wrote from the confines of his cell in Birmingham, steeped in injustice: "We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny."
Wearing this patch is a declaration that our clothing counts as part of the "single garment of destiny" that Dr. King spoke of.
And as long as the sun and moon keep shining on the smiling ranks of free beings, we shall continue crossing.