Mijn dochter woont in New York. Graag deel ik met jullie haar gevoelens:

Yesterday I woke up in a country that was free and welcoming. Today fog replaced the sun that still shined so brightly yesterday. Today, the skies are grey, the air polluted. America should not only be ashamed, but concerned about its mental state. To use Trump’s words: the “cancer” of our world’s body clearly is not only concentrated in the Middle East.

The leader of the “free” world. A man who discriminates, abuses, sexually assaults, and offends. A man who does not use democratic or well-formed argumentation, a man who does not listen, a man who does not believe in global warming, a man who does not believe in people’s good. A man who does not believe in the value or contributions of people that may not look like him or have been able to enjoy the same privileges he has. A man who only believes in the one-liner that embodies the superficiality and void spirit of the American people.

The day the American people elected Trump proved that women can work harder, be better, more experienced and qualified for a job and still have to compete and lose to men. Trump embodies sexism, xenophobia, discrimination, hate. Where America could have made the world move forward by electing the first female president, it took a leap backward. Obama’s legacy is crippled. A man who has worked so hard to obtain civil and human rights, equal rights for people- no matter if they’re men, women, gay, straight, black, white, Hispanic, poor, rich, young or old. He represented and demonstrated how the world’s body can take leaps forward. Constantly hitting and passing the same obstacles and barriers, but with every leap coming closer to the finish line.

Today, the country must mourn and get together with the people that they love. We have to force ourselves to believe in the good, in our own power, within and among ourselves. We must believe in love. We must hope and exercise our privileges and rights that our democracy grants us. We cannot lean back and give up. Defeatism is not the answer. Today there is fog, a warning and message the world has took a wrong turn. But behind the fog the sun did come up today. Because we live in a world that has been and will be. The sun will shine again, with or without Trump. We have to believe we have created a world that is so self-sufficient this ideologue cannot simply stop it. We have to think for ourselves. Think. Think about future generations. Your sons, daughters, grandsons, granddaughters. In what world will they be living.

Take responsibility. Do not simply follow, but be a leader instead. Think. Judge for yourself and don’t fall back in laziness and reluctance by surrendering to the harm that was done.

Be the change you really want to see in this world.