On The End of the World As I Know It… and how to make a pussy hat!

Every four years the citizens of the United States chooses who will lead the country. It is a somewhat convoluted process of registering to vote, then actually being able to vote, followed by having those votes counted, then the winner of each state sends electors to actually select the winner who is then forwarded to Congress who seals the deal. At the end of it all, someone is inaugurated on January 20.

President Obama by Diane Bennett

In 2016, as everyone on the planet must know by now, former First Lady and Former Secretary pf State Hillary Clinton won the popular vote by nearly 3 million over businessman and reality star Donald Trump. But because DT won more electoral votes in an election that has been called into question because of Russian influence, DT will be put in office tomorrow, and we will say good bye to President Obama.

Eight years ago was a cause of celebration in this house. My son asked to stay home from school so we could watch the inauguration together. We celebrated four years ago as well when we each wore these “The New Groove” shirts with Obama on them.

Tomorrow we are not celebrating.

We are mourning.

After the disappointing election results came in, I was in denial and devastated. I didn’t blog much after this optimistic election post. Or this one on Wine Predator that again optimistically discusses Hamilton and duels.

As far as I’m concerned, tomorrow the world as we know it will end.

I am not a fan of the person who was elected.

I do not think he will take care of our planet

or the beings that live on it.

• As a woman, it terrifies me that he has bragged about sexual assault.
• As a taxpayer, it shocks me that he has bragged about not paying taxes.
• As a citizen, I see that his billionaire cabinet selections lack the qualifications necessary to carry out their tasks.
• As a graduate in Environmental Studies, I am afraid of his claims that climate change is a hoax.
• As a college teacher, it appalls me that he was fined $25 million because of his fraudulent university– and even more appalled that he still made millions on that deal.
• As an artist, I am disappointed that he has threatened to dismantle the National Endowment for the Arts.
• As a wildlife biologist, I am scared that we will lose more of the species that share this planet with us.
• And this just scrapes the surface of the turd that is stuck on our shoes until he is impeached, or he quits.

Fortunately, I am not alone.

Everywhere I turn people are speaking out.

Millions are planning on participating in protest marches around the world.

And I am grateful to be surrounded by friends and family who feel the same as I do.

Or at least along the spectrum from distaste to distrust to disregard to depression to dystopia.

Most importantly, I am surrounded by people who are taking action to #RESIST. At Ventura College where I teach, faculty have been meeting regularly to come up with strategies to teach in the time of Trump. (And yes, they are meeting off campus on their own time). Yesterday and today, faculty led students in making signs and t-shirts.

pussy hat by Ron Whitehorse who made MANY and is asking people to make a donation to Planned Parenthood

pussy hat by Marlayne Bellensen who also made lovely safety pins

 

 

And while somewhat controversial, thousands of furry pink pussy hats have been crocheted and sewn. Here’s how to make your own SUPER EZ furry hat with ears.

There are many ways to protest, to resist, to be active. Many people I know are flying to Washington DC to attend the marches and protests there.

In Ventura County, two protests are planned for Friday January 20, one in Oxnard at 1:30pm that starts in Plaza Park, and another from 3-6pm at the Ventura County government center on Victoria at Telephone.

Others are taking buses and carpooling to Saturday’s Women’s March in a major city near them. Over 600 marches are listed with well over a million people planning on participating.

While the Women’s March in DC, LA, SF, and Seattle will be HUGE and memorable, we are staying close to home. In fact, we will be able to ride our bikes to the March in Ventura that meets in Plaza Park at 10am then loops around downtown Ventura to return to Plaza Park for music and speakers.

If you are going to one of the many marches, it may be dangerous. There may be “ringers” people who are there to cause trouble, to create chaos. Do not give in. Stay calm. Stay peaceful. Follow these directions:

At this point, there are two messages that resonate most for me: one from MLK, and the other from the Bible. One is about justice, and the other love.  Many of us want to be moderate, to fit in, to not cause trouble. But if we don’t resist, then we are more “devoted to order than to justice.” I am willing to forgo a “negative peace which is the absence of tension” in order to achieve a “positive peace which is the presence of justice.”  And the way to get there is through LOVE.

If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing. 1 Corinthians 13 –

Thank you, President Obama. You weren’t perfect, there’s more I hoped you’d do, but you were awesome.  I enjoyed listening to you speak, and reading your words. I appreciate the challenges that you faced. As a parent, I admire how you are raising your daughters. The love that you have expressed to your family, to our country, to the world, to the various species and landscapes of our planet, is palpable, and your actions expressed that love. May we all step up and change the world through our actions that come from love.