‘Struggle is a never-ending process.’
Dear Readers,
Along with many of you, I'm trying to understand more fully what happened this week in the US: the re-election of a felon, a convicted rapist, and an insurrectionist who ignited an attack of the nation’s capital and refused to accept the peaceful transfer of power, the very foundation of a democracy.
Apparently, half of my fellow citizens did not consider these facts or his vengeful instructions to “attack the enemy within” as disqualifiers. Clearly, myself and the other (almost) half of Americans did consider these facts and therefore, are worried about the future for more reasons than I will repeat here, knowing that most likely, those who disagree with my opening paragraph have already stopped reading.
Herein lies one of our bigger challenges and deepest dividing factors: the siloed sources of information and misinformation that, along with the foundational and very present barriers of racism, sexism, and classism, fueled by fears and greed, have led to this week’s outcomes.
Yes, I’m disappointed and very worried about another Trump presidency, but I am not done with the work that will be necessary to protect our rights and a democratic government structure that recognizes, at least in principle, that all humans have the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
Of course, that right is not equally experienced and never has been in this country, but now, even that constitutional language and all the other protections, particularly due process and checks and balances, could be threatened as we face a consolidation of power with all three branches* of our government allied with one political party and its unprincipled leadership.
For those still reading, let’s consider a few of the reasons to be worried, but I promise not to dwell on them because the time for mourning and heartfelt disappointment is ending and the time for organizing and activating in response to the potential dangers of a Trump presidency (again) is now.
Let’s start with the most fundamental touchstone for a free and open society.
1. A free flow of information, not “truthiness” or misinformation or partisan opinions, all characterizing too much of what passes for news now, but facts! It bears remembering that when autocrats take power, among their first acts is to shut down any free flow of information. Here's a reminder of what our next president has said about that. Last week, Guardian US media columnist Margaret Sullivan spelled out in black and white the threat to a free press from another Trump presidency:
“Donald Trump poses a clear threat to journalists, to news organizations and to press freedom in the US and around the world… For years, he stirred up hatred of reporters by calling them the ‘enemy of the people’ – an echo of the language of fascist dictators. He frequently referred to legitimate journalism as ‘fake news’, and publicly insulted individual reporters.”
Add to that his comment last week joking that he would be fine with journalists being shot. This is scary and downright dangerous for all of us to be in the dark about what’s really happening in our communities, our country and in the world. Think Germany 1939 and compare it to the impact of X in 2024.
2. Reproductive rights. Despite their attempts to duck and cover on this issue, there is a threat of a national ban on abortion with Trump and Vance in power. Our newly elected leader’s mistreatment of women and JD Vance’s opinion about women’s roles in the world are clear evidence of the impact of deep rooted misogyny on this election.
“America is not ready for a woman leader,” a Black male friend confided to me as I sought to understand the majority male vote for Trump. For me, this is the clearest explanation of the loss, and there’s little to be gained from analyzing what Kamala and the Democrats could have done or should have done differently because this fact rings truest for me: the biggest factor in her defeat is that she was born a woman in a country not ready to accept a woman as its top leader.
In spite of the abundant evidence that when women are elected or promoted or rise to leadership positions, including as presidents of countries, for the majority of them, the records show that there is less corruption and better governance, better family policies and healthier environments. This is not wishful feminist musings; these are facts. The same can be said for women leaders of companies, too. Check your shareholder reports if you’re lucky enough to be an investor in a Fortune 500 company led by a woman. There are 52 of them.
I’m not proclaiming that women are better leaders than men — just that it’s very shortsighted to create more barriers to women’s leadership than already exist, as it’s a loss of more than half of the world population’s skills, experiences, and preparedness to lead.
But what is almost as big a barrier as sexism is our own lack of solidarity and support for each other. To the women who voted against their own best interests and against their daughters and granddaughter’s futures, you are my biggest disappointment! But I’m not giving up on trying to understand the motivations, the mindsets, and the belief systems that are blinding these women to the real implications of what Trump/Vance policies will mean for them and their daughters — what is blocking their women born intuition to envision the potential that women leaders have to step into power and change the ways it is used and shared…a kind of leadership needed more than ever.
I believe that the potential for bringing women’s full life experiences to leading for change and the clear mandate to be more aligned with our Black and Brown sisters who voted, as a majority, for the leadership Kamala Harris represented must be the movement forward that emerges from this pushback on women’s rights and equality. As Kamala said many times, “We are not going back.”
3. What’s also at great risk: A habitable planet. With a climate denier as president, it’s likely that progress towards the clean energy future that will ensure that we have a healthy planet that can sustain life will be slowed. He’s indebted to the very industries that are destroying our environment. This is not trivial. We have five years to stop the trajectory towards an inhabitable planet, and this makes climate justice — finding equitable and sustainable solutions to the life threatening nature and climate crisis — everyone’s issue.
Here again, women’s leadership on the frontlines, at the policy tables, and as country leaders is proving to be a powerful accelerator for identifying and implementing the solutions. Project Dandelion, a global women-led movement for a climate safe world, will be doubling/tripling our commitment to unify women leaders, amplify the stories of the good work being done, strengthen solidarity and activate a collective force of women leaders to demand the necessary actions to secure a livable future on this planet. Next week, I’ll be sharing new guides from Project Dandelion for understanding what we can do as individuals and as citizens to secure that future during the next four challenging years.
4. America and the world. Here, I can only observe that in all his rants and long campaign speeches, Trump never articulated a foreign policy. He did brag about his friendships with other autocratic leader friends…in North Korea, Turkey, and Hungary; repeated his threat to pull out of NATO and other global alliances and treaties; and of course, to impose tariffs which are bound to start trade wars and increase prices on many important goods and services…this much we can assume based on what he said. He also said he could end the Russian invasion of Ukraine and solve the Israeli/Palestinian conflicts — a worthy (and somewhat doubtful) agenda for his first 100 days.
What we are also observing is that many wealthy Americans are buying passports for other countries and leaving for safer ground. But if we’re really going to “Make America Great” again, we have to stay and do our part to work towards the promise of America to its citizens that democracy is a form of government that works best because it is based on the premise of being "for the people and by the people." Today, I confess that I don’t feel a part of ‘the people’ who elected Donald Trump nor can l believe he’s the leader to deliver on that promise, a promise we have never fully realized. But I’m not giving up my vote or silencing my voice or support for all efforts to protect and preserve the basic fundamental principles of a democracy that generations of our fellow and sister citizens fought to protect.
Moving from the fears to the hope that is necessary to stay engaged for the struggles ahead, I have turned to some inspiration from others which I will share in part.
As the great civil rights leaders, Coretta Scott King observed…
“Struggle is a never-ending process. Freedom is never really won, you earn it and win it in every generation.”
And this beautiful essay that inspired so many from Rebecca Solnit's excellent Facebook post from Tuesday night:
I love Rebeca’s reference to the women’s work of ‘mending and washing’ as we need to bring all our women’s life experiences to the frontlines now and we need our men to also mend and wash, repair and restore as we resist, together, what divides us.
Together we can transform our fears into courage and energy and action. As Kamala Harris made clear in her beautiful closing speech to young supporters at Howard University:
Holding the light for me is the symbol of what is needed most. These next four years will be our opportunity to hold our torches high with the passion and purpose that will be necessary for the struggle ahead.
Onward!
- Pat