This is America.
On the day of Trump’s inauguration, I visited a local mosque. I wore a long black skirt, a long sleeve grey sweater, and a pink, oversized scarf that I planned to wrap around my head to cover my hair. I got there early because I knew I would sit in my car nervously before walking in. I had contacted them ahead of time and told them why I wanted to come — my own counter-programming to the bigoted man that would be sworn into office — and it was important they felt I was respectful of their religious customs. It was a beautiful hour of worship, even though I didn’t understand everything that was said. At the end of the service, many of the women hugged me and thanked me for coming and, to my surprise, asked me if I was going to the Women’s March the next day. Some of them would be attending too; others were excited to watch it from home. It felt calming to discuss. There was a plan.
The Women’s March in Washington, DC, was my first protest. The night before, I googled what we should bring — water, tissues, snacks. What we should be prepared for — arrests, violence. Most websites recommended writing someone’s phone number on your arm if you needed to get bailed out of jail. I was nervous but not scared. A bunch of women in “pink pussy hats” did not strike me as a violent group. But the man we were going to protest is. There are numerous instances of Trump advocating for violence, well before he became president. He is a violent man; sexual assault is a violent act, after all. Thankfully, other than a few small groups of anti-abortion activists, the day was nothing but hope and joy. There were singers and hugging and laughing and marching. There was not a single arrest. That is how we responded to the outcome of an election that we didn’t like, an outcome that very much scared us.
Politics is a word that is used in a broad sense by most Americans. We are a nation of low information voters. The things we learned in school were a white-washed history. Most people don’t know how the branches of government work. This is never clearer than when someone complains about their “first amendment rights” after a social media company flags their posts for disinformation. So it is not surprising that so many people have chastised me for “politics.” ( Which is what inspired my newsletter, Radical — sign up here https://radicalalecia.substack.com/) I’ve always known that politics is much more than the people who occupy the spaces in DC and checking off the boxes of the people I want there, but it has never been more clear than the past five years. This, of course, is because I have lived a pretty privileged life. Black people and people of color have always had to think about politics. They do not have the luxury of ignoring it; it is ingrained in how this country treats them. Today, a confederate flag, a symbol of oppression and racism and slavery, was brought into the United States capital to support a man whose values that flag encompasses. As I have mentioned many times, Trump’s presidency has meant very little difference in my life. But because of that, it is my duty — as an American and a human — to be radical about politics. Because people I love are, and will continue to be, far more affected than I. A vote is not a piece of paper that goes through a machine and then does not affect what happens in the world around us.
When I delete people on Facebook or don’t talk to family members or continue to speak out, it is not because I am radical, although I wear that word like a badge of honor, it is because I have chosen a side that aligns with my morals and values. And there have been clear sides since 2015 when Donald Trump announced he was running for president. I am not talking about political parties. I read and follow many conservatives now, and I may not have come across them previously. They call themselves Never Trumpers, and they have lived up to that name.
Donald Trump’s presidency was always going to end this way. He is a man that sexually assaulted over 20 women. A man that disparaged immigrants, people of color, reporters, and anyone that wasn't devoted to him. He is a narcissist that has been a criminal his entire adult life. He is a man that pardoned his friends and offered to pay the bail for his violent supporters. He has spent the past four years, ensuring that his supporters were cocooned in a bubble of lies, disinformation, and hatred.
A woman died at the United States capital today, but she is not the first person Donald Trump has killed. I pray she is the last.
