In what seems like a sort of dystopian-novel like dream we've all suddenly found ourselves in, the country let our next President step in and take his position in office. My personal feelings regarding this is most likely very similar to countless other feelings people have about this election, whether it's state-wide here in New York, nationwide across the whole country, or even internationally where there are others concerned about the state of this country. What is to come in the next four years to this country and the people living in it? How are all our international affairs going to be affected? And most importantly, will everyone be okay?
Well, it's not going to be nice, that's for sure. But despite everything, I am going to survive.
The next four years is definitely going to be an incredibly long battle. While there are existing injustices amongst us, there will definitely be more. However, it is also injustices and situations like these that prompt people to speak and act out, something that was shown quite frequently world-wide in the recent Women's March. On a small scale, I am fortunate enough to be able to live mostly free in a very liberal and diverse area. But on a large scale, I know that years and years of institutionalized racism and discrimination will most likely be at its highest in these next few years. It terrifies me greatly.
I don't want to keep dabbling into what will potentially go wrong because quite frankly, it's going to make me even more upset than I have been. I will, however, write about what I will do until the next presidential election. To put it bluntly, I will be as unapologetically selfish and Muslim as I can. What does that even mean you might be asking? It means I'm going to continue pursuing my dreams to accomplish what I want and build a life for myself. It means that I will participate in whatever I can to make sure no one else loses their rights. It means I will speak out against anyone who dares say I don't deserve to have the rights I'm supposed to have. I don't care what a majority of the country thinks, I will continue to hold onto my beliefs and make sure that me and everyone else I know are able to be open about theirs too.
The next four years are going to be incredibly fragile and one incredibly wrong move may ruin everything. This is only a minor setback though. As we all continue to work together to ensure our freedom and justice, things will hopefully be better.
I'm not giving up on hope yet.
