Love it when I wake up and Joe Biden is president.
In case you live under a rock, Donald Trump unceremoniously (literally unceremoniously, the sore loser skipped the traditional inauguration ceremony) departed the White House earlier this week so Joe Biden could swear in as the 46th president of the United States of America. You love to see it.
Even though the totalitarians down in the valley keep working to get this Arizona voter’s COMPLETELY VALID drop-off ballot invalidated (yes, it’s absolutely infuriating, by the way), justice has prevailed and — just — like in 2016, the voice of the people electoral college has prevailed.
Democracy, bitches.
For the past decade or so, I’ve kept my mouth shut on political issues. Why? Several reasons. First of all, I’ve been on my left-leaning liberal bullshit since middle school, when I voted for Al Gore in our social studies mock elections. I’m pretty sure I was the only person in my sixth grade class to vote for Gore, actually. Bush won that mock election by a LANDSLIDE… and the environment lost.
For those of you who don’t know, I grew up in the Village of Clinton, Michigan. No, not Clinton Township. The VILLAGE of Clinton. Population, like… 2,000. While Michigan has been a swing state for most of my life, the Village of Clinton is deeply, deeply red. I’m talking, like, Trump signs on every house red. Anti-mask signs on local businesses red. People openly engaging in homophobic and racist exchanges red. Red, red, red.
So, I never felt the need to shout from the rooftops “KERRY 2004” because, well, that’s how your car gets keyed in my hometown.
Then, when I got to college, I was surrounded by like-minded people for the first time ever. I know there’s a joke about how college turns people into liberals, but honestly? What’s wrong with obtaining an education, broadening your view of the world, seeing things from new perspectives and changing your opinions and beliefs? I was very openly liberal during college (how could you NOT be when you’re young and it’s 2008 and Obama — basically your generation’s Kennedy — is running for president?!) and felt pretty comfortable publicly expressing my political views. Hell, I was even part of my university’s Students for Barack Obama coalition.
Then, I signed my journalism major. Obama was elected, politics quieted down, and I learned about the cruciality of presenting myself as politically unbiased for the sake of my career.
The “Obama ’08” sticker came off my MacBook, the posts about voting “blue no matter who” stopped and — while I wouldn’t shut up about politics during conversations with close friends and like-minded family members — my social media presence went radio silent on political issues.
For 10 years.
When I worked at the Tribune, I had to sign a piece of paper once a year or at the beginning of every election cycle basically saying that I wouldn’t endorse candidates or publicly state my political views. That meant no, I couldn’t wear a “Bernie or Bust” shirt, I couldn’t put a “Clinton 2016” poster in my apartment window and I couldn’t tell people “hey, fascism is bad and that’s why I’m voting for the candidate that is not Trump.”
So, even while the right’s guy was mocking the disabled, accusing the media (LITERALLY ME AT THAT POINT) of being an “enemy of the state” and displaying signs of an authoritarian regime? Had to remain “politically neutral.”
We weren’t even allowed to attend the 2017 Women’s March which — while timed in accordance with the 2016 inauguration — was billed as an apolitical protest that was held to advocate for women’s rights. According to my former employer, my rights as a woman are considered political, and I was not allowed to publicly advocate for them.
Honestly fuck that.
So, while all the political drama of 2016 was going down, I had to refrain from posting shit on social media. I could post veiled and factual comments, like “oh did you know the United States has no official language?” and “There is this thing called the separation of church and state,” but I wasn’t allowed to say “I’m not voting for the fascist, and I’d encourage you to do the same.”
All of my friends got an earful during this period of United States history. I know there’s this whole thing about the “intolerant left,” but honestly? Call me an intolerant leftist. I don’t care. It’s not an insult. I don’t tolerate racism, xenophobia, homophobia, bigotry or the idea that anyone is “less than” because of their demographic or sociographic standing. So, yeah. You could say I’m pretty intolerant. You should be too.
Then, I quit journalism.
As much as I wanted to shout from the rooftops “DONALD TRUMP IS A FASCIST PIG” during my first moment of freedom, I didn’t. I wasn’t sure if I’d be trying to get back into journalism after the Peace Corps. I didn’t want to discredit my former place of work by publicly stating my political views after-the-fact. And also? I hate arguing on the internet. I hate trolls, I hate it when my computer screen gets my blood boiling. Life is short. I don’t want to spend it arguing with people who may or may not be Russian bots on Twitter, you know?
So, I just let it be. I went off to Ukraine, kept my mouth shut, focused on my language lessons and pretty much ignored U.S. politics for a while. I silently mailed my primary ballot (Warren 2020!) across the Atlantic and carried about my life.
Until last summer.
I’d just been evacuated from Ukraine. COVID cases were rapidly ramping up. National leadership was failing the public. Thank the Great Lakes that Michigan had a strong take-no-bullshit governor at the helm (s/o Whitmer!) because I had zero faith in federal leadership. Science was declared a hoax, the CDC was under attack, George Floyd had been murdered on camera and thousands of U.S. citizens — me included — were left unemployed and without a safety net during the pandemic.
I hit my breaking point. I grabbed a sign and a sharpie and headed to protest after protest in support of Black lives.
How fucked up is it that saying “Black lives matter” is a political statement?
(PS: It actually, technically, is not.)
I started wearing my Elizabeth Warren t-shirt in public. My social media comments became less veiled and more angry. I started calling and writing my elected officials. I publicly posted statements on social media about how Black lives matter, how trans lives matter — things that SHOULD NOT EVEN BE CONSIDERED POLITICAL.
But, even with all these statements I was making, I still hadn’t publicly posted about who I would be voting for. While I think it’s pretty safe to say that if you’re attending Black Lives Matter protests and posting about how you’re pretty fucking opposed to a violent insurrection slash attempted coup, some assumptions can be made. But, again, I don’t think human rights issues should be political. Apparently, other people do.
So, on Election Day 2020, for the first time ever, I publicly posted which candidates I voted for.
It was Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, obviously.
Honestly, Biden wasn’t my first choice. Or my second. Or even my seventh. I don’t consider myself to be a Democrat… mostly because I’m probably too far left even for the Democratic party. But, Biden was the only clear choice in this election.
I care about human rights. If you work a full work week, you should be able to pay ALL of your basic living expenses. Hard stop. No exceptions. Call me radical, but if someone is willing to spend 40 hours of their life every week contributing to capitalism so some billionaire somewhere can buy their ninth yacht, they should be able to pay their rent and put food on their table. Higher education should be affordable, and it shouldn’t be a requirement to live a stable and secure life. Institutional racism should be dismantled, and the systems that enable racism should be reformed. Religion should be removed from governance. LGBT+ rights should be protected and discrimination should end. Corporations should not be treated like people. Billionaires should not exist while poverty does. Climate change is real and the environment should be protected — there is no Planet B. Vaccines work, science should be trusted and medicine should be affordable. Birth control and safe abortion should be protected and made easily accessible. Women and POC should be paid the same as white men. Legal immigration should be a straightforward process. The United States has long been billed as the land of opportunity, and everyone should be granted the same opportunities.
After all, when we pledge allegiance to the United States, we’re pledging our commitment to “liberty and justice for ALL.” Not some. ALL.
These are all things I truly and whole-heartedly believe. Living in Ukraine made me appreciate the diversity of the United States, and as someone who was raised to be empathetic and kind, I believe that human rights are paramount. I believe that every single human life is valuable, and I want my administration to reflect that — because for the past four years? That hasn’t been the case.
(All lives can’t matter until Black lives do.)
I am hopeful that Biden will work across the aisle to institute some much, much needed change to our society. At the very least, I feel more optimistic this week than I did last week.
And, I’m proud to publicly say that I voted for a Biden/ Harris ticket in 2020.
As a reminder, my views don’t represent those of the United States Government, the United States Department of Agriculture, the United States Forest Service or the United States Peace Corps. THANK YOU HATCH ACT. Peace and love.
