Rise

My Beautiful Humans,

I’ve waited to post a response to this election because I wanted to give myself time to grieve, time to think, and time to formulate a response that I feel would do good in an era of uncertainty and disbelief.

I have decoded the election multiple times in my head. I have pondered the results over and over. I have read numerous articles with views ranging from “accept what has happened and move on” to “start a revolution.” And for a long time, I, like many others, experienced all the levels associated with grief. I cried. And I’m not a huge crier. I sat on my bed and I heaved and sobbed. The next day was a somber one that never seemed to end. I had responsibilities for the day that I could not ignore. I had work, I had class, and I had to put on a presentation with my coworkers. I could not distance myself enough to truly take in the reality of my future without someone interrupting me with their own thoughts and feelings about what I should do or needed to do in that moment. I was trying to grieve, but in a way, I could not find enough time to do so on my own.

I was fortunate enough to share the election night anxiety with a group of people that I felt safe with, and the next day, when they were no longer right by my side, we were still regularly communicating our thoughts, feelings, and concerns in a way that made me feel that in no way is this over. I was angry. Actually, I’m still angry. What angers me most is not the results of the election, but the reason why the election turned out that way. We have a president elect that won on a platform of hate. He spewed hate messages and marginalized numerous groups of people and 59 million people either agreed with that message, or didn’t care enough about his words and voted for him anyway. 59 million people voted for a hateful candidate.  

How then, can we as Americans, claim that racism doesn’t exist solely based on the reason that we elected a black president. If anything, this election has made a lot of previously ignorant people realize that there is a lot of hate that we still have to confront before we can make serious change. There is still a lot of work to do. And we cannot stop. If you are grieving, please grieve. If you are angry, please be angry. And when you are ready to fight, let me know. I refuse to accept this as my fate.

It’s hard for me to completely write him off, because, in the end, he is there. We can’t change that part, but we can change our communities. We can foster love and hope around us. We can continue to provide help to those who need it, even if our government takes that way. We can stand in solidarity with our fellow humans in their fight for rights. We can keep moving forward even if it seems as if our government is moving backwards. So I do not wish the worse on the president elect, because as President Obama said: “when you succeed, the country succeeds”. I wish him the best in his position. I am still afraid for what might happen, but not in the face of hope. My hope is what keeps me going, but it is not all that we have to hold onto. We must continue to act.

The reason we got into this mess is because too many people were concerned with themselves and only themselves. This idea of extreme individualism is an ideology that Americans hold dear to their heart, however I feel it may be doing us more harm than good. If you do not think about those around you, you’re vote only counts for you. It does not count for your neighbor. It does not count for your friends. It does not count for your children. It selfishly only counts for you. If you chose to vote for a racist, sexist, bigoted president, it meant you had nothing to really loose. So take this election as a lesson, vote for what is best for the country, for the people in need, for the people who may not have a voice, not just yourself.

I understand that it is hard to look at this election and not feel broken, helpless, and generally upset; I am a part of more than one of the groups he marginalizes. But do not let that distract from the fact that we have to fight for each other, and we have to fight together. Right now, our country cannot take more division. Do not get me confused, however, with thinking that I believe we should just put our differences aside and “play nice”. We do not have to cater to a president that has bullied and marginalized us for months on end. We do not have to let him trod on us with his party’s ideals and then turn around and say “oh, it’s okay, we’ll work together.” But what we do have to do is say “I love you” to the ones around us. We do have to wake up every single day ready to fight. We do have to refuse to let hate run our country. This is our country you know. And you should also know, that despite the results, I still believe that there is more love here than hate. It may not seem like it now, but look for it. I see my love every time I speak with a person that inspires me. Your love can be in a person, in a place, in a song, in a book. It can be wherever you feel the safest. Find your love, and never let it go.

Listen to this song. Let the lyrics speak to you.