Fired Up, Ready to Go
"still, like air, I rise."
-maya angelou
The night of the election I cried myself to sleep along with so many other Americans.
The following morning I was so paralyzed with fear that I could barely hold my toothbrush.
Months later, I have managed to brush my teeth, but I still can't wrap my head around the fact that millions of Americans chose to elect an unhinged, willfully ignorant narcissist with no government experience. I'm still sad, I'm still afraid, but I'm also very, very fired up.
I'm still sad that the America I thought I knew is gone, or never was — values I took for granted to be universal are not. I'm sad that 53% of white women felt they were doing the right thing when they voted for a man who once said "grab 'em by the pussy."
I'm still afraid of what is going to happen to this world at the hands of this man and a Republican-controlled congress bent on destroying progress. I'm afraid of the irreparable damage they could cause to our planet, our healthcare system, our Supreme Court and our country's foreign relations. I am afraid for everyone, even for those who voted for him because they believe he is someone he is not.
But in the wake of the largest collective protest in human history, there is solidarity, hope and fire in the bellies of millions of people.
If there was anything good to come out of this garbage heap it's that it woke so many of us up — those of us who have privilege, live in liberal bubbles and thought this could never ever happen. It did happen. The world shattered into a billion pieces, but we still have to live in it.
Even if it took you longer to get on board with calling yourself a feminist or if you never thought of yourself as an activist or if you didn't fully understand the Black Lives Matter movement until someone your friends grew up with was shot by the police in front of a four-year-old, you're here now. I hope you are, anyway.
Yesterday five million of us marched for social justice at the Women’s March. Today and all the days that follow, we make the calls, we volunteer, we raise money and we do the work until the work is done.
I'd like to bottle up yesterday and keep it in my pocket for the long resistance to come, because there is so much to be done. Our new president and our congress are waging war against their own citizens.
If you're not sure where to start the work, the Women's March launched a 10 Actions / 100 Days initiative to help make sure that the outpouring of love and support on January 21 doesn't stop with pink hats and clever signs. Sign up here.