My first outfit on election night was a white jacket, in honor of the white clad suffragists who marched to give women the right to vote. The morning after the election, I wore black. Like many others, I’m still in mourning.
For more than a year, I had one picture emblazoned on my mind; I saw Hillary raising her right hand to take the oath of office with her other hand placed on the bible.
That picture disappeared so suddenly that we suffered from whiplash.
Still, we can’t give up. We must remember Susan B. Anthony who said, “Failure is Impossible.”
But my anxiety isn’t just about our inability to crack that now reinforced glass ceiling. If the President-elect follows through on his campaign promises, we’ll be endangered by climate change, millions may lose their health insurance, and other millions will face deportation. Some minorities will feel unsafe.
The list is long and uncertain. We are left wondering what to do.
I found some solace in Hillary’s concession speech when she said, “This loss hurts, but please never stop believing that fighting for what’s right is worth it.”
As we mourn, we cannot allow ourselves to be paralyzed by grief. President Obama gave us an elegant example of noble behavior when he welcomed Donald and Melania into the White House, two days after the election. His love of country enabled him to extend his hand.
Yes, the country is deeply divided; the popular vote in Hillary’s favor reveals a deep chasm. And yes, one party now controls both the executive and legislative branches, and will soon dominate the Supreme Court. There are no checks and balances. In a parliamentary system Democrats could become the “loyal opposition.” But we have no such system here.
So we must become a virtual loyal opposition by making our voices heard in a peaceful and constructive manner. President-elect Trump said he wants to be President for all Americans and I’m willing to give him that opportunity. But we must continue to debate the most fractious issues of our time. Pushing from the outside is different than being on the inside of the power structure, and it won’t be easy. But I believe that organized democratic opposition is more important now than ever.
Silence will be our enemy. Exercising the power of the people, will be our friend.
