What now?

Our world has been turned upside down. The world is not as loving and compassionate as we thought it was. That seems to be a shock to a lot of people I know. As a person of color, that is not a shock to me. I've always felt that my education and my intelligence have elevated me to a place where it's very easy to forget that people who look like me have it hard. I'm not shocked that Trump won. I saw it as a possibility always. I have people in my life who say that they never saw it coming.

And it's clear that we're living in two different worlds. I keep reading Facebook posts and notice that a lot of my friends are trying to find theories to why he won - vote tampering, bad polling, Bernie voters who never rallied around Hillary - the list is long. There's an anger in this country that I've been aware of ever since high school when a bunch of friends talked in hushed tones about their Latino friends who got into the schools they wanted to get into because of affirmative action. A population of people feel like they're getting ignored. These people are privileged because of their skin color. And now the world seems unfair and they can use their privilege to do something about it.

And not all of these people are on the right. Some of these people who got complacent said that racism was over after Obama was elected. And they're shocked - SHOCKED - by the racism, sexism and homophobia still in this country. Because we have marriage equality, woman are getting better roles in Hollywood, and no one's getting lynched. We're a country divided.

As a young kid, some of my favorite TV shows were written or produced by Norman Lear. He changed the game. He pushed the envelope. He changed the face of television. We were a country divided then too - by Vietnam. Tensions were high because it was the first wave of civil rights. There's a group of people who never accepted that. And they've been given voice by our President-elect. They've been given legitimacy by his rhetoric. I loved all of those shows growing up and I've realized lately that there are more shows that seem to follow in that tradition. But that tradition needs a political climate to thrive. We're here now.

So what now?

My friend Cory and I were talking this morning about how our work feels more relevant - even work we were writing before the election - in this climate. I said that nothing's considered too political right now. I think we try to build understanding. And we do that by writing and sharing our work. We do it by trying to get our work produced. But if we're just preaching in our work and we feel that this climate gives us the right to be pedantic and scolding, then we're missing the boat. We need to bring people together more than ever. I need to feel closer to the person next to me, not further apart. And our differing political beliefs has the potential to divide us even further. We live in a niche society - super personalized to the point where we're separating ourselves more and more. We have news outlets that cater to the way we think. We have clubs and organizations and even industries that support one way of thinking. We're constantly preaching to the choir and making ourselves even more suspicious of anyone who doesn't think like us.

I have friends who didn't think they needed to be political in their work. We have a generation that feels like the word "feminist" is bad. We've gotten so privileged in our ability to walk down the street and not be verbally or physically attacked. The problems have disappeared enough - really, gone underground - that they don't seem like problems anymore. I look forward to the work that will be created in reaction and protest. I don't look forward to the world I might be living in right now. But if we react and protest, then we change. The responsibility has landed squarely back in our laps and not in the hands of politicians. I don't like what Susan Sarandon said about letting things fall apart for the revolution to happen. But now we're in that situation and now we have no choice. We got there ourselves. This could have been prevented. But now that we're here - and the revolution's here - we need to be passionate, irreverent, angry and active.

I've been pretty pissed about friends who have buried their heads in the sand for a week and then have emerged - "ready to do something!" And that something is a lot of Facebooking or a lot of talking about the things we should be doing.  The day after the election I emailed my theatre company and said we needed to get going with our new initiative to have a gathering space to respond to the things happening around us in the moment. I decided to rewrite our fundraising letter because we need money in order to do the things we want to do.  I did that. I took action. While so many of my friends are planning to get on an action committee to figure out what they should be doing and how to organize. That's what privilege gets you - time. I don't think we have time.

I wrote a Facebook post on Thursday in reaction to a hate crime on the campus I teach. That got a bunch of responses. Yeah, it was a stupid FB post and a small action. But I shared my story of feeling like I could be a target based on what I look like and how I act. This was a surprise to a lot of my friends and they felt horrible that I felt unsafe. They gave me warnings on how to "keep your head on a swivel." Like I haven't been doing that since I was a kid. I have a defensive stance and an angry face when I walk around because I'm used to having to be on the defensive. My armor's up a lot. This feeling of being unsafe isn't new! I'm sharing it with you now, so it might be new to you. But this is my everyday. And I don't crumble at the weight of that - I don't stay in bed - because this is my regular normal, my old normal. I have multiple targets on my back at any given moment, so I have no choice but to go outside and live my life. I have no other options.

So what now?

I continue to be the person I've always been - brave, bold and loud. And I continue the work I've always done, perhaps with a more receptive audience. That's all that changes - the world around me.

My intention is to be vocal.
My intention is to continue.
My intention is to be still and know.
My intention is to pay attention.
My intention is to entertain.
My intention is action.

I am grateful for conversations.
I am grateful for community.
I am grateful for love.
I am grateful for action.