The thing that seemed impossible, unthinkable – well, it happened.
It’s now been proven that no previous political experience is necessary to run. You can win if you have a message that some people want to hear and some find offensive. No amount of entrenchment in the “establishment” guarantees political victory. There will be books written about this election – and its lasting effects on women and girls and the other marginalized communities and causes that the Harnisch Foundation seeks to support and uplift.
The campaign leading up to the election has brought us truth about the reality of female lives, of Black lives, of so many other lives. People have found strength in speaking out about less than equal treatment under the law and in their daily lives, as evidenced by police brutality and sexual assault. It brought light to misogyny, sexism, racism, homophobia, ableism, and Islamophobia.
My greatest hope is that all of us will use this crossroads moment in our history to thoughtfully consider how to remake our society. Today I am focusing on the possibility that the political, which became all too personal, can inspire us to search ardently for common ground. I am hoping that we can reinvent the systems that have let all of us down. I am hoping that we can find qualities in each other that are worthy of dignity, respect, and love.
The thing that seemed impossible, unthinkable has happened.
What happens next is up to us. I invite you to join me in creating that peaceful transition of power for which our great country has rightfully been known, and in continuing to press for the full equality and equal rights of all people.