“We are only as strong as we are united, as weak as we are divided.” -J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
On Tuesday, November 8, 2016 we cast our ballots for the presidential nominee. We waited until early into the next morning to hear the results. For some, they were thrilled with the results. For others, a somber tone set the air. The results shook the ground for many of us. It is not that we cannot accept the fact that the Democratic nominee lost, it is the fact that anger won; hate won. This, this is what makes us fearful of what lies ahead for us all.
We are afraid for our daughters, our sisters, our mothers, our aunts, and our female friends. We are afraid that their bodies will always be groped at, stared at, and disrespected. That their minds will never balance the scales of their male counterparts.
We are afraid for our LGBTQIA friends and family. We are afraid that they will never have the privilege to love and be loved openly, without fear. We fear that their rights that they have worked so hard for, so passionately for, will be washed away in seconds. We fear for the day we wake up to find them gone, whether they have fallen victim to the hands of hate, rounded up and taken away, or even much more sinister things.
We fear for our friends and families of different races. We fear the walls that hate threatens to build. We fear the chance of segregation, the chance of Jim Crowe laws again, we fear that everything the past fought to get rid of will manifest again. We fear mobs, we fear lynching. We fear that hate will wipe out our love.
We fear for our immigrant friends. For a nation that was built from immigrants, we fear the hopes and dreams of our ancestors will be tarnished by hate. We fear our friends will be sent away to the lands they desperately tried to flee. We are afraid that they will no longer be welcome with loving, open arms, but instead greeted with guns.
We fear for our youth. How do we explain that children that despite our teachings of love and understand, that at the end of the day a bully can win. That hate can win. How can we teach them to love, when all they see is the path that hate brings? How can they dream of a bright future, when there is darkness all around us?
We fear for each other. We fear for our futures. We fear for each other walking the streets. Will it be safe? We fear that home will never feel like home again It is not that we want our President Elect to fail, quite the contrary. We maintain hope. We want our fears to be just fears. We do not want them to become reality. So, we will continue to march for peace. We cry out for love and justice. We hope to be still be united. We are just incredibly afraid for us all.
