This Is What America Will Be Like In 4 Years

In four years, we will not be celebrating the protected rights of Planned Parenthood. We will have not brought home thousands from war; we will not be celebrating the boosted economy, the jobs created, the crime rate dropping, and the acts and words of pure love given by the man in charge. We will not be mourning the loss of a president who builds women up, who thinks when women are doing well, the world is doing well. We will not be mourning someone who fed our hope, and allowed us to finally see exactly what social progression looks like.

I’m not exactly sure where we will specifically be in 4 years but I wonder, will people have had their families taken away from them? Will abortion be forbidden? Will the rights of the LGBTQ community be left for the state to decide? Will hate crime rise? Will other countries become our enemy? Will we have been so embedded with fear that we start to see every other skin color besides the color white as a threat? I don’t know.

Here’s what I do know:

In 4 years, half of this country will continue to stand with our LQBTQ friends. We will still contain the empathy we need to hurt along side our loved ones who are being oppressed. In 4 years we will still be damaged from the entire campaign of this new president, and God forbid if there’s more to come. In 4 years half of America will have been either taught, or reinforced, that being desensitized to hate is acceptable, in fact, it makes for a damn successful campaign. In 4 years America will be more divided than ever, regardless of every single success we see in these next years. We will continue to try and get other people to see and hear the needs of minorities; we will continue to stand up for freedom and for love. In 4 years we will have scratches, we will have wounds that are bigger than our national debt and more excruciating than every ounce of loss we have ever felt. In 4 years ALL of the women will still be pleading for respect, even the ones who elected this president. In 4 years half of us will be still ashamed, and it won’t be out of judgment, or hate, or disgrace, we will be ashamed because we have known what it’s like to be respected, admired, encouraged, supported, and guided with love for eight whole years before this time period ever happened.

In 4 years half of America will have navigated and worked through fear, and the other half will have thrived in it, ate it for dinner, and then acted with haste because of it.

In 4 years we will be celebrating our survival, even if it’s not as we have seen before. In 4 years will still be celebrating love, no matter what. In 4 years we will know more than ever how important it is to listen, understand, and hold hands with strangers. In 4 years we will go to the polling place and we will vote to elect a different president, we will be filled with the same fear as we feel today, but we will know how to work through it and proceed to fight for our cause so that one day, other people don’t have to.