A Different Feeling This Holiday Season

As December beckons there will be many activities. Parties, concerts, and performances will be plenty. This year is different as a result of the recent national election. There will joy mixed with trepidation to what direction our country is headed. 

There's much to be thankful for and there's much that needs to discussed. One thing that is needed is for people  from all walks to sit down and LISTEN to each other instead of hollering and screaming. It's vitally important that each person knows where the other person is coming from. We don't have to agree on everything but perhaps we can find common ground. 

These are critical times in need of some REAL solutions. I encourage each one of you to find some thing you can do and do it. It doesn't matter what it is. We need not let fear overcome us but the desire and determination to be a positive force towards change.      

Genevieve's Gems

Hope is being able to see that there is light despite all of the darkness.


~Desmond Tutu

Happy Thanksgiving

TDOR

I went to the Transgender Day Of Remembrance ceremony at the Sage center last night. It was great to pay homage to the transgender people who we lost to violence and suicide. The names of the deceased were read. I recited a poem at the closing. There was song, prayer, remembrances and comaraderie.  

My Three Cents

On election night when it was certain that Donald Trump would I wrote down three reasons (my opinion) why he won and why Hillary Clinton lost.


Why Hillary Clinton Lost

1. Her record. The emails and the mess at Benghazi were factors. She and her husband are responsible for what happened in Bosnia and Rwanda. Dismantling welfare in Arkansas in the nineties and the mass incarcerations we have now are her doing. I have a saying that your track record does follow you. I believe it did in this case.

2. Bernie Sanders factor. Sanders rallied many young people to the political scene. Hillary didn't have the same impact on the younger folk. What was her message? She never conveyed what she was about. Many people didn't vote which also hurt.

3. Hatred. Bluntly, many people did not like her. She is not a warm person and many people mistrust her.


Why Donald Trump

1. The slogan 'Make America Great Again' resonated with white males, 45+  who do not have a college education. They were fed up with the status quo.  Also his in-your-face style appealed to them. This is where the Democrats messed up big time. Once upon a time The Democrats spoke up for the working person. Not anymore.

2. Charisma. One thing Trump is not is boring. If he hadn't been in the pool this would have been a boring election. He dropped in the Republican's lap because the other candidates were awful. They actually benefited from him being in the race. 

3. Americans like characters. I called Trump a wild card. He's not a politician and that served him well. He says some outrageous and stupid things and doesn't care who likes it.  

Genevieve's Gems

You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, 'I lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along.'


~Eleanor Roosevelt 

TDOR 2016

I will be attending TDOR services on November 22nd at the Sage Center here. I will be reciting a poem at the closing. It's been a tough year for transgender people with 24 reported murders of transgender women (most women of color). Counter that with the many suicides and you have a picture of what transgender people are up against. Several people committed suicide after Donald Trump won the election.

There have also been some positive things that have happened, one been recognized by President Obama. It's important for me to attend TDOR because it's a chance to show love, support, and to educate which is till needed. I pray that people will ask questions about what we are about and about our lives.

Quote

There were people who went to sleep last night,
Poor and rich and white and black,
But they will never wake again.

And those dead folks would give anything at all
For just five minutes of this weather
Or ten minutes of plowing.

So what yourself about complaining.

What you're suppose to do
When you don't like a thing is change it.
If you can't change it,
Change the way you think about it.

~Maya Angelou

Moving Forward

This has been quite a week to say the least. This election cycle will be talked about for days. It was great getting back in church and seeing the people that I truly love and care for. There were some folks were pretty upset and disappointed. I have spent some time encouraging those who are hurting.

I am reminded that the election is just one day on the calendar. There's still much work to be done! I survived the Nixon years; I will survive this.  

VOTED

I VOTED!  DID YOU?

VOTE!

Be sure to vote!

Genevieve's Gems

Nobody will ever deprive the American people of the right to vote except the American people themselves and the only they can do this is by not voting.

~Franklin D. Roosevelt