Don't Agonize, Organize!

Democracy had its way with us last week.  A majority of voters, about 76 million citizens, are surely satisfied with their choice of Donald J. Trump to return to the White House.  A minority of voters, about 72 million, are disappointed that their candidate, Vice President Kamala Harris, lost the election.  Democracy is all about winners and losers; if our candidate loses, we can’t say that Democracy failed — in fact, it worked.  And, Churchill said, Democracy is the best option we have, all other forms of government considered.

But the 2024 election was not a typical election, and the real question for Democracy is not whether November 5, 2024 was a fair election — it was despite some critics wanting to say otherwise.  The real question we need to be concerned with is whether Democracy will survive a second Trump Administration, given the threats he and his cronies have made throughout the campaign.

President Trump, himself, said on numerous occasions that he “will be a dictator on Day One,” and he is on record as having told his rallies that this will be the last election ever in America.  He has said he will mobilize the military to deport as many as 20 million immigrants.  He has also said he will arrest journalists and other “enemies” who disagree with him.  His crony Elon Musk (the richest man in the world right now) is on record as supporting replacing Democracy with “high status alpha males” as the only people worthy of governance power.  Another seedy crony, Steve Bannon — recently released from jail after serving time for contempt of Congress — said that the new Trump administration would impose “rough Roman Justice” (whatever that means) on the Justice Department, the FBI, MSNBC and a host of other targets of his ire.

Will any of this really happen?  It’s a long road from rhetoric to reality.  Never forget that as much as President Trump promised to “build the wall” across the 2000-mile southern border (and have Mexico pay for it), the reality was that his administration replaced about 450 miles of prior barriers and built only about 50 miles of new barriers; he used money taken from the military budget to pay for his short fence.  The difference between threats and realities is many, many miles both literally and figuratively.

Trillions of pixels on computer screens (we used to cite barrels of ink, but who uses ink these days?) have been sacrificed by the commentariat dissecting what happened in the 2024 election.  Some of the commentaries are insightful, some are ridiculous, all seek to lay blame, assign responsibility, explain what is largely inexplicable.  Why so many millions of Americans chose Donald Trump with all of his known corruptions — a habitual liar, a convicted felon, a well known sexual abuser, twice impeached and known to have absconded with top secret documents now located in a basement bathroom at Mar-a-Lago — why he was more appealing to be our president than a competent, experienced candidate who happened to be a woman of color is something that the political wonks will debate for years to come.

I will not get drawn into the election analysis except to say this:  while deeply discounted by some pundits, I believe we simply cannot ignore the sexism and racism that courses beneath the surface of American politics.  Vice President Kamala Harris was the second highly talented woman to be rejected in ten years, joining Hillary Clinton in the dubious hall of losing presidential candidates who happen to be female.  I believe a woman will win in my lifetime (I’m getting older, so hurry up!), but against a more conventional candidate not named Trump.

Turning to the most important issues at hand:  how our students, faculty and staff at Trinity respond to the election and the new Trump Administration is a concern for all of us, and we must seize this moment to move forward together with purpose and confidence.  In a virtual town hall meeting last week, with more than 100 participants from our campus community, I heard repeated expressions of sadness, anger, fear, despair and deep concern about what will happen next.  All of these feelings are legitimate, and as we said in the forum, we must be present to each other to listen, support, talk through the options before us.

In the end, though, we cannot sit on the sidelines and sulk.  We must engage in the hard work of continuing to build good communities imbued with hope and justice for all.  It’s not up to President Trump — WE must seize this moment and act to make things right for our classmates and colleagues, for our families and friends, co-workers and neighbors.  We gain nothing by holding back; we have a lot to gain by moving forward, together.

Don’t agonize, organize!  That’s an old activist saying, but so true!  What does that mean?  In the weeks ahead, we’ll have opportunities for further campus discussion in large groups and small, but here are some examples:

– Education is the most powerful force we have to combat authoritarianism!  As Trinity Women have done for 125 years, let’s be absolutely excellent in our academic studies and intellectual attainment, and let’s bring that excellence to our communities in the cause of social justice.  We can and we must make a difference for others, as we have done through dozens of prior presidential administrations!

– All politics starts locally, and there are numerous local organizations that would welcome the engagement of Trinity students, faculty, staff, alumnae and families.  Consider getting involved here in D.C. with the local Advisory Neighborhood Commissions, or the education councils in the wards, or other community organizations.  Or maybe your church has a volunteer opportunity, or our local schools.  There are thousands of ways to get involved in your communities, and at a time like this, engagement with other concerned citizens doing good work for their communities has both healing power and the power to make good change.

– Speak out!  Don’t hold back, use the gifts of your Trinity education to write and speak — to Councilmembers, members of Congress, the White House and agencies.  If you are sitting at lunch saying, “Why don’t they….” go right that down and send it out.  Join the Trinity Times and write articles about topics of concern to you.  Create a blog on substack or medium, or write letters to the editors of papers and media sites.

– Give witness to your beliefs in group action — whether joining a women’s march, or marching in solidarity with labor, or participating in a Black Lives Matter program, or working with United We Dream or other immigrant rights groups, or demonstrating for gun control, or joining a teach-in on climate change, there are numerous ways in which you can be part of speaking your truth to power, be involved!

Finally, please tell me and our colleagues what’s on your mind, where you need help, what really worries you.  We want to provide the support and resources as much as we can to help you manage through this time of stress and uncertainty.

For our undocumented students, we are working with our immigration partners to develop additional resources to support you, and our team will provide more information in the coming weeks.

For students who are dealing with racial injustice, or discrimination on the basis of gender or sexual orientation or nationality or religion or language, please tell us what you are experiencing so that we can develop good plans to help you.  Trinity is a safe space, you should feel that you can communicate with our administrative team and faculty in confidence and with privacy.

Together, we can and will make a difference!  Together we can keep moving forward toward our longstanding goal to make this nation “a more perfect union” despite today’s many political challenges.  Remember: a presidential term is just four years, and the pendulum is always swinging.  This election is hardly the end of the American Experiment; historians will look back on this moment as an awakening of new generations, perhaps an aberration, but also as a fulcrum to propel us forward toward an even stronger Democracy.  Yes, Democracy — it will prevail!