magic on sunday: resistance, now.

last night, i sat a bar with my friend sam, and we somehow started talking to the guys next to us. and by somehow, i mean, the bartender was pouring them shots and i casually said, “um, what if you poured some of those for us, too?” followed by a smile and a laugh. over the course of the next 40 minutes our conversation veered into politics, and one of them casually and apathetically said that we have to just “give trump a chance and wait and see what he does,” implying that it wasn’t worth the energy to put his actions under a microscope. i outlined for him why that was dangerous thinking, that people in marginalized groups didn’t have the luxury to sit by and just “see what happens.”

this conversation went back and forth for a long time, and as someone who doesn’t love discussing politics, i asked to change the subject after it was very clear that this conversation would likely continue to go in circles for 40 more minutes. i asked him to tell me about some of his favorite new music, or to tell me about what he does, or where he’s from. he told me that he was a project manager at an interior design firm and asked me what i did.

“i work in advertising.”

just four words, to which he made an insane assumption:
“oh, see! you're a woman of color who has a better job than me!" as if he was trying to imply that my points about inequality earlier in our conversation were some how null given the fact that i work in advertising. mind you, i didn’t tell him the details of my experience or my position.

i sat there frozen in disbelief. “are…you joking?” i asked him as tears began to pour out of my eyes.

i don’t even think that i was crying about what he said to me, but really, i was crying at the first-hand realization that this is what the next four years will likely hold. that, for most of my three decades on this earth, i’ve had the luck to never really face extreme iniquity or blatant prejudice.

sitting in front of me was the manifestation of the ugliness that’s coming to the surface of our society. for the first time in my life, i feel overwhelmed with the need to actively exert energy and action to it, not for me, but for the whole of women, people of color, muslims, people with disabilities, my friends within the lgbtq community, etc., but really unsure and directionless about how to move forward.

it’s sort of how i and a lot of people i know have been feeling since november 9th.

despite feeling at a loss, i’m going to continue to refuse to let this sort of rhetoric slide as a casual remark from someone who doesn’t know any better.

tonight’s news of the army corps of engineers decision to reroute the path of the dakota access pipeline gives me hope. that resistance to injustice works.

if you need to get fired up or inspired, read this. if you want to know what the average american can do right now to resist the authoritarian moves that donald trump continues to hint at, read evan mcmullin’s list of 10 things that are critical for americans to do right now.

i’m still trying to find the words to articulate this clearly, but i haven’t found them yet. if you take anything away from my note this week, it’s to keep your eyes extra peeled for inequality and to call it out.

magic on sunday: 12.05.16 [spotify playlist]
war ready – vince staples
comeback kid – sleigh bells
unforgiving girl – car seat headrest
riot – childish gambino
pour down – natasha kmeto
moving mountains – anima!
can’t you see – j dilla

until sunday,

meghan

[magic on sunday archive]