Post Election Grief: The plight of the Black Woman fighting against White Supremacy

On election night in 2016 I was with my mom in her hospital room. She was incredibly sick from sepsis due to a rotting gallbladder. I was scared for her. I wasn't sure how she was going to be when I returned the next morning. I remember being quiet on the way to the car and my new husband of literally just a few days looked at me and said, "she's going to be ok." I wasn't so sure. I was spent. Emotionally drained. I couldn't bring myself to watch the election results. There wasn't really any need to because I just knew Hillary Clinton was going to win. I think most of us thought that. Imagine my utter shock and disbelief finding out the next morning that Donald Trump, a man who had spent none of his life in politics was to be the next President of the United States. I was hurt. I was disgusted. Insert any adjective related to shock and I was that.

The feeling that I felt this morning was much different than 2016. Prior to 2016 we had never seen a Trump presidency. We didn't know what it would look like. We assumed how it would be. We were right. This morning I woke up and I was not at all shocked but incredibly angry and disappointed. I felt grief. I grieved for what could have been and what is to come. I want to use the word numb but I can't. I wasn't numb. I felt every emotion looking at my phone at 4:30 am and seeing the words "Donald Trump is the projected winner of the 2024 election." HOW? This time we knew what a Trump presidency would like. We've experienced it. We lived it. We watched him call literal white supremacists "good people." We watched him mishandle a global pandemic. We watched him give tax cuts to his wealthy cronies. We watched his SCOTUS overturn Roe v. Wade. WE KNOW! In spite of ALL of this, Americans reelected him. He is a felon. He is a rapist. He is a racist. Americans knowing this still elected him. I do not understand. This one hurts. This one is rage inducing because HOW COULD YOU DO THIS, AGAIN?

Growing up black (it doesn't matter what country or region), we are always taught that you have to be twice as good as the white folks because they will always think you don't belong. They will always think you don't deserve to be here. Today was a tough reminder of that. We've never forgotten that though. It permeates through every aspect of our lives. Whether its school, work, or sports the sentiment, especially lately, is that "it must be DEI". It's not. We belong. We are qualified. We are overqualified most of the time.

Kamala ran a great campaign. She was robbed of the gift of time. I hate that for her. I hate it for us. She deserved better and so did we. She had 100 days to do what Trump had been doing for 4 years. 100 days is all she got. Isn't that always the case for Black women? We are often expected to perform the same as our counterparts with less. Less time. Less resources. LESS. If we do well, we are congratulated and then exploited. Our time. Our ideas. Our lives. These things are all exploited for the corporate machine's bottom line. If we don't do so well, we are chastised, accused of underperforming, demoted, fired. You name it.

Black women, no one is coming to save us. Rest. Even though rest should not be earned by merit, you've earned it. We have saved elections time after time and we get nothing. We get a pat on the back and then we are forgotten. These next four years, my charge to you is: rest. Save yourself. Whatever that may look like. We owe no one anything. We are not women of color. We are Black with a capital B and we will be addressed as such. Take time for yourself and take up space in whatever way you choose.

To our dear Vice President, Kamala Harris, thank you. Your party failed you. You did not fail us. You led a hell of a campaign in just 100 days. We cannot thank you enough for being the sacrificial lamb of the Democratic party. You gave us hope. You energized us. You represented us. In the face of misogyny and racism, you pressed forward with grace and dignity. Our little girls will know that they can run for office one day. Sadly, they will also know that they can check every box, have every degree and certification, but there will still be people who think they don't belong.