To everyone,
Like so many in this country, I have been left stunned and shaken by the recent election. From the beginning, we all knew this was going to be an important election. There were so many ugly moments and I know many of us, were simply ready for it to be over. But, with the announcement that Donald Trump will be our 45th president, our work is far from over.
My first election, when I was 18, was Obama vs McCain. That was a heated election. And Obama vs Romney was also a heated election. But, I have never seen the country so divided since this recent one. Growing up, our mission was to come together as people. That our differences, while making us who we are, also didn't mean that we had to be separate. We had come too far for that.
The past few years have been hard. Obama wasn't a perfect president, but I ask who was? With him, we had a mission: unity. And while Hillary Clinton had many faults to her, I simply couldn't predict they would have been enough to make her lose to Trump.
I will not go into Trump or Pence and what they stand for and what they plan to do. It's scary enough. Instead, I want to ask his supporters: why is being different so scary to you? Were you that afraid that you had to go to the reality star, who has so many, many faults to him? Is a shouting, intolerant nation really one you want?
I understand, we're going to be angry. I spent the better part of yesterday just staring at my computer screen; unsure of what to make of this. All I want to say is, we can't let this stop us. We let hate and fear win this time, but it doesn't mean it's over. We can still stand up, we can still unify. We may not have the help of the government this time, but we can have each other. We can show love and support and maybe, even educate others. We have much work to do these next four years to make sure we aren't torn apart from the inside.
I still love this country. Despite the hatemonger that got elected, I still love the American dream. I still believe in people. Because, I can see so much good. It is unfortunate that we suffered this loss, some more than others; but we will get through this.
I want people to continue loving one another. I want the people in the film industry to continue teaching us lessons through their art. I want people to be loud and make their voices heard. We can take a few days to mourn, but we can't stop. Fighting is exhausting, but we cannot become complacent. Our revolutions before us were won by never giving up, even if we were struck down. Don't stop, America, we have work to do.
