Are We Ready for the Change We Need in America?

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Or will we mask our ugliness again and place it back in hiding?

Photo by Vlada Karpovich via Pexels

The United States of America has a new President-Elect and Vice President-Elect. The news was announced by way of several prestigious media outlets on Saturday, November 07, 2020, after a grueling week of counting ballots and watching electoral votes. If you have been as anxious and fear-ridden as I have, then that moment created an emotional sigh of relief for you. But what does this mean for America?

The last four years revealed who we really are as a nation. America’s previous president, who currently feels there has been voter fraud, falsely and boldly claimed he had been re-elected and has filed lawsuits in several states demanding recounts, has no intention of conceding professionally. His brutally inflated ego is losing its air, and we all get to watch an epic meltdown during a time of collective exasperation.

We are tired. We are worn thin. We have had enough of the evil that exists in the White House for the last four years. We all just want to move on with no further trauma caused by a man who holds the highest seat in the land.

There are those devoted to him — many are heartbroken. For them, their brief coming out and reveal of deep-seated hatred while given the floor to flaunt it has ended. Who will give them the green light to be who they are? Will they go back to being subtle in their actions or will the removal of their king give them the ammunition they crave to act on their core beliefs and continue their lawless behavior?

We are tired. We are worn thin. We have had enough of the evil that exists in the White House for the last four years.

Let’s get ready to do the work, America.

There is so much work that needs to be done in this country before anyone who is marginalized, oppressed, and at an incredible disadvantage can feel safe again. A list of important key factors were my concerns when I went to my local Board of Elections to drop off my ballot. They are: eradicating the Coronavirus, COVID-19 pandemic, implementing plans to end police brutality, recognizing that Black lives matter, climate control, and addressing the ever-present and undying elephant-in-the-room, systemic racism.

The shoes of the American president will be too big to fill this term. President-elect Joseph R. Biden will have to step up, stand tall, and prepare himself for a rocky and tumultuous ride in the face of a completely divided nation. Both he and Madame Vice President-elect Kamala Harris must be firm in their presence and forthcoming on their promises.

This will not be easy.

We are drenched in the scent of racism and cultural hierarchies, and the potency of the smell is getting stronger. What we have seen these last four years, and it is unfortunate to say, is the depth of what America looks like in her naked state. She has revealed herself to the world, and centuries of buried lies boiled to the top. The foam of our past will need much more than a spoon to scoop it from the pot. We need a complete overhaul and that will take more than the allotted four-year term.

Both he and Madame Vice President-elect Kamala Harris must be firm in their presence and forthcoming on their promises.

The damage is done.

The world watched us as we shook off our façade and they stood in total disbelief. But we knew — many of us have known for generations based on our ancestry and the history of this nation who America really is. So what will we do now to rectify this damage?

The optimist in me knows we will have to come together as one to make change happen. It should not be an US versus WE thing, it needs to be an ALL-IN approach and sadly, all of us will not agree with this. What will that do? It will keep America painted in its finest makeup for her public appearances while we continue to rot from the inside out.

Are we able to shift the hearts of our fellow inhabitants who have nothing but disdain and hatred for those different from them or will this wound deep within our hearts fester? The work necessary to bond a nation that has been torn in two will have to come from the core of every human being, and many will not be open to losing who they have been for decades to embrace who they should be for the greater good.

Are we ready for this kind of change?

The challenges that lie ahead for our newly appointed White House duo are many. How they operate to flesh out the parasites eating away at their hosts will be the determining factor of what and who we will be four years from now.

The optimist in me knows we will have to come together as one to make change happen.

Can America put aside its blatant arrogance, create long-lasting & authentic allyship, and move forward as one? Or will the vast majority of its children wear their masks until it’s safe for them to come out again?

We’ll just have to see. Won’t we?

Originally published via Medium.

27 thoughts on “Are We Ready for the Change We Need in America?”

  • “It will keep America painted in its finest makeup for her public appearances while we continue to rot from the inside out.” That is such a spot-on depiction of what we have to grapple with now. I think of Ibram X. Kendi’s analogy of racism (and bigotry of all kinds) to cancer. But when the patient has a split personality and one of them would rather die than be treated… Long road ahead.

    Liked by 1 person

  • OH My.

    I sympathize with your sentiments and appreciate your cautious optimism, but I fear we are all in for an extended conflict.

    It’s a cultural struggle scripted in the main by income and wealth inequality, storyboarded with a freighted and arguably sinful history, then typecast by political grifters who couch ’their” players as the only “true” patriots.

    It’s political theater, oppressively absurd.

    And it’s never curtains and the only thing certain is that a bevy of bad actors will occupy the stage and stomp upon those boards in hope of bringing down the entire edifice and efficacy of our republic. The plays the thing.

    Watch carefully the Democrat’s intramural kerfuffle; progressive versus centrist.

    And watch for the GOP’s brand new grassroots/AstroTurf Tea Party clone to green-shoot and start shouting by spring to give cover to a GOP Senate’s scorched earth-ism.

    And watch the career path of Stacey Abrams. A player with once in a generation political skills.

    Power To The Peeps.

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  • Democracy won by the breadth of a hair. It was a concentrated effort by ordinary Americans, who showed up as never before in the history of America. That’s something. The Black and Woman voters tipped the scale.
    That it was such a close call is very disturbing. The next four years will be pivotal.

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