I voted…and I voted early.
Before I begin, I will start by admitting that I am a true democrat, and I chanted the hashtag mantra… #IAMWITHHER. I supported the democratic presidential nominee, Hilary R. Clinton, because she represented many things for me, including possibly becoming the first female president of this free world. She also gained my support because she didn’t expel hatred into the world, promoting racism, violence and sexism. Now many would argue that she had a dark cloud that hovered over here during the campaign that consistently pointed to the corruption of exposed emails on her personal server. No one is perfect, and I’m sure many people were hung up on her email controversy. I wasn’t concerned with the emails, because my attention was spent on the republican nominee that dispelled hatred, bigotry, racism, sexism, exploitation, white supremacy, white privilege, and derogatory idealism.
I decided to take advantage of the early voting privilege and head out to the designated polling stations one week earlier than the official Election Day. I’m sure my real motivation was the fact that I was suffering with a bronchial cough that often made me feel my lungs were tearing apart internally, and I couldn’t predict whether or not I would be alive to actually vote on Election Day. (But as many of my readers know…I am very dramatic and it’s always about me.) On a serious note, I really wanted to hurry the race along, as my mind and my social media timeline was flooded with too many anti Hilary Clinton and anti Donald Trump campaign ads, and anxiety forced me to release the hold on my mind by casting my decision.
The amount of early voters was very surprising. The long lines incited a clear indication that the election would be really tense and warrant many cocktails while waiting for the results. The state in which I live in is highly democratic, so I wasn’t worried about whom the winner would be. However, last night, I forced myself to scan through the many news channels to peek at the early results, and found myself gasping for air at the amount of supporters who showed up and voted for Donald Trump. I couldn’t cope with the idea that this racist individual who publicly shamed many non-white races and encouraged violence against anyone who didn’t support him, could possibly win the race. Even though the majority of his supporters were white males, the other supporters were the same ones who he has insisted he would build a wall to keep them out of this country; and the others who were living poorly and living in hell.
I went to bed last night with the intentions to keep my spirit calm and to deal with the results in the morning. I awoke this morning at 5am, and I quickly scanned my favorite news channel. The headlines gripped my soul. The text read across the screen, “Donald J. Trump won as the President Elect.” My core became queasy and my disdain for America heightened. I questioned many things in a matter of minutes, leaving me teary eyed. I wondered how many people across the US actually exercised the right to vote, whether it was early or on the actual Election Day.
People please understand that your vote does count…and even though the Electoral College has the final say with distributing their votes, its based on the popular vote for each state. We have four years to regroup, and rebuild. Let’s make it purposeful.
I am hopeful, but I am also anxious and fearful for the future that now includes many racist bigots that were no longer hiding in the shadows, but out front, armed with their pride of taking their country back.
— Be fearless in your faith and stand firm in your beliefs.
Jahzara the Savvy Diva