Millions of Reasons Why I Won’t be Watching the Inauguration

On Friday, January 20th, Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts, Jr. will swear in a candidate who has done more to divide this country in the last 12 months than he has to unite it. He has put himself ahead of others countless times. He has propped himself up as the answer to all that plagues this nation.

Don't want to be afraid of Islamic extremists attacking you? Keep out everybody with brown skin from one of those Middle Eastern countries.

Want to protect this country from the Mexican drug trade and those rapists and murderers? Build a wall.

Think women are worth less than men, only emotional because they’re hormonal? Make sure to imply they’re on their period when they challenge your answers during a primary debate.

Want to be part of the new administration? Marginalize, discriminate, cheat, lie, and be wealthy.

The same week we celebrate the life of Martin Luther King, Jr., the man who fought for equal rights and representation for a race of humans that never should have had to fight for it in the first place, we will exalt and celebrate a man who has admitted to raping women, called protesters crybabies, undermined and undercut anyone who has dared to stand against him, and ridiculed the FACT that people are calling out his hypocrisies.

I do not believe the next president deserves my respect. He has done nothing to earn it. I will not fall in line just because he's my "leader." I live in a democracy. I do not live in a country under communist or monarchical rule. I live in a country where I am allowed to speak freely against what I perceive to be prejudice and injustice.

But I also live in a country where I still feel as though I HAVE to see movies that feature, or were created by, women and people of color because they need my support, my dollars, and my voice to keep making these movies, to legitimize their contributions.

Women have contributed greatly in this country and around the world in the realms of science, technology, literature, liberation, government, entertainment, and so much more. We have influenced politics and art, have been awarded and recognized for excellence in our fields. And we still have "firsts."

In 2016, we finally had the first woman calling prime time Major League Baseball games and appearing as an analyst on ESPN's Baseball Tonight and Sportscenter. Jessica Mendoza is a gold medalist. She has achieved the highest honor and recognition in her sport. She has had endorsement deals. Her name has appeared on equipment and apparel. (I once owned a softball bat with her name on it.) And, yet, she wasn't done. She wasn't done breaking down barriers and marching on, standing out, and stepping up. She joins many other women in a very specific field, sports broadcasting, in laying the foundation for what is still to come.

Maybe someday there will be a woman in the booth for Monday Night Football, not just on the sideline. Perhaps we will witness profitable, well-supported professional sports leagues for women that are lauded and praised and funded by women and men alike.

Let’s see a continued push to recruit, train, and hire women in STEM fields (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math). And, not just a push, but committed effort to do so. We need to reach out to women leading in their fields and put them in positions where they can be successful, not demanding them to prove their worth or feel like they must earn the same immediate respect and recognition that a male counterpart with the same education and experience will receive on day one.

And now to people of color. Is it the threat of the majority no longer being as it is that causes so much fear and hatred of people whose skin pigments are darker than and different from white? Is the shape of someone's nose or the texture of their hair enough to set them aside, to demand authority over them? ABSOLUTELY NOT!

In the search for order we can not trample justice, equality, and unalienable rights. The Founding Fathers were correct when they identified those rights in the Declaration of Independence as life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. They were wrong when they declared those rights were only accessible to white, American males. This is a country where we set out to open our arms to those fleeing oppression at the hands of their country - whether that be because of religious persecution or genocidal warfare. We came to this place for the same reason centuries ago. We can not deny those desires to others just because we got here first and made the rules.

I can not, and will not, stand behind an administration that includes men who spew white supremacy and use the media and their positions to spread misleading and false reports of the things minority groups have done or represent. There is a man in a chief strategist position, who has the ear of the next president, who has allowed his media outlet to post articles titled “Why Equality and Diversity Departments Should Only Hire Rich, Straight White Men”, “The Solution to Online ‘Harassment’ Is Simple: Women Should Log Off”, “Donald Trump Would Be the Real First Black President”. Whether he wrote these articles himself or not, an editor is responsible for the work in his publication and these articles, as their titles suggest, do not speak kindly or highly of vulnerable groups. What do we teach the children of the world, the next generation, if we’re promoting and highlighting people who speak this way?

This should be a country that stands by the message on the Statue of Liberty: “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free” and applies that not just to foreigners but recognizes there are people within who need to hear those words and receive that comfort right now. People who have been waiting for generations, who have been lifting their voices and working their tails off and PLEADING for respect and justice. Instead of being met with open arms and open minds they have faced barricades and ridicule. They have been chastised and punished for even daring to dream of living life on an equal and level plane as the majority.

We have not achieved MLK Jr.'s dream. We still judge people by the color of their skin and not by the content of their character. Sure, our schools and workplaces are integrated. We no longer have separate bathrooms, drinking fountains, libraries, coffee makers, or seats on buses for colored and white people. We laugh at the absurdity of these things now because they are just that and how did we not see that just 60 years ago?

How true is this quote from the new movie Hidden Figures today? "I'm a negro woman. I'm not going to entertain the impossible." How do we make the words spoken here, uttered by a brilliant woman in Hampton, VA in 1961, untrue? What is still impossible for women, people of color, and especially women of color?

The name of this blog is "Here I Stand." It's just ambiguous and broad enough that it allows me to write about all kinds of things I'll stand for and with. It's a place to lend my voice, to be one of the millions rising up to say no to inequality, injustice, deceit, underhanded business dealings, discrimination, authoritarian intimidation, misogyny, and inadequate, uninformed, and unqualified leadership.

I believe in being informed. I believe in not being blind to what's happening in the world. But I will not watch any part of the inauguration. It is my right as a citizen of the United States of America to make that decision and not be forced to change it. I do not want to watch the pomp and circumstance that will surround a man I do not believe is qualified to be president. I didn't vote for him. I never even considered it. My heart will hurt alongside others who feel the same way. I will weep for those who fear an increase in marginalization and injustice with a new administration that borders on a regime.

Here I stand. I stand with you. I stand for you. I stand for your children. I stand for our present and our future. I stand with the Bradshaw family, the Ross family, the Arnold family, the Brown family, the Shaw family, and the Ohm family - just to name a few. Will you stand with me?