Post-Election Blues?: We are the Ones We've Been Waiting For

ON TUESDAY, MANY OF US went to the polls to choose a candidate to "represent our interests" in Washington, DC, or in our respective state capitals. Many of us woke up on Wednesday morning disappointed that the results didn't turn out in our favor. But truth is, the most significant decisions in our lives happen on a much smaller scale, where we have more agency--in our community, in our household, in our mind.

When the politics of the world don't go our way, we still have choices: we can roll over and wait until the next election cycle, or we can invoke the spirit of our nation's founders. When Protestants in England found their voices silenced, they dreamed, they acted, they eventualized the United States of America. 

If the recent election didn't go your way, instead of wasting away, waiting years for election cycles, waiting for leaders who reflect your values, this is the time to become most active--in your art, in your family, in your church, in your self. If you're feeling shut out of the mainstream, look to organizations such as these for inspiration on being the change: Kundiman, Cave Canem, Nuyorican Poets Café, Busboys and Poets, The Watering Hole, Moore Black Press Publishing Inc., Sundance Film Festival, Def Jam Recordings, Svaha Paradox Salon, and Charis Books and More/Charis Circle.
As Mahatma Gandhi says, "Be the change that you wish to see," or as June Jordan reminds us, "We are the ones we've been waiting for."