I didn’t post a picture last night, as I have done so for the past 2 ½ years. It didn’t seem right in the midst of one of the biggest election nights in our history. Earlier in the day I voted and then tried to avoid the news media all together. I didn’t want to hear any more negativity and I knew that whatever was to be at that point would be. Instead I spent a lot of time on Pantsuit Nation—an invite-only Facebook page dedicated to supporting Hillary Clinton through hopeful and inspiring messages from real voters.

I didn’t turn on the T.V. until after 8 PM, close to when most polls around the country were closing. It quickly became apparent that Trump was in the lead. I took my sinking feeling with me to a local bar to watch the rest of the election results roll out. It felt good to be among people, as opposed to being glued to my T.V., alone and horrified. Luckily, I am in New York—a blue state, and a liberal neighborhood so I knew I would be among friends. As the results became more and more dire people began to leave, in disgust, but mostly, in shock. I left around midnight, walked home, and went to bed, knowing that Trump would likely be our next president.

Crying Angel, Green-Wood Cemetery, Brooklyn, NY  © Grace Cavallo

I woke up this morning and cried, even though I can’t say I was entirely surprised. For months I imagined what it would feel like to wake up to this day. It would feel like the end of the world, I thought…and it does.

I cried for all of the hard work of our forefathers, our grandparents, and our parents—who came to this country to build better lives—that has been undone. I cried that hatred and fear won over love and harmony. I cried for the uncertainty of our future and that of the world.

In part we are to blame. This country has been asleep, and the wily powers of Trump to motivate the masses have been sorely underestimated. This act was an uprising, and it is now painfully clear that the level of hate, bigotry, and ignorance is very real.

I just happened to watch “American History X” (1998) two days ago. I had never seen it before, but I couldn’t help notice how similar the diatribes of the white supremacist, played by Edward Norton, were to modern-day Trump and his supporters. In one scene, Norton gives a rousing speech to his hooligans just before they raid a market and assault the minority owners:

We’re here tonight ‘cause we got immigration problems spiraling out of control. We got Asians up the ass…taking over our land with their fucking Yen. Mexicans…flocking into this place like some giant fucking Piñata was shattered.

…It’s tragic. On the Statue of Liberty it says “Give me your tired, your hungry, your poor, your huddled masses…yearning to be free.” It does not say give me your shiftless, your greedy, your indolent, your criminals, looking for a free ticket.

We’re here tonight to show the government how we feel about minorities taking over our country. They treat us like criminals while they reward them with jobs and fucking welfare checks. And it’s only getting worse…

It is a sad day for this country, and for the world at large. I can only hope that justice will prevail, and the virtues this country was founded upon will eventually triumph. May God bless us all.

#TodayinNY