This past year, we have witnessed a campaign and ultimately a victory that was completely consumed with hate speech and the idea of sparking fear in select groups of people. We have heard threats of deportation of our muslim brothers and sisters, we have seen the objectification of women, we have seen our nation’s black community live in a constant state of fear due to police brutality and racism, we have heard threats of segregation, our LGBTQ brothers and sister have been threatened once again with suggestions of removing their constitutional and God given (yes God given) right to marry, and above it all we have all been enthralled by the number of people who have shown their true colors and accepted this level of hate.
The fact of this horrifying matter is that the leader of the free world, the President of these so called “United” States of America has started this uproar of hate and this revolution of racism and fear. His fascist idealism of making America great again includes removing every single thing that makes the nation the best country in the world.
The moment Mr. Trump was elected we were stunned, saddened, and afraid of what would happen next. The one thing I did not expect to see however was the not so silent majority of liberals begin a movement that called for the not so silent rise of love and acceptance.
I was given an incredible opportunity to travel to Washington D.C. and join my sisters and brothers of all colors, shapes, gender identities, sexual orientations, races, backgrounds, and stories the fight of a lifetime. A fight that is just beginning and a fight that will never end.
Call us stupid, tell us that we will never change the election results, and tell us that we have no hope, we will stand firm and keep marching.
I along with a delegation of 164 other marchers made up of both men and women from Northwest Indiana left on a Friday night in January on three cramped busses to join in with just about 499,836 other men and women on the streets of our nations capital to fight the good fight. A fight that is not about removal, but inclusion. A fight that is not about objectification but respect and a fight that is not about hate but love.
We marched and shouted, and we sung and danced through the streets of Washington D.C. wearing all shades of pinks and purples and rainbows and holding our signs with messages of love high to show this seemingly damned world that we will never succumb to the hateful things that Mr. Trump has said and done and promoted. We stood in solidarity with women all throughout this nation and joined in on the fight for feminism. We sang and danced with members of the LGBTQ community and we chanted with our muslim brothers and sisters. We screamed at the top of our lungs that black lives matter and above all we yelled and sung and screamed out that love does in fact trump hate.
The fight is not over, instead it is just beginning. We must recognize that the fight for our women and minorities and the LGBTQ community and the poor will be a constant struggle throughout this presidency. We will be faced with legislation that rids of healthcare for millions, takes away the right to marry for millions, and takes away a woman’s right to her body. We must join together and stand firm in what we believe. We must constantly and consistently fight the good fight and never stop fighting for what we believe. We must spend these next four years vowing to never let an orange skinned, racist, mysogonistic, over closed minded and hate filled president take everything that makes us who we are away from us. Take a vow, take a stand, and fight the good fight.
