Today is my daughter’s 12th birthday. It is also the inauguration of America’s 45th President. As far as my daughter, Evie, is concerned, two worlds have collided and she is not happy about it.
For months now she has lamented such an event, wailing with all the drama exclusive to 11 year old girls. We have laughed indulgently many a time before politely asking her to bring the amateur dramatics down a notch or two, because, really, it was never going to happen.
And yet here we stand on this fateful day, about to watch (or not watch, as the case may be) as a shameless, petulant, egocentric megalomaniac becomes leader of the most powerful country in the world. The implications are nothing short of chilling.
But perhaps, after all, there is a certain ugly beauty to all that has happened. Maybe if things had ended differently, we would have all given a collective sigh of relief at the joke that never was and returned to our fool’s paradise. Meanwhile the hatred, racism and bigotry, subtle and insidious, would have continued to foment.
Now it has been pulled from the shadows where it has spent too much time lurking and has been placed squarely in the bright light of day. Here, it refuses to be silent and afraid and challenges us all. Challenges us to pick up the fight for those who can’t and stand shoulder to shoulder with those whose voices have been silenced for too long.
Mikhail Fishman, editor-in-chief of the Moscow Times wrote after the election, “Never before in its 240 years history has America known so little about what will happen next.”
Truer words have never been spoken. We none of us know what will happen after today. We can speculate as to how the end may arrive and the damage done along the way. Wonder as to who or what may be involved, how it will all play out. But the end will come and I would hazard a guess that this President will, eventually, be hoist with his own petard.
Meanwhile, we can only focus on what we do know. That everyone who walks this earth, regardless of age, sex, gender, race or sexual orientation deserves to be treated equally and with respect. That everyone has a story that is theirs alone to tell. That when people are well cared for, well fed and well educated there can be no hate.
A man who lacks wisdom, integrity and moral fibre can only topple a nation if the nation stands silent. And it will not. Together we can stand up and fight for all that is right and good and watch as the clouds roll back and the sun shines through.
And so today this household will not watch the celebration for an incoming President. Instead, this household will celebrate the birthday of a 12 year old girl whose kindness and thoughtfulness runs deep and true and whose sparkle and joy lights up a room and never fails to make us laugh. We will celebrate the hope of a much brighter future for all children than the one we are staring at right now, because, quite frankly, I don’t ever again want to explain the meaning of something like the Pussyhat Project to my daughter.
Today we celebrate a birthday. Tomorrow we march.
(photo by Tara Wolf for Pudding & Mess)
