The mourning after

Trump’s win – and the magnitude of the Trump vote across the country and in Minnesota – is a triumph for ignorance. And hate. And fear.

But — we go on. So what next? 

Organize. Educate. Resist.  And take care of each other.

Other people in other countries have resisted – and continue to resist. A friend from Turkey wrote:

“Dear progressive American friends, if you need a shoulder to cry on; someone who understands your frustration and can relate to your concerns, know that you have me and many other ‘chapullers’ out there in the world. We understand your pain. We have been there for 14 years by now!”

Chapuller is a word from the protests in Taksim Gezi Park in Istanbul, Turkey. A chapuller is someone who resists force and demands justice, “taking the democracy of a nation to the next step by reminding governments of their reason for existence in a peaceful and humorous manner.”

People in Turkey have been fighting against a harsh and repressive elected regime for 14 years.

If we need examples of continuing to organize and resist, even when you lose the election, we can look to courageous protest and resistance not only in Turkey, but in Egypt, in Honduras, in Mexico, and around the world.

We must not give up.

Organize. Educate. Resist. And take care of each other.

There’s a strong temptation to blame someone, anyone, everyone else. It’s tempting to splinter into different progressive camps, the pure and the impure, the good and bad left. It’s tempting to blame Hillary’s campaign missteps or the Democratic party for not nominating Bernie or the people who voted for third parties. Irna Landrum had some wise words on that:

“Listen. I’m not ready to blame anyone except all these assholes voting for Trump. However anyone else used or didn’t use their vote, HALF the electorate used theirs to vote for Donald Trump. On purpose. Directly.

“I’m not ready to eat each other on this.”

We need to come together, not tear each other apart.

Michael Griffin wrote about the importance of caring for one another in these times:

“We have to continue to live our lives every day in a way that preserves civility, caring for others, and hope for the future.”

We do. We need each other. As Michele Obama so eloquently said, when they go low, we must go high. We need to respond to hate by refusing to be give in to hate, but instead “preserving civility, caring for others, and hoping for the future.”

This morning, lots of people are sharing a post by Ali Michael. Michael writes about what to tell the children in classrooms this morning, but I think we need to tell each other, the adults, as much as we tell the children:

“Tell them that we will protect those democratic processes ― and we will use them ― so that Trump is unable to act on many of the false promises he made during his campaign.”

Michael says we need to tell the children that we stand by Muslim families, same-sex parent families, gay students, black families, female students, Mexican families, disabled students and all of the students who feel under attack.

“Tell them you won’t let anyone hurt them or deport them or threaten them without having to contend with you first. Say that you will stand united as a school community, and that you will protect one another. Say that silence is dangerous, and teach them how to speak up when something is wrong.”

It’s hard not to give in to despair this morning, not to see only defeat and give up on the future. I don’t feel much like doing anything this morning – not writing, not talking, not going to KFAI for the Morning Blend show. We do need some time to sleep and heal and recover some energy. But in the end, acting is important. Mollie Stone wrote last night:

“A lot of people are wondering what to say to their children in the morning. I am reminded of this quote by Mr. Rogers:

“When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, ‘Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.”

“Let’s be the helpers.”

If you can give someone a hug, do it. If you can talk or cry with someone, do it. If you can make dinner for some friends, do that. And get ready to move beyond the safety of friends, back into organizing in the community.

Organizing gives strength. Being in community gives strength. This afternoon, there’s another weekly vigil at the Lake Street Bridge – it’s called “we still say no to war.” At 4:30 on the bridge – you can find some kindred spirits who have been resisting war through Democratic and Republican administrations.

We must not give up. This morning, today and then one day at a time, each day after, we need to continue to resist fear and hatred. We need to educate. We need to organize. And we need to take care of each other.