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People hold signs at a protest against President-elect Donald Trump near Trump Tower in New York City. (Photo: Reuters/Stephanie Keith)
A Beginning, Not an End: My Open Letter To You on Inauguration Day
Jan 20, 2017
Today is the beginning. It may be the start of the Trump Administration, but let it also be the inauguration of something much more powerful: a renewed feminist social justice movement that takes root in each of our lives, throughout the country and around the world.
"What did you do to protect people and to fight for our rights, our health, and our planet when it was all under threat?"
As a venal sexual-predator-in-chief ushers white supremacists into the highest offices of government, the unthinkable is becoming commonplace. And the commonplace has a way of bleeding into the acceptable. That's why I'm writing you this letter--to recommit to what I believe in.
I'm writing this letter to the future, too, because our children and new generations will ask us:
What did you do to protect people and to fight for our rights, our health, and our planet when it was all under threat?
I will tell them that we never accepted the unacceptable. We pressed steadily ahead to achieve our vision of social justice. We faced setbacks, and kept going. We had the wisdom to celebrate every victory, no matter how small. We were radical in our thinking and mainstream in our appeal. We created unlikely alliances. We mobilized masses of new and committed activists. We seized any opportunity to block harmful policies and build safer, healthier communities at home and abroad. We made resistance a way of life, and we made our connection to people worldwide our guiding principle. We took care of each other and we were brave.
If we can look back and say that, it will be thanks to the work that is before us now. It will be thanks to our abilities to bring movements together and work across issues to:
- Defend those most threatened by harmful policies and hateful agendas, and stand with activists worldwide to confront the backlash of right-wing populism and authoritarian government.
- Mobilize to protect communities from US wars, provide humanitarian aid and oppose destructive military policies.
- Fight for reproductive justice as a cornerstone of women's self-determination and in defense of every mother's right to raise her child in a safe and healthy environment.
- Realign economic and environmental policies to allay the worst impacts of climate change and protect people and planet.
- Fight for the full scope of women's rights and LGBTIQ rights and defend people from attacks based on their gender or sexuality.
Right now, we stand on the shoulders of generations of activists past who risked everything to give us a chance at a life of dignity and rights. I gain inspiration from women worldwide who've refused to give into despair, who've imagined a new way of life even in the midst of war and disaster, and who are bringing that new world into being.
Alice Walker said that "resistance is the secret of joy." The reverse is also true: "joy is the secret of resistance." Remember that laughter dilutes fear and opens the way forward to action. I'm committing with this letter to daily, joyful resistance, and I hope you will, too, whatever that looks like for you.
Hope lives in action.
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, The U.S. is on a fast track to authoritarianism like nothing I've ever seen. Meanwhile, corporate news outlets are utterly capitulating to Trump, twisting their coverage to avoid drawing his ire while lining up to stuff cash in his pockets. That's why I believe that Common Dreams is doing the best and most consequential reporting that we've ever done. Our small but mighty team is a progressive reporting powerhouse, covering the news every day that the corporate media never will. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. And to ignite change for the common good. Now here's the key piece that I want all our readers to understand: None of this would be possible without your financial support. That's not just some fundraising cliche. It's the absolute and literal truth. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. Will you donate now to help power the nonprofit, independent reporting of Common Dreams? Thank you for being a vital member of our community. Together, we can keep independent journalism alive when it’s needed most. - Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Yifat Susskind
Yifat Susskind is the Executive Director of MADRE, an international women's human rights organization. She has worked with women's human rights activists from Latin America, the Middle East, Asia and Africa to create programs in their communities to address women's health, violence against women, economic and environmental justice and peacebuilding. She has also written extensively on US foreign policy and women's human rights and her critical analysis has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, Foreign Policy in Focus and elsewhere.
Today is the beginning. It may be the start of the Trump Administration, but let it also be the inauguration of something much more powerful: a renewed feminist social justice movement that takes root in each of our lives, throughout the country and around the world.
"What did you do to protect people and to fight for our rights, our health, and our planet when it was all under threat?"
As a venal sexual-predator-in-chief ushers white supremacists into the highest offices of government, the unthinkable is becoming commonplace. And the commonplace has a way of bleeding into the acceptable. That's why I'm writing you this letter--to recommit to what I believe in.
I'm writing this letter to the future, too, because our children and new generations will ask us:
What did you do to protect people and to fight for our rights, our health, and our planet when it was all under threat?
I will tell them that we never accepted the unacceptable. We pressed steadily ahead to achieve our vision of social justice. We faced setbacks, and kept going. We had the wisdom to celebrate every victory, no matter how small. We were radical in our thinking and mainstream in our appeal. We created unlikely alliances. We mobilized masses of new and committed activists. We seized any opportunity to block harmful policies and build safer, healthier communities at home and abroad. We made resistance a way of life, and we made our connection to people worldwide our guiding principle. We took care of each other and we were brave.
If we can look back and say that, it will be thanks to the work that is before us now. It will be thanks to our abilities to bring movements together and work across issues to:
- Defend those most threatened by harmful policies and hateful agendas, and stand with activists worldwide to confront the backlash of right-wing populism and authoritarian government.
- Mobilize to protect communities from US wars, provide humanitarian aid and oppose destructive military policies.
- Fight for reproductive justice as a cornerstone of women's self-determination and in defense of every mother's right to raise her child in a safe and healthy environment.
- Realign economic and environmental policies to allay the worst impacts of climate change and protect people and planet.
- Fight for the full scope of women's rights and LGBTIQ rights and defend people from attacks based on their gender or sexuality.
Right now, we stand on the shoulders of generations of activists past who risked everything to give us a chance at a life of dignity and rights. I gain inspiration from women worldwide who've refused to give into despair, who've imagined a new way of life even in the midst of war and disaster, and who are bringing that new world into being.
Alice Walker said that "resistance is the secret of joy." The reverse is also true: "joy is the secret of resistance." Remember that laughter dilutes fear and opens the way forward to action. I'm committing with this letter to daily, joyful resistance, and I hope you will, too, whatever that looks like for you.
Hope lives in action.
Yifat Susskind
Yifat Susskind is the Executive Director of MADRE, an international women's human rights organization. She has worked with women's human rights activists from Latin America, the Middle East, Asia and Africa to create programs in their communities to address women's health, violence against women, economic and environmental justice and peacebuilding. She has also written extensively on US foreign policy and women's human rights and her critical analysis has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, Foreign Policy in Focus and elsewhere.
Today is the beginning. It may be the start of the Trump Administration, but let it also be the inauguration of something much more powerful: a renewed feminist social justice movement that takes root in each of our lives, throughout the country and around the world.
"What did you do to protect people and to fight for our rights, our health, and our planet when it was all under threat?"
As a venal sexual-predator-in-chief ushers white supremacists into the highest offices of government, the unthinkable is becoming commonplace. And the commonplace has a way of bleeding into the acceptable. That's why I'm writing you this letter--to recommit to what I believe in.
I'm writing this letter to the future, too, because our children and new generations will ask us:
What did you do to protect people and to fight for our rights, our health, and our planet when it was all under threat?
I will tell them that we never accepted the unacceptable. We pressed steadily ahead to achieve our vision of social justice. We faced setbacks, and kept going. We had the wisdom to celebrate every victory, no matter how small. We were radical in our thinking and mainstream in our appeal. We created unlikely alliances. We mobilized masses of new and committed activists. We seized any opportunity to block harmful policies and build safer, healthier communities at home and abroad. We made resistance a way of life, and we made our connection to people worldwide our guiding principle. We took care of each other and we were brave.
If we can look back and say that, it will be thanks to the work that is before us now. It will be thanks to our abilities to bring movements together and work across issues to:
- Defend those most threatened by harmful policies and hateful agendas, and stand with activists worldwide to confront the backlash of right-wing populism and authoritarian government.
- Mobilize to protect communities from US wars, provide humanitarian aid and oppose destructive military policies.
- Fight for reproductive justice as a cornerstone of women's self-determination and in defense of every mother's right to raise her child in a safe and healthy environment.
- Realign economic and environmental policies to allay the worst impacts of climate change and protect people and planet.
- Fight for the full scope of women's rights and LGBTIQ rights and defend people from attacks based on their gender or sexuality.
Right now, we stand on the shoulders of generations of activists past who risked everything to give us a chance at a life of dignity and rights. I gain inspiration from women worldwide who've refused to give into despair, who've imagined a new way of life even in the midst of war and disaster, and who are bringing that new world into being.
Alice Walker said that "resistance is the secret of joy." The reverse is also true: "joy is the secret of resistance." Remember that laughter dilutes fear and opens the way forward to action. I'm committing with this letter to daily, joyful resistance, and I hope you will, too, whatever that looks like for you.
Hope lives in action.
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