Friday, 20 January 2017

Donald Trump's Inauguration. Seriously.

If you've read my blog previously, you might have noticed that I've written a fair bit about the fiasco that is Donald Trump and his being elected as President of the United States. You might wonder why I'm so bothered, I mean, I'm British, don't I have enough political issues on my mind as it is? Well yeah. I do. But at least I can get round most of them by thanking God my dad's Northern Irish and getting an Irish passport. Also, as much as I hate to admit it, America's a humongous player on the world stage, it's actions cannot be ignored.

It is horrendous that a person who's been accused of sexual assault, has said so many disgustingly racist and sexist things, is now the President of the United States with only 46% of the popular vote, because the Russians got involved. Those facts disappoint me incredibly. Unfortunately, however, it is done now, but I don't mean that in a defeatist sense at all. I actually think some good can, and already has come out of this election. Considering the only way to get through times of difficulty is to be honest about them, and then inject as much positivity into the situation as possible, hear me out.

Tomorrow, women are going to march on Washington. This is the website that tells you all about it: https://www.womensmarch.com/. This march, though it's bloody irritating that it needs to take place, amazingly, and thankfully, embodies true feminism as 'Women’s March on Washington (WMW) is for any person, regardless of gender or gender identity, who believes women’s rights are human rights.' - That's right from their FAQ, they are about EQUALITY, not men-bashing/hating, they just want it to be recognised that women are humans too and shouldn't be treated as less than any other human. If Hillary Clinton had followed Barack Obama into the White House, this march may very well have not taken place because both politicians appease more people than not. However, this doesn't mean that a march, a statement, a campaign, wouldn't have needed to take place, it just probably wouldn't have done.

On Wednesday night, people of the LGBTQ community danced in front of Mike Pence's (V.P.-to-be, very very very very very unfortunately) home. I think that's absolutely fantastic. Pence has been part of the 'Make America Great Again' nonsense, and has even suggested that conversion therapy should be introduced for homosexuals. He wants his 'land of the free, and home of the brave' back. So what did the people he's unbelievably horrible towards do? They demonstrated their freedom by dancing in his street, by moving their bodies, bodies they may have changed because they felt they were born into the wrong one, bodies that are attracted to bodies of their own type more than the opposite, or equally like both, bodies that Mike Pence has no right to harm in anyway shape or form. How brave and inspiring.
Music has often been one of the arts most used for protest, and this has definitely followed through to Donald Trump's election. Barely anybody has agreed to play at his inauguration, and those who have are nothing like Beyonce, Bruce Springsteen or U2, just some of the artists to perform at Barack Obama's inaugurations. The peaceful refusals are very honourable forms of protest. It can seem that when people are hurting they forget the hypocrisy in attacking someone for being horrible, by being horrible themselves, it doesn't work. In every conflict, 'killing them with kindness', is far more mature, surprises the opponent, and opens up productive discussion more so than violent opposition. Art and the legacy of Barack Obama has followed through with these new pieces from the same artist that created the 'Hope' poster of Obama. These are all available from the Amplifier Foundation as printables, with the hope that they are widely shared. 

 The foreseeable is definitely going to a difficult time for most, but that is no reason to feel defeated; the truest revolutions come from horrendous strife. I think as long as people stay kind, and good to one another, taking any opportunity they can to make a peaceful stand, things will get better. It's always darkest before the dawn.




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