We are twenty-two days into a Drumpf Presidency, and I, like many of you, am exhausted. I’m exhausted waking up everyday to news of more of Drumpf’s executive orders, from the global gag order to the Muslim travel ban. I’m tired of reading of people’s voices being silenced while the words of an ignorant, fascist asshole are listened to simply due to the fact that he is President. And the truth is, I’m scared. I’m scared for women, for people of color, for people still being detained at the borders, for members of the LGBTQ community, for the disabled, for children, and not only in the United States, but in the world. Drumpf being elected makes it clear that he is not the only one who endorses fascist views, views that cannot co-exist with a safe and happy community for us all.
And you know what? That is exactly what they want. They want us to be tired, they want us to be scared, and overwhelmed and overcome. They want to exhaust us to the point of numbness, to the point of acceptance, of normalization, the point of no resistance. And that is exactly what we must fight against.
It’s okay to be tired. It’s okay to be scared, to shut yourself off from social media sometimes when things get too hard, to try to lose yourself in things that make you happy for a while. But that cannot be all that we are. The thing about being brave is doing what you know is right even when it’s hard, even when you’re scared. And this is the time to be brave.
Be scared, but raise your voice. Be scared, but find a way to reach out a way to help. Be scared, but learn – sort out lies from truth and truth from lies. Be scared, but stand up. This is the only one we can fight to protect each other in a world where all are rights, our love, our humanity, is at stake.
I’ll leave you with these words from Gandalf: “So do I, and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with time that is given us.”
Be scared, but persist. Resist.