As a woman, as a mother, and as a human being, I am so sad. This is hard. I don’t think I have ever felt so much despair towards our state of being and our society. And, although we cannot control others and our society as a whole, we can control our mindset and all we do.
I am not in denial about what happened on election night, or what lies ahead, but in the spirit of Martin Luther King’s quote, “Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.” and the African Proverb, we live and work by around here, “If you think you’re too small to make a difference, try sleeping in a room with a mosquito”, I want to share a few posts and words that I came across online today that I found helpful and positive in light of the darkness that so many of us feel. Let’s dig deep. Let’s focus on the good. Let’s choose to be good, to do good and to lead by example for our kids and for each other.
“As someone working on behalf of human rights, animal protection, and environmental preservation, and dedicated to building a more just, peaceful, and sustainable world through education, today I face a country and world with even greater hurdles to overcome. This means that there is all the more reason to dedicate myself to preparing people, young and old alike, to be solutionaries, able to address the systemic challenges we face and solve them with widsom and compassion. As president of the Institute for Humane Education I vow to redouble my efforts and work to ensure that we all have the open hearts, the good minds, the necessary skills, and the fierce will to make this world better. As Joan Baez said, “Action is the antidote to despair.” If you are feeling despair today, please redouble your efforts as well. The world needs you.”
We interviewed Zoe on our Unblog here.
“I have been awake all night thinking about my job and the company I have had the honor to be a part of building. With Link Crew & WEB by the Boomerang Project, Carolyn Hill and I have spent the last 17 years of our lives believing we were making a difference, thinking our work was important and that it impacted the world in a positive way. I was thinking about how amazing it’s been to have a front row seat to all the good that is happening out there.
And then I cried, trying to process the fact that as a country, we just voted into office the embodiment of the polar opposite of our life’s work. I started to wonder, “What the hell is the point?”
Then I realized, THIS MOMENT IS THE POINT.
People, it’s time to double down.
Whatever it is you believed before yesterday, keep believing it.
Whatever hope you had before yesterday, don’t abandon it. Whatever love you had to give yesterday, keep giving it.
Whatever kindness you shared yesterday, keep sharing it.
Whatever you were working hard for yesterday, keep working for it.
Whatever good you saw in the world yesterday, keep seeing it.
Whatever faith you had in our country yesterday, HAVE IT TODAY.
And tomorrow and the day after that and the day after that…
It is the only thing we can do.
And, more importantly, it is the thing we MUST do.
One thing I know is this:
No matter what, the road ahead is going to be long and undoubtedly ugly. So, we might as well boldly travel down that road fueled with the passion to fight for and believe in good, rather than let ourselves be dragged down it full of anger, bitterness, resentment and despair.
The more of us who do this, the better chance we have to help shape a country we can be proud of again. What’s necessary right now is to not give up.
Don’t get me wrong, to say I am devastated is an understatement. But, I WILL NOT QUIT. Don’t you either.”
We interviewed Mary Beth on our Unblog here.
Rabbi Yael Splansky:
“What do we do when there is an unexpected, terrifying loss? We sit shiva. We take some time to come together, comfort one another, reflect, remember, and then we get up. We walk a circle and begin to plan how to carry on. One foot in front of another. Until confusion and fear give way to clarity and courage.”
“Morning After To-Do List:
- Take over the Democratic Party and return it to the people. They have failed us miserably.
- Fire all pundits, predictors, pollsters and anyone else in the media who had a narrative they wouldn’t let go of and refused to listen to or acknowledge what was really going on. Those same bloviators will now tell us we must “heal the divide” and “come together.” They will pull more hooey like that out of their ass in the days to come. Turn them off.
- Any Democratic member of Congress who didn’t wake up this morning ready to fight, resist and obstruct in the way Republicans did against President Obama every day for eight full years must step out of the way and let those of us who know the score lead the way in stopping the meanness and the madness that’s about to begin.
- Everyone must stop saying they are “stunned” and “shocked”. What you mean to say is that you were in a bubble and weren’t paying attention to your fellow Americans and their despair. YEARS of being neglected by both parties, the anger and the need for revenge against the system only grew. Along came a TV star they liked whose plan was to destroy both parties and tell them all “You’re fired!” Trump’s victory is no surprise. He was never a joke. Treating him as one only strengthened him. He is both a creature and a creation of the media and the media will never own that.
- You must say this sentence to everyone you meet today: “HILLARY CLINTON WON THE POPULAR VOTE!” The MAJORITY of our fellow Americans preferred Hillary Clinton over Donald Trump. Period. Fact. If you woke up this morning thinking you live in an effed-up country, you don’t. The majority of your fellow Americans wanted Hillary, not Trump. The only reason he’s president is because of an arcane, insane 18th-century idea called the Electoral College. Until we change that, we’ll continue to have presidents we didn’t elect and didn’t want. You live in a country where a majority of its citizens have said they believe there’s climate change, they believe women should be paid the same as men, they want a debt-free college education, they don’t want us invading countries, they want a raise in the minimum wage and they want a single-payer true universal health care system. None of that has changed. We live in a country where the majority agree with the “liberal” position. We just lack the liberal leadership to make that happen (see: #1 above).
Let’s try to get this all done by noon today.”
“Momentous challenges lie ahead to heal the divide and reinvigorate the belief and faith in the political system. This election has undoubtedly caused lasting damage, both to America’s collective psyche and to the political will of its leaders to collaborate. But there is much to be done: to protect democratic processes, to stand up to intolerance, and to support each other in these challenging times. After all, it is not up to one man to shape the world we live in – it is up to all of us.”
