The Election

One morning I heard someone say it had been two and a half weeks since the election. I was a little stunned. It couldn’t possibly be only two and a half weeks…. I started the day waiting in line for an hour to vote for 32 different items (perhaps a record ballot in CA), which I had spent countless hours researching in order to make the best possible choices in governance for our community and state. At work, I streamed the live coverage of countless folks visiting the grave site of Susan B. Anthony in Rochester, NY. It was hard to concentrate on much of anything other than the election that day. On the west coast, most results didn’t start coming in until 3 pm. I, like millions of others, went home that evening to watch and celebrate what we thought was going to be a truly pivotal moment in feminist history.

The next day was a quiet and somber mix of shock and gut-wrenching disbelief. Protests followed. Frustration, concern, and confusion were unpacked at community forums focused on a spectrum of topics – DACA students’ uncertain future, the insecure state of LGBT civil rights, the threatened lapse in healthcare coverage, the ever-fragile state of autonomy in women’s health, and the despicable discussion of registries and deportations. So when someone said it had only been a couple of weeks, it was hard to believe.

Post Election

Since that night, I’ve attended several post election discussions in the community and had conversations with family and friends around dinner tables. There is a resounding, palpable sense of anxiety about what the future holds.

Could the hate and harmful rhetoric that was carelessly spewed on the campaign trail now actually become our reality??? It was indeed a fiercely sobering thought for many with whom I spoke.

Some tried to console themselves into thinking sleazy campaign tactics could somehow transform into presidential posture post election. But unfiltered twitter rants and a series of ridiculously uncompromising choices for administration positions quickly confirmed the tone would not change; in fact, it could be worse than we’d imagined.

2017: The Year of Hope and Engagement

I believe there is so much more to process and untangle the complicated layers of who voted how… economics, education, race, gender, the psychological manipulations of the human brain – it goes deep.

But even as we continue to work through those issues to understand how and why it all played out as it did, I want to begin the new year in HOPE; hope and conviction that small individual contributions of good each and every day will prevail.

I declare this the year hope and engagement. We carry a bounty of goodness that can be channeled in infinite directions and combinations. We must hold on to the progress made in recent years, for the dreamer in all of us, and especially for those whose voice and access is limited or nonexistent.

I heard Gloria Steinem speak after the election in a calm, wise, experienced and hopeful way about the future. In an interview with KPCC’s Take Two she said,

“I think clearly we need to look laterally at each other and not up at the White House. When we look up we feel isolated. When we look at each other… we realize that we are the majority…. we realize we have a lot of people power and there is a lot we can do.” She went on to say, “I’ve learned that to agonize and think only about the future is to give up a chance to influence the future by what you’re doing right now.”

In preparation for the Women’s March this weekend, I am reading Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s We Should All Be Feminists, prepping poster board signs, and thinking about how I will positively engage this year.

What will you be working on this year? How will you engage and contribute positively to the world we find ourselves in this year? Share your ideas with us!