Tag: imwithher

Why I’m Still 110% With Her

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I watched the election since 9 pm last night until I went to my 9 am tutorial this morning.  I slept less than five minutes.

This morning was one of those moments when the world just stopped and slowed.  It took me a few minutes to process what had happened. America you threw a nasty punch this morning, it knocked a lot of us down. I know it knocked me down.  I physically couldn’t breath.  I couldn’t comprehend what had happened.

I was confused and lost and scared.  I panicked.  I sobbed.  It was awful.  I felt like my country didn’t care about me at all.

But, I had class at 9 am. Drying my eyes, I grabbed my backpack and walked to class.  The election knocked me down, but I refused to prevent it from keeping me from getting back up.

We have to remember Hillary’s ideas didn’t die with this election.

We’ve got to get up and keep fighting for change. We might have been defeated here but we only fail if we give up. Failure is what happens when you stop trying.  Defeat is just a growing pain of progress.

We can’t stay down.  You can cry.  I cried.  But, complaining and blaming won’t do a thing now.  We’ve got to get back up and study harder and work harder.  We have to remember what Hillary stands for, what Bernie stands for, what Obama stands.  The only way things will ever change is if we keep talking, keep writing, keep loud.  We have to move on from this election with elegance and with poise.  Most of all, we have to move on from this election with hope.

I’m upset.  But, I’m not going to let those emotions turn into despair and sadness.  I’m going to turn it into motivation, because I know this isn’t over.  I’m going to get the best education I can.  I got my first essay back for the year and I got a 75 mark on it.  That’s solidly in the First category.  I was pretty proud but I know I can’t let up now.  I’m going to keep writing this stupid blog in case it makes even a sliver of a difference.  I’m not going to lose hope for the America I know.

I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again: this isn’t the America I know.  It is not the America I am going to represent.  I stand for a tolerant, inclusive America – not a country fueled by fear.

We have to remember Hillary’s ideas didn’t die with this election.  

It is our job to keep them alive. 

Just to offer a little hope yesterday:

  • Catherine Cortez Masto (Nevada) became the first Latina US Senator.
  • Kate Brown (Oregon) became the first LGBT Governor ever.
  • Ilhan Omar (Minnesota) became our first Somalian-American Muslim woman legislator.
  • Kamala Harris (California) became our first female African-American senator since 1999.

The next four years are going to be rough.  But we have two options: we can hide or we stand proudly in the streets in solidarity with our fellow Americans. We must refuse to cower in the face of hatred and bigotry.  As Michelle Obama said, ‘When they go low, we go high.’  We have to stand together and show the world that we are not a people ruled by hatred.

Watching Hillary’s concession speech showed me that while she might not be our next president, you can be damn well sure she’s going to continue to fight for us.  She hasn’t lost hope.  I haven’t either.

So today after having one of the worst panic attacks I’ve ever had, I went to my 9 am.  I grabbed a coffee and worked on an essay.  I went to my 11 am archaeology lecture.  I grabbed an afternoon pint with some friends.  Then I went home and slept for six hours.  I was tired.  I was upset.  I got knocked down, but you can be damn sure that I’m getting back up.

I remember looking at a poster at my Junior High School when I was about 13. It had all the presidents on it and I remember thinking about how one day we’d finally have a women up there. It didn’t happen this year, but Hillary’s ideas didn’t die with this election.

I am beyond saddened by the result, but I know that we need to keep moving forward. We can allow this to knock us down, but we cannot allow this outcome to keep us from getting back up. We cannot dwell in our sadness and regret. We have to channel those emotions into creating the America I know we can be. We have to keep fighting for tolerance and equality.

So, yeah, I’m still with her.

 

 

Why I’m 110% With Her

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Hello again! It’s me, your friendly neighborhood expat here to talk to you about the US Presidential Elections… which is today.

I’ve thought a lot about how to write this post, because undoubtedly getting political gets people upset… but I realized that I couldn’t stay silent. I also realized I didn’t want to.

I’m not going to pretend I know everything about politics, because I don’t.  I am writing from one view in this post: the America I know we are and the America I know we can be.

I am 19. This is my first election. I was so proud to be able to vote for Hillary.  In a lot of ways she started out just like me: a young university student with the drive and desire to reach her goals and create change.  I am sitting here writing this as a second year university student hoping one day I can help future generations like Hillary has helped mine.

Not to mention she is so, so, so qualified. She’s been a Senator, First Lady, and Secretary of State. Her career spans over 40 years of public service. In those 40 years she’s faced difficulty and instead of allowing it to beat her – she rose above it.  She’s been under the political microscope of America for over 40 years. Guys seriously, they’ve examined her damn emails dozens of times and haven’t found anything.

And you know, I agree, she’s not perfect. But, people aren’t perfect. No president in our history has ever been perfect. Not Washington, not Lincoln, not FDR, not JFK, not even Obama. But, they do they best they can in the places they can, guided by a genuine desire to serve the American people.

That’s what the job is about: service. Not fame. Not fortune. It’s service.

This election goes beyond politics. This election, at its core, is about what version of the American people we want to be and how we want to present ourselves to the world.

Donald Trump is a misogynist.  He’s a racist.  He’s a bigot.  Donald Trump represents the ugliest part of our country and he’s raised his supporters on a xenophobic crusade to make ‘America Great Again.’ Great for who though?  Certainly not women, African-Americans, Latinos, the disabled, and the LBGTQA+ community just to name a few.

As a young woman, watching Donald Trump is horrifying.  He has bragged about sexually assaulting young women. Let me repeat that for the people in the back, Donald Trump, the Republican candidate for President of the United States of America, has publicly bragged about attacking women. Because that’s what sexual assault is – it is an attack meant to physically and psychologically hurt a person.   

 And, guys, seriously? Seriously?!  Tapes come out with actual audio of Donald Trump saying absolutely vulgar things about women and people are still defending him.  He’s insulted women in person, over the phone, in interviews, on live television.  When the women he’s attacked have come forward he’s called them liars.  ‘Oh, that’s just typical Donald.’ What? No. That is not a valid excuse.

There is no excuse for sexual assault.  We should have zero tolerance for this behavior.

It is absolutely disgusting people excuse this behavior.  It is beyond me how people can find this behavior funny, charming, or the qualities of a leader. ‘But wait! He tells it like it is!’ they protest.

Do you know what excusing Trump’s behavior tells me about my country? What it tells the rest of the world? (Because guys, the US elections isn’t surprise! just an American thing!) It tells me women don’t matter. It tells me I don’t matter. What happens to me is just part of ‘like it is’ in America.  It tells me it is perfectly acceptable for men to act however they want toward me, because if Trump can do it then by extension any man who supports Trump can do and say the same things.

It’s 2016, I’ve got essays to write, lectures to attend, and mountains to climb.  I don’t want to have to waste my time also watching out for orange cheese-puff perverts.  Call me a nasty Feminist bitch for it, I don’t care.  It’s beyond inappropriate and I’m tired of this behavior being acceptable.

Someone please explain to me how you can look yourself in the mirror and morally agree with Trump?  How can you look at your mothers, grandmothers, aunts, daughters, sisters, cousins, and friends and agree with Trump?

Speaking of other completely fucked up things about this election, the Ku Klux Klan aka the white supremacist group that burnt crosses in people’s yards, brutally murdered people, and publicly lynched African-Americans endorsed Donald Trump.  In fact, just the other day the KKK set fire to an African-American church and graffitied it with ‘Vote Trump.’

I have had panic attacks thanks to this election. I can’t imagine what my country could turn into with this behavior at the helm.  I fear for my education, my access to healthcare, and my career… and that’s just thinking of myself: upper middle class, white, female.  I look at Hillary and see one of the the most qualified individuals ever to run for the Presidency and she is still in contest with a megalomaniac xenophobe.

I can’t even comprehend what thoughts are going through the minds of minorities or the LGBTQA+ communities. I don’t have the experiences and it would be inappropriate for me to even try to speak for them, but, guys, just know I’m standing beside you, behind you, wherever you need me to stand.

There are times, especially recent times, I have been so embarrassed to call myself an American.  I am embarrassed of this the version of America we are presenting to the world.  The international community is beyond floored that Trump made it this far.

This election has rocked the very core of American society.  However we move forward tomorrow will forever change the trajectory of our country.  Just a simple look back at the 20c can show what happens when a loud movement blames a minority.  This is the moment things either change for the better or for the worse.

One man isn’t the issue, Donald Trump, alone, can be ignored.  It’s the mob mentality created by Trump that is the issue.  It is the disgusting ideas about women, minorities, and the LGBTQA+ community that have spread across our country.  It’s ideas rooted in the fear of difference and intolerance and how they have become accepted by a portion of American society.  Just the other day a peaceful protester was brutally beaten at a Trump rally.  Another protester, this time at a Clinton rally, had his rights defended by none other than President Obama.

Which is why I’m with her – because I know this is not who we are.  I know this hatred and rage is not who we are.  I have faith that the American people will overcome this fear.  It’s a new different America than what people are used to, and to some that makes it scary, but to the rest, this new America is the greatest we’ve ever been.

As much as I’m afraid for the future, I am also excited because the American people I know won’t let bigotry and hatred define who they are.  So please, get out to the polls and exercise your right to vote.  Show the world who we really are: a melting pot of cultures, a land where differences are celebrated, a forum for new ideas, a community of acceptance and tolerance.

Show the world the America I know.

That’s the America I am proud to be a citizen of.