By Alisha Giampola (writer/performer)
This past weekend, the Women's March drew millions of participants around the globe (on all 7 continents! Yes, on Antarctica too!!) In response to the march, Trump tweeted "Why didn't these people vote?" A similar sentiment to "Why are you marching anyway? Bet you don't even know." We do know. we did vote. I voted. Every single person I went to the march with or personally knew who was marching voted. We marched because it was the first day of an administration that women and marginalized people everywhere fear. We marched to hold a leader, who has made it clear that he believes the rules do not apply to him, accountable.
I'm old enough to have seen how much or little effect government leadership has on my daily life. I've lived under a president I voted for and a president I didn't vote for. I've seen presidents that I like make bad decisions and presidents I dislike make good ones. But I've never been more scared of what an administration could do to me or the people I care about, who are going to be affected by his corruption, incompetence, solipsism, and greed. I'm concerned about the long term consequences of his leadership on a country that I love and a planet that I and the entire rest of the human population live on. This weekend's rally energized those of us who feel deeply concerned. We are more prepared than ever to spend the rest of his term in office being as involved as we can to do whatever we can as citizens to block his hateful policies. More people voted against him than for him. More people are afraid of his leadership than thrilled by it. I voted against this man, so I get to protest his presence as the leader of the country I love and live in.
In a world of "alternative facts", with people more divided politically than ever, and a growing group of newly awakened young activists (myself included) who are trying to make sense of what is and is not reality, I feel it's important to simply share what I see with my own eyes, what I know affects me and the people I love for others who might not be in my same situation. It's the division that already exists amongst us that will be preyed on in coming days as legislation takes away civil liberties or blocks environmental regulations. It has already begun, and it will continue as long as we allow ourselves to be distracted, apathetic, or prone to infighting.
So what did I see with my own eyes this weekend? I saw peaceful men and women come together in numbers unexpectedly vast exercising their constitutional right to protest, being supported by similarly peaceful men and women in uniform. I saw people who have been fighting the good fight for a long time and people who have never participated in activism before. I am deeply aware that this is only the beginning. We cannot smugly congratulate ourselves on a large and peaceful rally and begin to relax. The rally was a call to further action; not the only action necessary of concerned citizens.
The way administrations like this shape facts to suit their needs and squash dissent by painting those in opposition to them as thugs or criminals has been outlined for us many times in history and literature. They way to resist is to continue to call and write to our representatives. To demand to be heard. To compassionately listen to those who voted for him, hoping against hope that he would upend a system he's actually more than happy to use for his own benefit. To remember that this is not normal. Squashing the freedom of speech of scientists and the press by a president is alarming, to say the least. To remember that our inclusiveness and compassion outnumbers his egotism and hate. We even outnumber the very loud, very powerful, very privileged members of our government who now feel empowered to take off their masks of pretense and make laws to return our country to the past when life was more oppressive and dangerous for people of color, women, and immigrants.
Protest consists of so much more than marching. We can all legally resist the policies we disagree with at every turn. We can take simple daily steps like calling our members of congress every time we see injustice being legislated, every time liberties are squashed. Here are some good ideas of the everyday actions we can take under this new administration, but I challenge us as artists to do more. To use our talents to challenge viewpoints, uplift allies, inform and educate. Under other demagogues, in the face of other propaganda, reality as it was actually being experienced was preserved by the writers, the painters, the storytellers. I realize that this is the first time I've felt truly oppressed by my government and humbly recognize that is a real indication of my immense privilege. I stand with those less fortunate than I, especially refugees and minorities who are vulnerable to this administration's policies, and hope to use my privilege to help resist injustice and protect them. I, someone who has never been an activist, commit to activism now to protect my future, the future of the children I teach every day, the future of our planet, and the future of our collective faith in American democracy.
ALISHA GIAMPOLA is an NYC based actor/teacher/writer who hopes Ruth Bader Ginsburg is taking her vitamins.
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