Between August 7 and November 10, 1888, Whitechapel, London was terrorized by a series of shockingly gory murders. The murderer killed at least five prostitutes, and that number is still disputed. He tore apart these women's bodies and occasionally took organs that were never recovered, a kidney, a heart, and a uterus. Letters were sent 'from Jack the Ripper', probably from a journalist looking to get sales up that said things like "You will soon hear of me with my funny little games. " They were sent in bright red ink to the Whitechapel Police.

Needless to say this sent Whitechapel into a frenzy then plunged it into chaos. Tensions between native Brits and immigrant, Poles and Jews, in particular, grew tremendously. At times hundreds of men would chase a single man out of Whitechapel because someone hinted he could be the Ripper. The police were exhausting all their resources and venturing down every avenue, all the while receiving hundreds of letters from 'Jack the Ripper' and breaking up riots and fights in the streets. They never caught him.

At this time Whitechapel was an extremely poor part of London, even though it was located right next to the financial center of London, one of the richest parts of the world. Literally, you could stand on the street that divides them, and see the difference in just the architecture.

Some historians say that Jack the Ripper did more for Whitechapel than any politician ever did. These murders were front page news worldwide. These awful, gruesome murders brought attention to the terrible conditions the people of Whitechapel lived in.

That is not to say that Jack the Ripper was a good person. Sure, we never got his side of the story because nobody ever caught him, but if he really cared about the people of Whitechapel he would have donated money or opened a school or a soup kitchen. He wouldn't have gone out and murdered a handful of prostitutes. The real MVPs here are the landlords who built better buildings and had better living conditions and better store fronts and better factories and the people who did open soup kitchens.

So now for the part that you've been waiting for, the one that gave this article it's punchy eye-catching headline:

Donald J. Trump.

Now, he's not going around murdering women. But he had brought a whole host of issues to light: women's right, lgbtq+ rights, and immigration policy to name a few.

There are people who engage in politics, learning about United States government, and sticking up for the rights of groups of people who they don't identify with and don't know.

It would be naive to believe that women, immigrants, or members of the LGBTQ+ haven't faced difficulty, persecution, or hardship at the hands of the United States before.

This did not start with Donald Trump.

But people were being murdered in Whitechapel before Jack the Ripper came along too. Then one really bad guy came along and the world turned their attention and something was stirred inside them. In today's vernacular, you could say victorian England became 'woke'. It took time but they took the initiative to make Whitechapel better and now, nearly 130 years later, it's all artsy and hipster.

If the past few months are any indicator, America is not going to go quietly. Before the guy even had a chance to do anything, half a million went to DC with pink hats, loud signs, and even voices to tell him what's what.

The world probably would have been a better place if Jack the Ripper didn't slaughter prostitutes and if Trump didn't become president. But here we are. So keep marching, keep researching, keep sending letters or calling your representatives, keep up with the news, and call people out when they need to be called out.

Donald Trump never put the government in the people's hands. It was always in the people's hands and we need to start using that power.