Blogging in the Age of Trump

This blog is not a blog about politics. It is my space to write about issues related to parenting.

And yet…

It hasn’t even been a week since Donald Trump was elected president of the United States. For the first few days I was shocked that he won. I’m no longer shocked. I think I understand at least some of what happened. Remembrance Day gave me the space to shift gears and start to think about resistance.

Standing up for others

I have the luxury of being in Canada and not feeling like I am personally at risk to think about how I can be helpful and resist Trump and his supporters and copycats. My partner and I have been talking with our two oldest daughters about Trump and the danger he presents ever since he was nominated as the Republican Nominee. We have consistently encouraged them to speak up and help those who they see being bullied at school and to tell us or their teachers if they witness anyone being harassed because of the colour of their skin. This weekend we talked with them about some of the hate crimes happening since Trump’s election. We have reinforced the importance of standing up for their schoolmates and of telling us or a teacher about any situations that they see. We have added a caution to look out for their own safety first.

Trumpism at schools in Canada

I’d like to say that I can safely ignore what is happening in the US because I am in a different country and we rejected these kinds of politics in our last election . . . and yet . . . there were police reports today about a swastika and ‘KKK’ being spray-painted on an elementary school in the city. We have heard reports from friends about situations at their kids’ schools where kid were chanting in support of Trump or blocking access to the school to anyone who didn’t vote for Trump – which is ridiculous on several levels. At our school there was apparently a parade of kids marching around the playground chanting ‘Down with Trump.’

Even though Donald Trump was elected President of another country, he and his message have leaked across the border and are impacting kids in our schools and my role as a parent here in Canada.

Figuring out how to resist

I still don’t know exactly how I am going to resist the Trump ideology and the racists and sexists that have been emboldened as a result of his election win. As I said above I never intended for this blog to be a political blog. In the current climate I could write something everyday about Trumpism and the words he is saying and the actions he is taking – like appointing Steve Bannon his racist-in-chief yesterday.

I need to keep my family safe and I need to figure out how to help other families feel safe while actively taking steps to push back against the more public racism and sexism unleashed by Trump and Pence.

Handmaid’s Tale coming to life?

I want to return to a normal world where I don’t feel like I am watching the prologue to The Handmaid’s Tale. I had hopes that Trump would discover he had no idea what he was talking about on the election trail and he would get ground down by the system and turn out to a mediocre president who made poor choices about Twitter and governed in the mould of most Republicans. I had hopes he would appoint smart people who would help him do a relatively good job without violating the civil rights of tens of millions of Americans. The early signs are not good. I am actually more concerned about Mike Pence than I am of Donald Trump. I am pretty sure that Pence would feel most comfortable if he could install a theocracy in the US instead of this democracy thing.

It seems odd to write about regular stuff amidst the trauma resulting Trump's election.Click To Tweet

Shifting Gears

So I think what I am going to do here is try to return to my regularly scheduled programming and confine my posts about current affairs to one every week or so. I cannot turn a blind eye to what is happening. It is changing the world my daughters live in and I can’t stand by and not say anything. So I will speak up and I will use this platform to write about politics on a more regular basis than I originally intended. I’ll let you know when I figure out the actions I am going to take to support the women and people of colour in my community and push back against everything Donald Trump, Mike Pence and his more rabid supporters stand for.

I am not sure what my next post is going to be. I am going to write something not about US politics and the election fallout so I can bring some balance to my brain. I welcome your input on what you would like me to write about in the future.

[socialpoll id=”2400654″]