It's been hard since the election to write. Even blogging, I haven't really known exactly what to write next. There have been so many dissections, but the result has made my heart and spirit very uneasy as I mentioned.
I don't know if you'd still call this a "dissection", but here are some reflections which I developed after the idea of "Three R's" just popped into my head (along with something else which I'll mention later).
I feel going forward we need to think in terms of Three R's: Resist, Remedy, Renew.
- Resist. As I mentioned in Seek a Just Unity, I am very wary of any normalization of or accommodating the incoming "so-called" administration. Accommodating a leader with authoritarian tendencies usually is a disaster. Further, so many also feel that this nutjob's picks for his cabinet are uniformly disastrous. We need to recognize the dangers posed to folks' health, liberties, even lives and Planet Earth itself. You might wish to read another great piece by Steven W. Thrasher . Resistance and pushback will be crucial. You can support organizations such as the ACLU or Planned Parenthood who are fighting for rights and liberties. Folks are standing up against corporate aggression, for First Amendment right to protest, for Indigenous Rights, and for the environment by supporting the Standing Rock #NoDAPL protests in various ways. For example, many folks are pulling accounts from banks who are helping to finance this nefarious project. We must also fight against things such as religious or racial profiling. The Intercept has a new article detailing the response of 9 tech companies to the question: “Would [name of company], if solicited by the Trump administration, sell any goods, services, information, or consulting of any kind to help facilitate the creation of a national Muslim registry, a project which has been floated tentatively by the president-elect’s transition team?” (Only one said no, and if you haven't heard, I won't spoil things; please check out the article). Might it be a good idea to contact some of these companies - those listed in the article and also others - and let them know what a horrible idea this registry (or any such thing) is? I'm sure you can think of or find other suggestions - and it's great to share them.
- Remedy. The Rev. Lennox Yearwood, Jr., President and CEO of Hip Hop Caucus, said in an panel discussion on one of the C-Spans, that the ultimate goal must be legislation and policy formation to really affect change. So we need to advocate for legislation and policy decisions that will benefit "We, The People" - from local concerns up through national and global ones. We need to make sure leaders and officials are accountable and hold their feet to the fire in an attempt to get us on a more progressive, positive course.
- Renew. We MUST renew our commitment to Dr. King's Dream. We MUST renew our commitment to making the "American Dream" more attainable for more people. We MUST renew (or in some cases, begin to form) our recognition of our common humanity; that MUST overshadow tribalism. We MUST renew our commitment to our Planet (you'd think that would be obvious, but for some folks - notably that notorious nutjob - it isn't!). Long term, we MUST get more and more folks on board. That's very hard to do now in this poisonous political climate, but we MUST find ways, great and small, to reach folks.
Would love to hear from any of you. Please share your thoughts in comments. I really put some effort into this and it's been lonely lately.
Oh and I did say I'd mention something else that popped into my head around the same time as the idea of "Three R's." How about some music - say, a song I I hadn't thought of for quite some time? Well, here are the lyrics, anyway; I tried to find a video, but it seemed most had poor sound quality, so I'll just give this:
And as always, if you find this post or any post here of value, please comment and/or share. Thanks!
Related Post:
Seek a Just Unity
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