by Kavitha Chetty Ness
We are just hours away from Trump’s inauguration.
I don’t know if it’s like this everywhere – but you can’t get away from a political discussion in DC. Even if you all have the same beliefs and philosophies – it still comes up. And it can be exhausting – there are definitely times I am over it.
Let’s just move forward, let’s believe in democracy, there are checks and balances – is the sky really falling? At the end of the day – my life probably won’t change too much. The economy should hold for a year or so, we have savings, we are legal citizens, we aren’t refugees, we probably weren’t going solar until the next house, our healthcare isn’t through the ACA – yeah the country might go backwards the next two years – but is it really that different from what happens during regular political cycles? Sometimes I want to just stay in my little bubble where my kids make me smile, we eat yummy food, watch This is Us, and just be.
But it’s hard to ignore Trump.
And it’s hard to ignore what I’m feeling right now. It’s not quite the doomsday some of my more liberal activist friends are feeling – but it’s not anything close to ease or even indifference. I still have hope that democracy will work, but fear is definitely trying to take over. And the fear, disbelief and uncertainty grows stronger with every tweet, cabinet appointment, news cycle, breath I take.
But I continue to hope.
I am also smart enough to know that an emotion isn't enough - it has to beget action. But that is what drives my hope - people are acting, people are organizing, people are energized, so many new people are involved. That's the silver lining.
I will be a participant of Saturday’s Women’s March on Washington. I haven’t participated in marches or protests for many many years. Since my 20s. I’ve lived in DC for almost 13 years – so it’s not like there wasn’t opportunity. And I’m sure there were ones that spoke to my beliefs. But I never heard about them, and I never participated. Like i said – the coziness of life always got in the way.
Not anymore.
I will be a participant in Saturday’s Women’s March on Washington. To show that women have a voice, that women stand strong, to be part of something positive and inspiring in a time when it’s really needed. Family Paid Leave. Roe Vs. Wade. To Act. To Effect Change. It’s a lot to ask of a march – but I think it will deliver. The women I am planning and coordinating with have all but guaranteed it. I want to tell my 5-year-old daughter who is currently on a Wonder Woman kick – that I marched with Real Life Wonder Women.
The times are a changin’ – but it’s still new in the year – and I want to live in a place of positivity. I love and believe in this country – and am hopeful that we can withstand whatever comes after Friday. And if not, I will do my best – with my fellow Americans – to move us back on track.
