Holding Complexity in Tenuous Times

A win, yes. And, we must hold all the complexity in one hand. Celebrate, be in our joy and our relief, and also keep vigilant against complacency, and against the myths that have hopefully been shattered these last four years for so many. There must be space kept open for acknowledging trauma, healing, mourning, pain, and even fear, even as we embrace feelings of relief and victory. It is a win in that the conditions under which we can disrupt, reimagine, rebuild, change, have been sharply improved. And, it is a win that could invite what many of the most marginalized fear the most: neoliberal, capitalist complicity. I am attempting a sustained optimism that this is a win for a window of hope, even for those of us who are so rightfully exhausted, disillusioned, distrustful, and critical of this shift, even as we have cheered for and worked for its making.

Hope.

For those dancing joyously in the streets they've been protesting on for months. For the overwhelming percentage of marginalized people who voted in their interests, poised to hold a (hopefully) more responsive government accountable. For Black womxn and Indigenous peoples who voted against a scourge at such a high percentage. For Black and South Asian womxn and young ones who are seeing themselves in the White House for the first time. For those of them for whom representation is not enough, who demand more, who refuse a carceral politic and neoliberalist doctrine. For years of grassroots organizing, diligent voter registration efforts primarily by Black organizations, ongoing protests, a constructed wave of people dedicated to change taking up the work day in and day out—in this past year adding an utterly mishandled pandemic to the burden. For those who have awakened this past year, who have moved past the guilt of their years spent in refusal of the truth.

For those who recognize that this is not liberation. Not yet. That we do not get to rest on our laurels. That the past four years and its global effects were not an anomaly or outside of history. For those who understand that Trump's presidency has made a host of terrible futures that much more possible, both very soon and down the line. For those warning us to stay alert, that there is no normal to return to, that we must maximize any breathing room and space and openness that feels more accessible now. For those who are afraid, and for good reason, because they would be sought out and killed first in a coup or a civil war. For all those who have already lived through such times in countries the world over, who know that fear deeply, who have lost loved ones to such times, who understand in a way so many of us cannot that there is a chance, now, to avoid their past in our future. For those who fight for abolition, not reform. For those who believe the master's tools can never, will never dismantle the master's house.

For all those now poised to keep working, to require that a new administration prove their dedication to democracy, to eliminating state violence, to repairing our environment, to abolishing and reimagining that which does not serve the people. For everyone who has known since day one that Trump is a SYMPTOM, not the disease. That to use him as a scapegoat for everything fundamentally at issue is to refuse the truth of a history and present bent against supporting those who need it most. That to point only to Trump is to ignore 70 million votes for his rhetoric and aims. That there is so much work to do, to have done.

70 million votes. I am joyful and relieved, in some ways, but this is where our global work lies, now. 70. Million. Votes. And still, and still, the percentages of white voters who voted against challenging white supremacist patriarchy is over half, and has grown from 2016.

If you are wondering how, or why, we have arrived here, why the rise of trump and increased palatability of white supremacy has reared its head the world over, then you have work to do.

Are you ready?

Four days remain to register for ROOTS: Bloom, and I strongly encourage you to take the opportunity while it's here. This course is for those who are ready to take a decided step toward change, to the deep level of self knowledge we need to act in favour of social justice.

I have so much hope, still. So much to work for, to keep trying for.

It is time to put unlearning and action behind all of our hope.