Being a child of the 80s, the movie The Day After was a part of my subconsciousness, and I can’t help but feel like November 9th is the moments after the bombs were dropped on Kansas City and the fires stopped. The quiet. The “okay, what the heck is next” moment, and not really having any cognizant answer.
I woke up this morning, after a fitful sleep with the same feelings of anxiety and dread that I had in the days after 9/11 — scared, angry, unable to look away from every pundit discussing, digesting the how and why (even though the rational side of me knows I should shut off the media), but still managing to function and continue my life — this mix of fear and resolve, both fighting side by side, each trying to figure out who will win.
I couldn’t sleep last night, and I bet you didn’t either. And I was angry.
Like me, I bet you have family and friends that voted for this “man” (I use the quotes because he is the farthest thing from a man I have ever seen), some that are outwardly celebrating on social media an election of a sexist, racist man (read, click, unfriend — I have done that a lot over the course of this election), others that are people you respect and trust that you now find it very hard to look in the eye, now and for a long time thereafter. To those people: I don’t care why you did it — whether you actually like the man, whether you just voted party because that is what you do, because you thought it would be a neat idea — let me be clear: I don’t care, and don’t try to justify it to me. I just hope that when you meet your Maker, you have a good way to justify this decision to your Maker — because this is going to be a tough one, and if the Maker that is up there is the one that raised me to love thy neighbor, you’re going to have a long road to travel.
But I am also rational, so I can’t be angry for too long without concrete cause and action. It’s not healthy — years of therapy taught me that. So I need to start unpacking some ideas that I had last night (insomnia yay!) and what to do next. (Finally putting that political science degree to work, though I will caution I am by no means an expert.)
Treasure the small victories we have. I’m proud that my CT senators, both federal and state, are returning to office. I’m proud that Connecticut elected Dr. William Petit, as I think he can prove to cross party lines and be a strong advocate for continued gun control in the state (we have some of the strongest restrictions in the nation) that can be a model for bipartisanship on gun control on the federal level. (Don’t know who he is? This ought to tell you.) I’m proud that my state of birth (NJ), the state I work in (NY), and the state I now live (CT), opted for Hillary over Trump — and she won the popular vote. I’m proud that we elected great people like Tammy Duckworth, Kamala Harris (who I keep calling Senator Ms. Marvel — oh the geek in me!), and Ilhan Omar. On the state and local level, we have voices in our halls that are diverse and will answer to groups that are marginalized (and that is so needed in a Trump presidency) and will keep rising tides of arrogance in check, and places that I think/hope are too strong to fall to the white supremacist ideology. Change is starting here, I can feel it.
Parts of our governmental system are seriously broken. We now have a president-elect who won without the actual, direct vote of the people. The fact that this has happened five times in our history is cause to start looking closely and critically at how this works and figure out if it is in the best interests of our nation. The electoral vote should not beat out the vote of the people.
This election was a referendum on critical thinking, and that referendum failed. We are going to need our libraries more than ever as a tool to fight back the smoke and mirrors. We are going to need brave librarians to go to places that show closed-mindedness with information as their tool, at the risk of their jobs or (dare I say it) their lives. I started small today by gifting five of my friends (and my sister) a subscription to Ms. Magazine. (I chose feminism since that has been the cause closes to my heart.) If you have a publication you read that you think can help combat what is slowing becoming a war on critical thinking, gift it to five friends. Pay the information forward.
There is a large demographic of America we don’t understand and it’s high time we started understanding them. A narrative I heard throughout the campaign was the big gulf between urban and rural — the city mouse versus the country mouse. There are a lot of people out there that the Gospel of Trump meant something, and rather than write them off as hicks, hillbillies, etc. it’s high time we understand them. The book Hillbilly Elegy is a great start. Once we understand the sociology and psychology behind working white class, we can start looking at the liberal policy message and tailoring it better.
Our current President and First Lady are staying in Washington for a little while longer after they leave office. While this was a move for his daughter, this is an opportunity for him and Michelle to channel the respect they still have with the American people and the Democratic Party in productive ways, both in and outside the political establishment. It would be foolish not to take it.
White Feminists — we gotta step it up. Now this angers me: 63% of white women voted for Trump. These are women that have bought into the patriarchy, the idea that it is okay for a world leader to say he would date his daughter or grab women by the you-know-what. This is a time that those of us who know these issues well enough to speak cogently on them need to start educating our sisters about feminism and intersectionality, and the importance of equal rights for them and for everyone. African Americans and other minority groups brought it home for Hillary, and we clearly did not do our part. It’s time for a third wave of feminism that is loud, and embraces intersectionality fiercely in a way that all white women understand, comprehend, and deliver to others. President-elect Trump is on us. Let’s deliver and deliver HARD.
And let’s start being nicer to the millennials too. If you look at this map, this is how 18–25 age group voted. (Clarification: would have voted if they were the only ones to vote in this election.)
If what happened last night is a last gasp of a dying ideology, boy, it is one heck of a way to go, but when I look at that map, maybe things will be okay. I’m guilty of being the Gen-Xer that pooh-poohed all the Millennials. That stops. They understand where our future needs to go and I will listen to them.
That which does not kill makes us stronger. Cliched and true. I watched my social media go from despair and anger to resolve over the course of the morning— we grieve, we mourn, but then we double down. We fight. We resist. I’m seeing #notmypresident trending on Twitter — let’s keep it going, but let’s do it with class, dignity, and the weapon of information. No more has it ever been a time to go high, higher than ever before. I sense this horrible news has awakened a sleeping giant — from those of us that have been longtime activists in the rights of others to those that are angry over what happened but need to know where to start. We need to back up our anger with action, and work even harder for our marginalized people — our mentally disabled friends, our LGBT friends, our trans friends, our Muslim friends, our African-American friends, our Hispanic friends, especially in those places where their mere presence is a safety risk (again, outside the liberal blue bubble). They are going to need us and we cannot leave them behind. Read, listen, donate, volunteer, march, speak, speak, speak, and fight, fight, fight.
I’m going to try and go forth to function today. It’s not going to be easy. But I will try. One day at a time. And with the faith we will turn this around.
