J-Speaks: Women's Marches In U.S.

One day after the Inauguration of the 45^th President of the United States Mr. Donald J. Trump, a seismic occurrence took place. Many people converged on our nation’s capital and across the country to come together to express their feelings about our new leader of the free world. They marched in high numbers to send a message about what they want to see happen and what they do not want to happen. While it was a great show of solidarity, especially for women, it brought to the table some lessons that we all need to learn.

For starters, the greatest lesson the marches from New York, NY to Seattle, WA and, all- across the globe is that we needed this back on Nov. 8, 2016.

Our nation had a chance to elect a woman president, but the most qualified candidate in Hillary Clinton.

Do not get me wrong, the e-mail scandal that was hanging over her and the fact that the FBI investigated her for that on two occasions during the election did not help her cause. The fact that people brought her trustworthiness into question was a major issue for her.

The bottom line is that if everyone was so up in arms on Saturday about the results of the election, then they should have stepped forward and voted in the high numbers that they did in coming together to march on Saturday.

It is not just the fact that over half this country did not vote in high numbers for who would become our president, but the Republicans won control of the Senate and the House of Representatives.

During this past election cycle, the Republicans said what they were going to do if they were victorious. They were going to repeal the Affordable Care Act. They were going to defund Planned Parenthood and that they were going to deport undocumented immigrants.

Seeing what took place on Saturday was a sight to see, but this kind of enthusiasm needed to happen as mentioned earlier back on Nov. 8, 2016.

While marching, and expressing one’s feelings may be therapeutic, it will not change anything. Donald Trump will be our president for the next four years. We have the Congress that we have for the next two.

That brings me to the next lesson that Saturday’s marches should be taken in by the public. People have to become involved in politics and not just be participants late in the game.

Just voting in the presidential election is not enough. Becoming involved in local politics is just as important. Knowing who is running for State Senate; Mayor, Governor, Trustee, District Attorney, Attorney General, Councilman or Councilwoman to name a few. Learning why that person running and learning what they are about, what they stand for, believe in and care about.

It also takes people who want to see change in their state, town or city to get involved in the process. Getting signature for said person running for a certain position or purchasing a clipboard and going out and conversing amongst the people and learning their views and concerns that they have about their community, state or the country.

Another lesson from Saturday is understanding that for change to happen we have to go about in a peaceful and respectful kind of manner.

While most of the marches were peaceful over the weekend, there were a select few people who used that opportunity to vandalize stores and be disruptive. All that does is bring negative attention to those who are expressing their displeasure about something.

Seeing Donald Trump as the leader of the United States is one that hurts one’s heart and can darken one’s soul. He is our president and like other presidents before him, we have to give him a chance. If he is a disappointment, we should vote him out in 2020. If Congress is not guiding our nation to its fullest potential, we can vote them out in 2018.

At the end of the day, we all in the United States want the same thing. We all want to work and create a life for our families to thrive. We all have different ways of getting there, but we all want to get there.

For that to happen, it starts with all of us being a participant in our lives on a daily basis. From being involved in our schools. Being active participants in the political process from start to finish. Learning how to get along with each other, even when we disagree about an issue. Above all else, we as a world have to understand that communicating to each other and not at each other is how we will become better. Individually we have to respect ourselves and understand our worth and we have to respect and care for others like we would want to be cared for.