~ by Amber Daugherty, Guest Contributor
***
Suddenly I see
This is what I wanna be
Suddenly I see
Why the hell it means so much to me
***
I couldn’t sleep at all last night, for in my mind ran that old familiar tune of defeat.
I went to the kitchen to have a slice of pizza — comfort food in an increasingly uncomfortable world. I sat there, in the dark, thinking about my future, wondering if I would be okay. These past sixteen months have been brutal. Now with every heartbeat I felt haggard and beaten down.
I use the term ‘beaten down’ in the figurative sense, but sometimes the pain is so difficult I check the mirror to make sure I’m not bruised or cut. Standing there, the emptiness is deafening, almost as thunderous as the cries of disenfranchised Florida and Michigan voters.
How could Democrats allow things to spiral this far out of control?
I think back to my studies: women’s rights, civil rights, freedom of speech. Had all that time spent memorizing every word of the constitution, of JFK’s stirring inauguration speech, of MLK’s defiant demand for equality, and of Mary Wollstonecraft’s “A Vindication of the Rights of Woman” been in vain? Should I question my teachers for insisting I read and savor these writings? Why should words mean much to me now when I have seen the rights of voters overlooked, their voices are silenced?
I have heard Martin Luther King Jr. repeat his timeless words over and over again in my mind:
“Let us not wallow in the valley of despair, I say to you today, my friends. And so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream. I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.’”
While I know he was referring to African Americans and the hardships they face in their struggles, these words have new meaning today.
JFK, too, once empowered me to look beyond the injustice I am witnessing:
“We observe today not a victory of party but a celebration of freedom–-symbolizing an end as well as a beginning–-signifying renewal as well as change.”
Too bad I can’t completely agree anymore.
It’s been just over a month since thirty people decided to ignore the voters of Florida and Michigan, giving delegates to a candidate who didn’t earn them. Is it because he’s a man? Is it because he’s a black man?
I’ve given this countless hours of careful consideration. I’m well educated, I know my history and I’ve won my share of accolades in the field of human rights debates. I have no protest to the nomination of a well experienced, honest, steadfast African American candidate…there’s just one problem — that’s not what we’ve got.
According to my youth and education, I should be voting for this candidate…but I’m not. And there’s a reason I’m holding onto my precious vote — he didn’t earn it.
Throughout this historic process, we have seen many advances in America’s ability to be “color blind,” but we’ve also been dealt a heavy blow by the media’s reticent behavior when it comes to a female candidate. A highly qualified, intelligent, compassionate, brave, ready to step up and be counted WOMAN. A woman who has more than thirty years of experience working to better the lives of other women, children, the working class, Hispanics, African-Americans, the elderly — everyday people.
A woman who has dedicated her life to helping and speaking up for those who cannot help or speak for themselves, who find it too difficult to get anyone to hear them…but she listens. For her many years spent on such a noble crusade, what does she get in return?
She’s called vile names, her very life is threatened, she is the victim of personal attacks, she is nothing short of abused. Abuse doesn’t have to be a slap or a kick in order to hurt. Having your life’s work, your legacy thrown back in your face hurts.
Every insult hurled her way hit me too; every cheap shot affected me just as much as her…if not more. I’ve become accustomed to the fact that powerful woman are often treated as less than powerful men. It constantly pushes into my subconscious, pulling at my already fragile faith in the advances we have made as women — marching in protest, demanding the right to vote. Mothers, daughters, sisters and wives insisting men and other women treat them as equals.
These women are my heroes; they stood up and took action against the sometimes disheartening male dominated world they lived in. They expected to be treated with dignity and the respect they rightfully deserved. All the rights denied to them — the right to vote, the right to equality, the right to have the opportunity for advanced education — are freedoms we take for granted today.
In her book, Wollstonecraft contended that society will degenerate without educated women, particularly because mothers are the primary educators of young children. Every time the media shoots down a woman for being independent — for not leaning on a man for support when things get heated — one can’t help but wonder if they’d ever think these things about their own mothers. If you’re willing to say such malicious remarks about a woman who is merely running for a highly coveted office, and who has the experience and knowledge to execute the office correctly, you should also be willing to admit that you don’t take the women’s rights movement seriously. That your mothers, daughters, wives, sisters, and all the women in your life who are of any value shouldn’t be taken seriously.
I shall not give my vote to a party that has thrown Democracy to the wind. I will stand instead beside my fellow Americans, for we are all the victims of prejudice at times. We are women, men, children. We are white, black, rich, poor, young, old, well educated, smart enough to know the difference between right and wrong, between just and unjust. I stand because I refuse to allow a lesser candidate to take a nomination he didn’t deserve. I refuse to step down and accept that I am defeated In standing up for myself and my rights I am taking a stand against a media dripping wet with misogyny and sexism.
I stand for my country, my future, myself, and my President, Hillary Rodham Clinton.
A change in the wind is upon us, I intend to fill my sails and coast through the stormy seas of a mismanaged nomination process. I shall dock on the port of life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness, and equality for all.
United beside Hillary we shall all stand.
***
