The purpose of this chapter is to bear witness to “academia’s heightened horrors” (Rubio et al., Int J Crit Pedagogy 12(2):111–131, 2022) we are experiencing as American academics practicing in Texas. We also discuss how hard-fought civil rights and best practices based on peer reviewed research face existential threats, leading to the dismantlement of “smooth space” and surging retrenchment of time-worn “striations” in educational spaces (Mansfield 2014). This testimony is more than just a documentary of dates and facts. To be sure, it is a form of remembrance; but, for us, it is about so much more than just “an academic exercise” (Welton and Mansfield, Educ Stud 56(6):619–635, 2020). Indeed, like so many others contributing to this handbook, we ground this work in love and in the urgency of the present moment. We wish to speak while we still can. As educators of teachers and educational leaders committed to social justice and equity, we—and so many others—are experiencing moral injury (Jameton, Nursing practice, the ethical issues. Prentice-Hall, 1984), facing ethical dilemmas between countering political dogma, resisting institutional constraints, and saying and doing what we know to be truthful, ethical, and best for students. The stress and anxiety, the impact on our bodies, the guilt we feel for not doing more weighs heavily upon us. Not only are we navigating these rapid changes within the institutions we practice, but we are also working to help our students understand and navigate these dilemmas within their own public-school and higher education campuses as emerging scholars. Regardless of how committed to gaslighting authoritarians around the world are, we know the truth. What is happening is real. We see what they are doing. And people across the globe are bearing witness. We do not know what comes next, but we do know that we cannot bear to choose silence—and we understand how much we need community—especially now.