Racism, Misogyny, Ableism is not okay now

The day before the election, my seven year old talked to us about voting. His class had a mock election and he told us that he was voting for Trump because that is who was going to win; that's what people said. we explained to him that he should inform himself and vote the way he felt was right, not the way other people told him to.

This morning, I told my kids that Trump won. I told them that because this is the man the country has elected, we we need to respect that. But, they are not blind or deaf. Over the course of the election, they saw and heard all the deplorable things come from this man.  I told them that just because he won, does not make what he said and did okay. I know this will be the case, because it happened on a smaller scale here in Riverside. Candidates slammed, slandered and intimidated candidates and voters, and validated their actions, dismissing them, actually, because they won. Well, people did not shut up. I have seen my friends, Christine Kirkwood and Kevin Kiene, keep up their cause, their belief in a Riverside that does not need to falling to line with other small towns that accept the corn stalk hierarchy, and blindly support or overlook the actions of someone just because they are of certain families.

These are the people I want to use as an example going forward, not just for myself, but for my children. You can't change things overnight, and you can't change things if you sit on your ass.

You can be respectful and still stick it to them.