I know that one day our grandchildren will ask us what we from the land of plenty did during the humanitarian crisis in Syria. Will we answer that we stood beside Trump and Putin in silent compliance? What kind of America turns her back on drowning children and deports people to certain death? My sisters and I marched against this desecration of our nation.
There’s been a lot of conjecture about the Women’s Marches that took place across the country on January 21. Some offensively believe the sole purpose was not to strengthen women’s rights, but to oppose the newly inaugurated Trump. Many women of color grapple with national sisterhood because so many White women incomprehensibly voted for Trump. Others (with expertise at burying their heads in the sand) see no need for women to march in 2017’s America.
I was there and I can tell you what the march means to me. It means that I am bound to my sisters from my neighborhood as well as from every curve of the Earth. I believe in our rights and I mourn how they are violated. I believe that my sisters in Flint, Michigan and my Standing Rock Sioux sisters deserve clean water. My arms are open to Syrian sisters and their children in flight from horrors I can’t even imagine. I stand beside African American sisters who bury sons guilty of nothing more than carrying Skittles. I commit to protect my Muslim sisters from a registry and all other attacks fueled by bigotry.
And I realize that Donald Trump will further desecrate women’s rights. I am not alone in these beliefs and the crowds of people marching proved it. We found sanctuary in one another and promised to stay active.
Regan Manwell Sowinski and LaShonda Glenn at Detroit’s Sister March.
Trump has already infiltrated that feeling of solidarity and no doubt inflamed his carpal tunnel signing repugnant executive orders in his first week. Activists have most-visibly mobilized against his order to restart Keystone and Dakota Access oil pipelines. And we should. The very least we can do is try to protect clean water for the Standing Rock Sioux.
Now, we’ve risen to oppose his order to slam America’s doors in the face of refugees. Not just any refugees, mind you. He is most interested in ejecting Muslims who hail from countries with which he has no business ties. His own wallet remains his primary interest.
In the nation of immigrants, Donald Trump has fulfilled his campaign promise to attack Muslims by signing an executive order banning Syrian refugees indefinitely and all others for at least 120 days. When Trump authorizes the federal refugee program to resume, he will halve the amount of people allowed sanctuary in America.
I know that one day our grandchildren will ask us what we from the land of plenty did during the humanitarian crisis in Syria. Will we answer that we stood beside Trump and Putin in silent compliance? What kind of America turns her back on drowning children and deports people to certain death? My sisters and I marched against this desecration of our nation.
Today and every day, I am calling to compel my Senators to withhold consent ( a procedural maneuver that puts Senate business on hold for days at a time) and to filibuster every bill until Trump’s anti-American executive order is rescinded.
Trump is not only thwarting people from joining our country, he’s assaulting immigrants with an executive order that will punish sanctuary cities by withholding federal funds if they don’t comply. My beloved Detroit is a sanctuary city, so his signature definitely has my hackles raised. Before this xenophobe took office, I had pride in Detroit’s anti-profiling ordinances that bar law enforcement from asking people to confirm their immigration status during interrogation. He has slashed sanctuary in the jugular on the same streets upon which my sisters and I marched.
Even more disturbing is how his executive order broadens why immigrants can be deported. Previously, an immigrant would have to be convicted of a crime before his or her immigration status was exposed. Now, Trump’s change in policy means an immigrant may be deported if an immigration officer believes the person poses a risk to public safety. This turns a person’s life into a subjective decision made by human beings who undoubtedly have their own biases about immigration.
Documented immigrants already justifiably fear law enforcement because of being profiled. Trump has just turned up the volume on ensuring that citizens in immigrant enclaves won’t call police with information or even if their very lives are in danger.
Trump’s mission is to deport immigrants to whom he is not married and refuse refuge to those most in need. Syrian and Iraqi refugees desperate for survival now have no hope of sanctuary in the land of the free. We must not let him win. We must resist.
Yet, I feel that a show of solidarity is missing. We need a unifying sign that distinguishes us from Trump devotees. We need a daily reminder that we are the popular vote and the people who believe in his hateful rhetoric are the minority.
We must make the resistance visible. Vietnam War protesters wore black arm bands with white peace signs. I imagine that when protesters saw another’s armband they felt a swell of solidarity and a renewed sense of purpose. I yearn for that same comfort of community and symbol of activism now.
My sisters and I were inspired by Detroit’s Women’s March. We propose the unifying symbol of a green wristband simply debossed with #ResistTrump. Countless anti-Trump organizations are already steadfast in resistance and they often promote their efforts on social media with the hashtag. Wearing #ResistTrump will remind us that we have instant access to a community teaming with people who won’t let hate win.
Best yet, proceeds from the wristbands go directly to the American Civil Liberties Union and the International Rescue Committee.
www.resisttrumpwristbands.com
Those who choose to wear the wristband commit to and communicate the following:
1.) The popular vote did not elect Donald Trump.
2.) We diligently monitor the Trump administration.
3.) We are a legitimate network, able to speak and listen via the hashtag #ResistTrump.
4.) We will rise up in communion to resist policies which threaten us.
5.) We will not ignore or become complicit in the wake of classism, racism, sexism, xenophobia, Islamophobia, and homophobia.
6.) We have hope.
I want to become a Sanctuary Self, wherein my rights to affordable health care, reproduction, religious freedom and personal safety are held sacred. More importantly, I want to become a Sanctuary Sister, wherein I am able to partner with my brothers and sisters in humanity to protect the rights of immigrants whom are our “tired, [y] our poor, [y] our huddled masses yearning to break free.”
If I ever become complicit or nod off during my turn at the watch, I will snap my wristband and remember to be bold. I will call my state and federal senators again. I will donate to opposition groups again. I will march against hate again. I will boycott Trump-friendly merchandise again. I will push to make mine a sanctuary state again.
I’ll employ this bit of aversion science to ensure that my wristband is more than a fad; rather, it is an accelerator to disrupt Trump’s toxic policies.
My wristband’s green hue will remind me to remain steadfast in the hope of a post-Trump spring; a time when our vigilance against his regressive policies will birth an America that is authentically great for the first time.
A Trump presidency threatens our way of life and that of those closest to us. It is time to prepare, to watch, to rise and to act. Will you join us?
Please visit www.resisttrumpwristbands.com to join the movement.