She’s fighting back!
~ The Last Unicorn
Dear States
I wrote to you four years ago on the eve of a very different election, with a very different outcome. Then, you had let the fury of the red bull in through your front door, and I feared that it – and all it represented – would be there to stay.
Tonight, I watched the bull driven out…by blue, by – to continue my ongoing movie metaphor – by the sea. I watched you fight back. And I was amazed. Amazed at the narrow margin with which victory was snatched out of gnashing teeth (seriously, how did you let the race get that close? How?), and at the fact that – when the chips were really down – you came through for yourselves. Reluctantly and with great difficulty perhaps, but you came through none the less.
History was made this week. Exhausting, wrung out, drawn out history. I am aware that I only watch events unfold from beyond a border that remains closed, but the steps you took today and the decisions you made will change the world. And that is a good thing. It is a good start. Know that it will take the world – that it will take you – a lot of time to heal. In the midst of joyous celebration and dancing in the streets there are still millions of angry, disappointed people in your streets and at your helm that need to be dealt with. And the honest truth is, that some of the issues that the Red Bull made “normal” have to be addressed and dealt with properly, and healthily, so that they may once and forever be changed and eventually be rendered to the history books. The horror and the hatred that was brought forth in the last four years has always been simmering in your heart and your history, and perhaps – as painful as it was – it is a good thing that for a while you had someone steering you that forced you to see that side of yourself for what it is…so that you may now be better equipped to address it.
Tonight I saw a woman speak from behind a podium that I never honestly thought I would see occupied by a woman, let alone by a woman of colour. And behind her, I could sense the faces and spirits of all those who came before. All those who sacrificed and suffered and fought so that one day we could get to this point. So that one day every little girl could look at the world and go “yes, I could do that..that could happen”. And then…I saw a man, chosen by the public, exhibit such grace and kindness in his acceptance of that honour that it brought tears to my eyes. Is that man flawed? Oh yes, I have no doubt, because all human beings are flawed, there is not a one of us that is perfect. Will he be the perfect leader for you? I don’t know. But – as a friend of mine put it – you have just come out of a terribly abusive relationship, and you need someone who is even-keeled right now to help pull you back together. I hope, for everyone’s sake, that he is that man.
Be kind to yourselves in the coming months, be gentle with each other. You deserve that. Everyone deserves that no matter which way they voted.
The fight isn’t over. It is a long, rough journey to repair the damage that has been done, and an even longer one to repair the world’s trust in your once great nation.
But this…this is a start.
Thank you, for giving me hope, that I will one day be able to think of you as “United” once more.