Forward

One thing that gives me hope: After the 2016 election there was MASSIVE infighting on the left immediately. The need to assign blame the very next day seemed to be everywhere. There was no room for grief because we immediately started to blame each other. Maybe it was the fear. We blamed Hillary, we blamed “bernie bros,” we did everything except blame the people who voted for this motherfucker.

This time I see my people reaching out and receiving comfort. We must take time to sit with feelings of grief, sadness, anger. That is radical and revolutionary. Let people grieve and even despair. Despair is not unsurvivable. We can feel the full depth of our emotions and still come back from that edge. Feel the full horror of realizing what this country is: a death cult built off of a foundation of patriarchal white supremacy. It’s terrifying, I agree.

One thing I want us to keep in mind is that when Republicans lose elections (yes, they used to lose all the time) they don’t blame each other. When Republicans lose they blame Democrats. When Democrats lose we blame Democrats. While it’s admirable to want to take responsibility for your own actions is it really us we need to analyze? To fight? No. They don’t blame their most radical elements for being too radical. Their radical elements also don’t refuse to vote, I suppose that’s the advantage of having a voting base with no real conviction of their values. Refusing to engage in the system only protects the privileged.

Maybe this time it would be more useful to blame the 71 million people who voted for this motherfucker. Maybe this time we can turn outwards and face the real enemy instead of convincing ourselves that we are the problem. I know it’s scary to face them. They love violence or they passively rely on state violence to preserve their privilege. They believe they have the right to do whatever it takes to benefit themselves, to act in a way they think is self preserving. They do not see other human beings as their responsibility, cannot rise above their own petty concerns to expand themselves morally.

But we have to be brave, for real this time. We are not the problem. Moral purity tests are the problem. Being as hard on your comrades and community as the enemy is is the problem. Holding onto illusions like the safety of respectability is the problem. The 71 million (as of the time of writing) are the problem. White people’s refusal to cast off our cloak of privilege to save the lives of others is the problem.

Go and be with your people. Feel your feelings. Honor them. Disrupt your life for them. Numbness only serves the enemy. It only feeds the despair. We are strong enough to feel these things, we can do hard things when we have to. Humbly I offer crumbs of hope. You can put them to the side until you’re hungry for them if you need to.