Not
long after Trump announced his candidacy for President, I began following him
on Twitter. My logical, fact-bound brain couldn’t absorb the ridiculous tweets
attributed to this man, and I had to witness first hand that the racist, misogynistic
and narcissistic beliefs truly belong to him. They did.
When
Trump’ campaign came to San Antonio, I joined hundreds of protestors outside
the country club at which he spoke. My fellow demonstrators chanted and picketed.
We participated in peaceful dissent. At that time, hints of Russian involvement
within our election process didn’t seem believable. Robert Mueller’s indictment
of thirteen Russian nationals this week means we’ll soon learn more about the
exact way Trump and his cohorts manipulated media and voting. With 2018
midterms looming, I find it necessary to email and call my Congressional
representatives to beg them to do their jobs to safeguard future elections
within our country. Also, in response to this I’ve joined a local chapter of Indivisible
and completed the training to register voters within my county.
Many
of the Executive Orders signed by Trump will prove harmful to my family,
community and environment. I’ve written emails and made phone calls to protest.
I’ve used social media to educate those within my radius. I joined the San
Antonio March for Science after it became apparent this administration wants
key Cabinet positions filled with unqualified, small-minded personnel.
This
week’s slaughter, so close to the lives lost in Los Vegas, wrapped my mind in
foggy disbelief. I will make another round of emails and phone calls to remind
my representatives that the miniscule progress made on gun reform has been
stripped by this president. I will March for Our Lives in a few weeks. I will
hit Twitter and Facebook. I will write through my tears and heartache. I worry
that nothing will change. That my generation’s failure to protect everything (our environment, our health,
our security, our children) will overburden me. That I will give up. I realized
today that’s the goal of the opponents. They want us overwhelmed and
off-balanced as they pummel at rights and regulations.
I
am tired.
But Emma Gonzalez isn’t. David Hogg isn’t.
Cameron Kasky isn’t. Delaney
Tarr isn’t. Annabel Claprood isn't. These survivors, a year away from voting, will rip apart the
current political system. They will save us all.
Copyright 2018 Elizabeth Abrams Chapman
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