Welcome to #First100Days!
The #First100Days series will “bear witness” to the next 13 weeks of the Trump administration and the climate in America and then respond openly in writing, dialogue, and debate in the hopes of fostering better communication among writers and partisans alike (although the essays and pieces do not have to be political in nature). We’re looking to help give voice to honest and thematic essays from all layers of the political spectrum and across all GMP sections.
In a few hours, Donald Trump takes the oath of office.
I’ll be standing in front of my students or sitting at my desk.
I won’t tune in.
Nor mention it to my students.
Instead I’ll keep an eye on the clock and when the 10:09 bell rings for our nutrition break I will know that it’s a done deal.
There’s talk of a student walkout, but it’s going to rain all day which might put a damper on such a protest.
◊♦◊
It’s 3:35 a.m. and I’m sitting at my desk, unable to sleep, remembering the political events in my lifetime that caused me to mourn for my country.
The assassination of JFK.
Schwerner, Chaney, Goodman.
Charles Whitman, the Texas Tower Sniper, kills 17 people and wounds 32 others from his perch atop a library at the University of Texas – Austin, where I would enroll three years later.
The Mai Lai Massacre.
The assassination of MLK Jr.
The assassination of RFK.
Summer of 1968, when America was set on fire. The violence at that year’s Chicago Democratic Convention.
Kent State.
Watergate.
Ford pardons Nixon.
Most of Jimmy Carter’s presidency.
The Iran Hostage Crisis.
In Bitburg, Germany, Reagan lays a wreath on an SS grave.
Reagan refuses to acknowledge or even speak the word AIDS while the epidemic spread across America.
Clinton and Monica.
Clinton bombing a Sudanese an aspirin factory to distract from his sex scandal.
Columbine High School.
The Supreme Court’s ruling on Bush V. Gore.
9/11.
The Invasion of Iraq and the broadcast media’s pumping of the war as if it was a Super Bowl halftime show.
GW Bush’s response to Hurricane Katrina, “Brownie, you’re doing a heckuva job.”
The near collapse of the world economy under GW Bush’s stewardship.
Sandy Hook Elementary School.
The inauguration of the 45th President of the United States.
◊♦◊
Today America cedes democracy to some of the wealthiest people in the history of humankind, who crave even more money, even as our planet burns.
Now we wait and see if the rights that millions of men and women have fought for since the founding of our nation are snuffed out within a few years.
Today, I no longer mourn my country.
Today, I don’t even recognize my country.
◊♦◊
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Just an FYI, a friend of mine has been doing the same thing on Instagram. @First100Days. check it out!