Trump will return to office, and we are the worse for it. It will be (another) dangerous four years for women, people of color, immigrants, trans people, the press, the environment, and protesters in general. It will be (another) four years of patriarchal, white supremacist, fascist, nativist, capitalist ideologies run amok at the federal level. We may see entire federal offices and initiatives erased; we may see the political opponents of the ruling party under legal persecution. We will see an attempt at mass deportation.
What now?
There are some things that we can do . . .
- We can look out for each other more. We need to be ready to lock arms, protest creatively, and resist the expanding shadow of bullying and intimidation that is on the way.
- We can embrace joy together as much as we can. Not in a blissful ignorance kind of way, and not in a “Kamala campaign joy” kind of way. We can embrace joy the way that a new parent has to embrace sleep. Take it where you can. Treat it like medicine. Seeking out joy is self care.
- We can be more intentional about community building. The first Trump presidency was like a feverdream. This may be more like a waking nightmare. Leaning into 2025 with a solitary, teeth-grinding, white knuckle energy is the way that we will break. Get together, dance, share stories, and organize. Meet new people and build alliances.
Let’s be honest: it’s not going to be or feel great sometimes in the next four years. For some of us, that might have also felt true no matter which of these two parties won the election. We have to be authentic and honest about the way that we’re feeling. After last night, our political environment feels like it’s on a collision course with apocalyptic authoritarianism. But . . .
We don’t have to be.
If we despair, shut down, withdraw, fascist initiatives just gain more ground. We can be the territory that we need for each other if we focus on sticking up for each other, building community, and celebrating when we can.
Images used:
Photo by Daniel Lincoln on Unsplash
Photo by Lucie Hošová on Unsplash
