In this time, about to usher in President Elect Donald Trump as our president, it has occurred to me that we are literally making history. We made history in the previous election with the first African American president, and now we are making history by electing a man who has been documented making sexual assault jokes, racist comments, and just overall being a gross person. In the light of all this, I truly fail to see why people are supporters. But, that's a complaint that has been talked about over and over.
Within the past few years, the Black Lives Matter movement has become very prolific, though it seems to have died down as of late. Some people still believe that the victims of police brutality deserved to die or that it was somehow justified. We live in a free country, so I don't understand why the law should be an "obey or die" situation. Feminism is also a huge issue right now. For some reason, we still have a wage gap. We still have people that think of women as objects and not people. We have people afraid of other religions, forgetting that freedom of religion is what this country was founded over. Our world has come a long way, but it still has a long way to go.
What's the solution to these issues? SPEAK UP. Do not let people objectify women in conversation or make jokes about rape. Do not let your coworker make a racist joke to you, lighthearted though it may seem. Speak to the woman wearing a hijab on the elevator with you and try to learn something new. Do not be fooled by ignorant people thinking only of themselves.
In thirty years my children will ask me about these events. In sixty years my grandchildren will read about them in their history books. We read about the "greats" that stood up for injustice, like MLK, Rosa Parks, and Eleanor Roosevelt. There are thousands more that changed the world through their actions both small and large. What we don't directly hear about are the little people. The people like you and me who lead ordinary lives on one side or another of an issue. If the ordinary and unnamed had not followed behind these leaders, they wouldn't have been leaders at all.
So, keeping in mind that one day you will be sitting in a rocking chair discussing these things with your grandkids, I have a question for you: which side of history are you on?
