Valentines and Chess Moves

Working through the final weeks of this election

Illustrations courtesy of the author

I vehemently criticized Donald Trump’s candidacy back in 2016 — in private.

In public, I did nothing to protest him or support his opponent. His corruption, incompetence, and cruelty seemed so obvious, I naively assumed that the vast majority of my compatriots saw through him, too.

“We urge you to vote for Joe Biden, who is offering fact-based plans to protect our health, our economy and the environment.” — the editors of Scientific American

Eventually I published an articulation of my stance, but not until the eve of the election, at which point I doubt there were any undecided voters left to reach. Writing that essay wasn’t so much an effort to campaign as to preserve a snapshot of the moment, one I never expected to look back on with remorse: If only I’d spoken up sooner… if only I’d done something, anything, to help prevent this travesty…

Like many (distracted liberal white woman) Americans, I was stunned when Trump racked up an electoral college win.

The prospect that he would actually take office galvanized me, at long last, to get involved. I started signing petitions, volunteering for causes, donating to activist organizations, and showing up at rallies: Medicare For All, Black Lives Matter, and of…