Hope

Like millions of people across the county and the world, I am desperately hoping for a Biden-Harris victory, and not only a victory; I want a complete and total domination, a smack-down, a stomping. I will even settle for a slow burn, which ends four days from now as all votes are counted.

But what if it doesn’t go the right way? I imagine devastation, a total loss of faith in my country, tears, lots of angry and outraged tears, putting on a stable face for my students and my own children, worrying that this will push my dad into a true depression. My fantasy of packing up and moving to the Netherlands enters my mind.

Then, I opened up the paper this morning and read Petula Dvorak’s column about an irrepressible and hopeful force, the light will lead us out of the darkness: our young people. She reconnected with the young women with whom she spent election night back in 2016 when they were middle schoolers. The night was a crushing blow to their dreams of finally having a female president.

In the aftermath of the election, one of the young women shared feeling shock, and then fear of emboldened racists. Then, you know what? She decided she was angry and would do something about it. Each of the young women Dvorak checked back in with has “grown fiercer, more emboldened, more determined to make a difference.” They have won student body elections, organized marches, and made their voices heard. They see public action taking center stage in their futures. Yes, they will worry for the safety of themselves and those they love if Trump wins this election, but they will not be quiet, they will not sit still. Another of the young women said that if he wins, it will motivate her more to work with anti-racist groups.

My gut tells me we’ll have a Biden-Harris victory, a victory that Trump will try to steal without a shred of shame, but one we will have in the end. If we don’t, I need to stand up straight and be like these young people. I won’t go into all the devastating effects of four more years of what we’ve had since 2016, but there is hope. Edwin spent two hours in a meeting with Students Against Voter Suppression last night, laying out plans and connecting with SAV’s around the region.

Darkness will not prevail, no matter the outcome of the election, but you better believe I’m already wearing a hole in the floor.