Fall In Your Ways

“So you can wake up and rise.” 

My head is just a jumble of thoughts right now.  Everything is just going rapid fire through my synapses and it’s hard for me to process what is even going on right now.

This goes beyond who voted for who, this goes beyond whose fault it is that the country has come to what it has.  I stand by my previous post: if you voted, no matter who you voted for, I respect your vote.  I respect the fact you partook in the democratic system.  This system breaks if people don’t vote.  And, I think we can all agree that given how close this election was, everyone’s vote mattered.

It all comes down to one thing: my country, the only country that I know and love, has voted in a racist, misogynistic, xenophobic, Islamophobic, homophobic pathetic excuse for a man as the 45th President of the United States.

For anyone who thinks that I am harsh and judgmental, I am.

I am NOT sorry that I cannot support him.

He has berated and belittled populations of people that are already disparaged in American society.  He has disrespected people who identify with the gender I identify with.  He has disrespected immigrants, who I see first hand as some of the most hard working people in this country; people who NEVER take what they have for granted.  He has disrespected people who do not belong in the same racial group that he belongs to.  He has disrespected the PEACEFUL people of a religion because of a group of radicals who do NOT represent the religion in the slightest.  He disrespected people who simply choose to love people of the same gender.  And, worst of all, he has never held elected office or even served our country.  How can people think that someone who has never done anything to support our government can be the LEADER OF THE FREE WORLD?!

I am NOT sorry that I cannot support him.

But what boggles my mind the most is not his views; there are plenty of ignorant people in the world that truly do believe in what he believes (or at least says).  It’s the matter of how many people constitute that plenty.  I do realize that in the end, Hillary Clinton does carry the popular vote (will be discussed shortly), but the fact that she (currently) carries a little more than 200,000 votes more than Trump speaks more than volumes.  It tells me that almost 60 million people (more if you count the people who cannot/did not vote) agree with the message that he conveys.  That almost 60 million people are racist, misogynistic, xenophobic, Islamophobic, and homophobic.  It does not surprise me as much as disappoint me that the majority of white men in this country voted for Trump.  It deeply, deeply saddens and disappoints me that 50% of white WOMEN turned out for Trump.

Why, ladies?  Why? What exactly do you see in Donald Trump?

Oh, and fuck the electoral college. The electoral college is an antiquated system of bullshit.  It stopped Al Gore from Presidency in 2000, and once again stops the presidency of Hillary Clinton.

And for those of the Hillary haters that said, “I voted Trump because Hillary is a crooked criminal, blah blah,” bullshit, realize that by voting/supporting Trump, you are supporting everything he has said to disparaged groups in this country.  A country that embraces the nickname of “melting pot.”  A country that prides itself on its diversity and interest in diversity.  People of color, immigrants, women, and LGBTQIA people make up a HUGE portion of this country, and contribute billions of dollars to the economy of this country, and for him to be able to say he does not respect these groups of people is reprehensible.

I am NOT sorry that I cannot support him.

This isn’t to say that Hillary Clinton doesn’t come with her flaws.  As I said in my previous post, none of the candidates of the election were anywhere near ideal.  Hillary Clinton is not a good person.  I can totally see that.  I see that she had her email scandal, I see that she was most responsible for the four deaths of Americans in Benghazi, I see that she does not support the oppressed people of Palestine and instead supports the hostile occupation of the lands of Palestine by Israel, I see that she stood by the side of her husband in the wake of the women accusing him of sexual assault and rape.  I don’t just see it all, I understand and comprehend it all.  Hillary Clinton is not a good woman.  And as a woman, it hurts me to have supported her and wanted her to win for the well-being of this country.

It comes down to moral triggers for me though.  I cannot support conservative candidates because of their pro-life stances and anti-LGBTQIA stances, which are my biggest moral triggers.  I will not and cannot ever support a person who holds these views.  The graphic way that Donald Trump described abortions by “ripping the baby out of the uterus” in the third debate (I believe) was abhorrent.  On top of this, he held all his other hideous stances, and I simply could NEVER back a candidate like him.

I am NOT sorry that I cannot support him.

As a pro-choice, pro-LGBTQIA, pro-religious freedom, pro-immigration  woman of color, who is also the daughter and niece of some of the most hard-working immigrants in this country, it not only hurts me that I will soon be calling Donald J. Trump my President, but that there are millions upon millions of people out there that support and agree with his stances and messages.  It scares me that there are so many people out there that hate me, and hate my fellow people of color, my fellow women, my fellow minorities in all aspects of life.  Even in the most liberal of states, California, it scares me.  My parents live in Colorado in a place that highly supports Trump, and their well-being scares me to pieces.

I am NOT sorry that I cannot support him.

“Make America Great Again.”  I urge all of the people out there to tell me, when was America great before?  I’ll tell you when people believe that it was great.  When working class white men had jobs and could still consider themselves to be above black people and other people of color.  That is when these white men and women believe America was “great.”  And I am not discounting the views of these working class men and women.  Their point of losing their jobs to people overseas is valid; what isn’t valid is that they believe that America was great when their people had jobs and millions of people of color and other disparaged groups were mistreated and disrespected by not just the white elites, but all classes of white people.  America wasn’t great then.  It was only great for you.  It was incredibly shitty for the rest of the people.  And people of color still feel the hate today.  The election of Donald Trump just solidified our beliefs.

I am NOT sorry that I cannot support him.

And to all the people out there that white supremacy doesn’t exist: here is your fucking example.  If any, and I mean, any, person of color had said or done any of the things that not just Donald Trump, but Hillary Clinton has done, they would have NEVER been in the race.  NEVER.  If a person of color said that they hate white people or called white people “criminals and rapists,” they would NEVER, EVER have become President of the United States.  This is so outrightly an example of the white supremacist power in this country, and it pains me to even think that people don’t see it.  There are so many times that Donald Trump could have used his white supremacy to uplift and help communities of color, and instead he puts us down.

I am NOT sorry that I cannot support him.

So, to all my brothers and sisters of color, to all my brothers and sisters that identify as LGBTQIA, to all my brothers and sisters that are immigrants or hail from immigrant families, to all my brothers and sisters that practice the beautiful religion we call Islam, and to all my beautiful sisters out there, I am here for you.  I care deeply for you.  I care deeply for your safety.  I love you.  Let us all band together and work to make a difference in the world.  If you need to talk, please please please, do not hesitate to reach out.

I am NOT sorry that I cannot support him.

You’ve Got Me Feeling Emotions

Deeper than I’ve ever dreamed of. 

Yesterday was the first day of the Democratic National Convention in my hometown of Philadelphia, and just as I did for the RNC, I watched the ending speech at home because I was in school when the whole thing started.

The first huge difference is that even from the beginning, the speakers at the DNC didn’t try to scare me shitless.  In fact, I’ve never felt so proud to be an American.  I felt together with the people, even though I’m 3000 miles away from the convention.  I felt unified.

And as much as I enjoyed Sen. Bernie Sanders’s speech, which I saw as a clear attempt to unify the party and bring his voters over to Hillary’s side, it wasn’t the best speech of the night.  Sure, it was the most important speech, but definitely not the best.

There were two speeches last night that stood out to me.  Two speeches that were so incredibly uplifting, with one actually making me tear up.  Two speeches filled with deep emotion.  These speeches were by Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey and First Lady Michelle Obama.

If we’re going to be totally honest here, I have never heard of Cory Booker before.  I’m from Philly, and most people from Philly don’t like New Jersey because it’s New Jersey. The only good things in New Jersey are the shore and Roy Rogers.  So, to no surprise, the person who is Sen. Cory Booker was someone who I didn’t know and didn’t really care to know.

But his speech yesterday changed my mind.

Booker’s speech was filled with hope, love, and unity.  His being was filled with so much passion for this speech, passion that I haven’t seen in years, and definitely didn’t see at the RNC.  He used Maya Angelou’s Still I Rise to create the line that brought his speech together: “America, we will rise.”  He called America a “nation of love,” but also went to call out Trump as a bully, saying, “America, at our best, we stand up to bullies.  And we fight those who seek to demean and degrade other Americans.  In times of crisis, we don’t abandon our values; we double down on them.”  He also says, “Cynicism is a refuge for cowards, and this nation is, and must always be, the home of the brave.”  My favorite part of Booker’s speech was right after he, along with many of the people in the crowd, recited the first verse of Still I Rise:

“Escaped slaves, knowing that liberty is not secure for some until it’s secure for all.  Sometimes hungry, often hunted in the dark woods and deep swamps, they looked up to the North Star and said with a determined whisper, ‘America, we will rise.'”

Booker’s speech was powerful and moving, and like many other people out there, I sure wouldn’t mind if I saw this man on the ballot in 2020.

I have never seen a bad speech by Michelle Obama.  She is simply an amazing speaker, and always speaks with so much heart and emotion.  But yesterday, Michelle’s speech moved me.  It literally moved me to tears.

The First Lady’s speech was not focused on policies like many of the other politicians’ speeches were.  Her speech was focused on our future, and the children who will be our future.  Her speech focused more so on Hillary Clinton’s character than her policies, a much needed view given that Clinton’s character is something so highly in question.  Her speech was uplifting, and she mentioned the bully of Donald Trump without even mentioning his name.  She says of bullies, “When they go low, we go high,” and goes on to say later, “[I want] someone who understands the issues a President faces are not black and white, and cannot be boiled down to 140 characters.”  She unified and uplifted people, stressed that America is stronger together, and to care and love for one another, and to set a good example for the children.

I have never cried during any type of election speech before.  But the line that brought me to tears went as follows:

“The stories of generations of people who felt the lash of bondage, the shame of servitude, the sting of segregation, but who kept on striving and hoping and doing what needed to be done so that today, I wake up every morning in a house that was built by slaves, and I watch my daughters, two beautiful intelligent black young women, playing with their dogs on the White House lawn.”

Even typing this quote brings about a whole slew of emotions.  This quote is so incredibly powerful, so incredibly uplifting, and tells everyone that no matter who you are and where you come from, you can achieve great success.  If you work hard and don’t let anyone get in your head, you can succeed.  And this is what I took away from Michelle Obama’s speech, which was the best speech I have ever seen at any National Convention.

This election is the first election in which I had a hard time choosing the candidate that I support.  My family has always been largely interested in politics, and even in 2000, at the age of 6, I was taught about the political system and the very basic differences of the two major parties of the system, and supported Al Gore.  Since then, I have always been able to side with a candidate, and in 2012, my first voting election, I easily sided with the incumbent because I supported him so much in 2008, the first election that truly moved me.  I didn’t vote in the CA primaries unfortunately, because I never got my mail in ballot got mailed to my old address and I was in Philadelphia at the time of the primary.  But, even at the time of the primaries, I was torn between the Bernie and Hillary.  I do believe that Hillary probably should be in jail, but I didn’t agree with all of Bernie’s policies, as with Hillary as well.  I look back now and know that I probably would have voted for Bernie, but it doesn’t matter anymore.

We are not in a democratic society where the third party is a viable option.  In this day and age, voting for a third party candidate is like voting for the party that you oppose.  I have hope that voting for Hillary is like voting for a third term Obama (can we overlook the 22nd Amendment just for this election?), and I generally agree with a lot of her policies. And it would be incredibly powerful that a woman could be our President, even if it is a looney like Hillary.

But we need to vote.  In this election, it is SO important.