I’m trudging through today, just like you, as the nation takes a massive turn in the most wrong of directions. The amount of animosity and bigotry that Donald Trump exhibits on a daily basis is absolutely unacceptable, undefinable and should be completely unheard of in our day and age. This is not the the American spirit and patriotism that we’ve have grown up with. This country has taken so many powerful, vibrant steps forward in environmental activism, LGBTQ+/gender equality, healthcare and immigration reform, and so many other steps that we should be proud of, that we deserve as a 21st century population at the center of the world stage each and every day. These positive movements and massive changes could now be very much in jeopardy because of the irresponsibility and apparent views of American voters across the nation.

   I question my faith in the American electorate to match the emergence of equality, care, and love that this world and its people have gifted to us in the short years of this century alone. Do we not see the path of justice and fairness that the modern thought process and average public opinion should demand? How far a step back have we taken as a society? How did we let this happen in a country built on strong, while certainly rocky, foundations of equality and support for all people? A country almost torn apart on multiple occasions because of the issues we still face today?

   The United States is often referred to as a pinnacle of freedom on our ever turbulent planet, a moral center and guide of the free world. Electing Trump enormously cracks that standard, and ushers in the potential of future horrors unknown. A man who would like to construct a towering wall to isolate immigrants from seeking better lives and the opportunity Americans have enjoyed for hundreds of years, a man who believes climate change is a fake concept concocted by the Chinese, a man with ever-shifting views on Planned Parenthood, LGBTQ+ equality,  Russian/Syrian politics, and more will soon hold the office of the President of the United States of America. This is the reality.

   The absolute surreality of the week’s events are still gripping me, and I hope deeply that we come to fight whatever darkness comes forth, and fight until the end for better leadership in the future, and for the individuals and views that we know deserve their place in our world. I’m sending heaps and heaps of love and support to women, disabled people, PoC, the LGBTQ+ community, immigrants, and everyone in between who’ve been called out and targeted by an individual who never deserved to reach the status he’s taken this week. To all, stay safe and stay hopeful. This is not the end.