My five-year-old granddaughter said to me the other day,
"I watched Donald Trump on television when my mommy wasn't looking."
Like she was watching porn or something!. This is an extremely sad state of
affairs when a five-year-old isn't in awe of the president-elect or respectful
of the office.
In this inauguration week, I want to highlight two new books
I received from the publishers that speak to what I am feeling and what many in
this country appear to be feeling.
What We Do Now: Standing Up for Your
Values in Trump's America
Edited by Dennis Johnson and Valarie Merians
Melville House 2017
224 pages Nonfiction/Politics
Leading liberal and progressive voices speak to the chaos
brought about by the election and now the inauguration of Donald Trump in the book of essays, What We Do Now. For example, in one essay, David
Cole, the legal counsel for the ACLU asserts that because Trump was elected, we
must now hold him accountable. He says, "But if we now and for the next
four years insist that he honor our most fundamental constitutional values,
including equality, human dignity, fair process, privacy, and the rule of law,
and if we organize and advocate in defense of these principles, he can and will
be contained."
There are essays by Senators Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth
Warren, Gloria Steinem, Dave Eggers, Cornell Brooks and many others, each essay discussing some aspect of American freedom and a blueprint for how to move
forward. Progressivism, as we well know, has been dealt a huge blow, and
progressives all over the country are still stunned two months after the
election. These essays provide tremendous food for thought on how we can and
must proceed.
My favorite is an essay by author George Saunders called The Braindead Megaphone, which comes
from a book by the same name. (By the way, many of the pieces in the book have been published elsewhere.) He says,
"Then a guy walks in with a megaphone. He's not the
smartest person at the party, or the most experienced, or the most articulate.
But he's got that megaphone." And people listen.
Every essay is appropriate and thought provoking.
The Trump Survival Guide: Everything You Need to Know
About Living Through What You
by Gene Stone
Day Street Books
2017
208 pages Nonfiction/Politics
In The Trump Survival Guide, Gene Stone gives liberals and progressives a call to action
for the next four years. He begins with an historical guide to the actions of ineffective presidents of the past, and offers concrete solutions to help those of us in despair to find ways in
which we can actively be watchdogs to hold Trump and his administration
accountable for the decisions that will be made in the next four years.
Stone looks at important policies of the country through
several lenses—the history of the policy, what President Obama did regarding
the policy, what President Trump might do, and what the average citizen can do
to support, and in some cases save, the
policies that are important to them. He discusses civil rights, the economy,
education, women's rights, immigration, the environment and several others. The
chapters that interested me the most personally were the chapters on education,
immigration, and women's rights. I particularly liked all the contact
information that individuals can use to become active advocates for the
policies that are most important to them.
As for me, I am going to continue to be actively involved in immigration
reform and women's rights. My little five-year-old granddaughter and her mother
are going with me to the rally in Lansing, Michigan on the day after the
election. My daughter, step-daughter and teenage granddaughters will be in
Washington. We cannot remain silent.
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