Author: tonihall805@outlook.com

Silence is consent. In ways that make sense you, be sure to make your voice heard. Remember that evil persists when good men (and women) do nothing. Personally, I choose to write letters to government leaders and support decent candidates. I encourage people with pens to write letters or send emails if writing is the way you communicate your needs, objections, and desires to decision makers in our government. Others might prefer phone calls, creating artwork, making songs, or marching (like the ones yesterday). Right now, the Republican threat to withhold funding to help the victims of the Southern California fires is on my mind. And I’m speaking up. I hope you will too. If you choose to write to Speaker Johnson, the address is: 568 Cannon House Office Bldg. Washington DC 20515-1804. Below is a copy of my letter to Speaker Mike Johnson that I sent on January 14, 2025. I hope it inspires you.

January 14, 2025

Dear Speaker Johnson,

You, Trump, and the Republican Party are not invisible to God, to the world, to historians, and most importantly to our children.  Your constant hypocrisy, lack of empathy, lack of compassion, lies, false accusations, embrace of lawlessness, and cruelty are evident to us all.  You seek political power and money above decency and service to the most vulnerable among us and above citizens who have lost everything to natural disasters, including to the unpresented fires in Southern California.

As a lifetime taxpayer and resident of California, I was appalled at your comments on national television threatening to attach conditions on aide to people who have lost everything in these fires.  California pays more in federal taxes than most other states and we are aware of the fact that we are a donor state to poor red states like yours.  It is unfair and indecent to suggest that aid for our natural disaster should have conditions when other states do not.  Our leadership may not be perfect, but they are competent and have been doing what they could to prepare.  They have been working tirelessly since the fires.  Unlike some ridiculous vocal members in your Party who believe we can control the rain, we can’t.  The fact that it hasn’t rained in eight months and that we couldn’t turn on the rain during this fire when the helicopters and planes were grounded because of wind is proof of that.  Tell her to shut up.

And no, looting is not now, nor has it ever been legal in our state.  So many lies that mislead people and only add fuel to the fire!

Furthermore, there is no city in the world that would have enough water in neighborhood fire hydrants to put out the vast number of structure fires in winds of up to 100 miles per hour.  Again, the helicopters and planes that we rely on to drop water couldn’t fly at the peak of these winds and so we were helpless. The electricity was out in most areas, and it is needed for pumping water.  With climate change, our fire season is now year-round and we have been working to address the problem for years. There are more facts you should have been informed of regarding our many preparations prior to these fires before you run your mouth on television trying to place blame.  Your comments should have been limited to compassion for American communities and praise for first responders and volunteers in addition to a commitment to help.  

Living in California, we are always aware of the fire danger and people are good about clearing forestry close to their homes.  However, that makes no difference when hurricane force winds send embers flying in all directions for miles.   

You and your Party members should be ashamed of yourselves for your false accusations, lack of understanding, and especially your lack of compassion for the victims of a disaster caused by the very climate change your Party keeps denying and therefore refuses to address.

Jesus said that we will know a tree by the fruit it bears.  So, the fruit I see on your tree is all poisonous.  You claim to be a Christian, but I see nothing of the teachings of Jesus in your words, actions and policies. Where is your care for the “least of these”?  I see you for who you are.  But more importantly, God is watching you.  History is watching you. And our children are watching you.  Do better by our Constitution, the rule of law, and the citizens of this country.  Right now, you and your Party are failing us.  You have sworn allegiance to a man who is hell bent on destroying our country from within with lies, false hoods, cruelty, bullying, lawlessness and the appointment of incompetent/unqualified people to his Cabinet.  Too many Americans voted for him because he tapped into their worse instincts and fears based in racism, homophobia, xenophobia and a bunch of lies and false promises. 

I’ve said this before, Congress is a separate but equal branch of government. Get up the courage to do your job responsibly!  All I see these days are a bunch of cowards afraid to stand up for what is just and what is right and what is good.  Your loyalty is sorely misplaced at present, but you can and must do better for the future of our country, starting with providing the much-needed aid to the victims of the fires in Southern California.   

Sincerely,

Dr. Juanita Hall

Voting Citizen of the United States

At my core, I’m a person who wants to enable those who are willing to put in the time and effort it takes to improve human lives. This means that I’m a highly empathetic observer, an educator, and a communicator. I’m lucky to have found my purpose early enough in life to enjoy working with university students, faculty, and other colleagues to solve problems during my 25 years in higher education. I realized early in life that I liked to put systems in place to make things fair. I continue to choose friends who prefer order over chaos and productivity over laziness. I came to understand that I am most attracted to people who not only have ambition, but who have good character, intelligence, energy and the tenacity to push forward. I harbor an often-silent distain for the selfishly ambitious who willingly step on others to get ahead. I’ve seen too much of that in my life and career and my solution until now has been to distance myself from those people. However, with regards to our political leadership, silence only becomes consent that further empowers their horrific dealings. I consider it a gift that I easily recognize the desirable traits in people, and I joyfully become of service to them as a sounding board, counselor, cheerleader, mentor, and sponsor.

Through this blog, I not only report what I’m observing in the world, but my response to it, hoping that others are inspired to respond in ways that will be helpful to them. That said, I have a few concerns for the future of our young people if voting Americans aren’t able to access the reliable information needed to make reasonable decisions.

My greatest fear is that our media outlets have been hijacked by powerful rich white men whose agenda is to re-assert white male supremacy and white male rule in every sector of American life. They are attempting to take control over every narrative, including science, social relationships, healthcare, crime rates, the economy, and climate change. They have the ability to demonize countries and entire groups of people, leading to wars and discrimination. We already saw how right-wing media convinced the country that young black males presented a threat, leading to police brutality, erroneous arrests, harsher sentencing, and incarceration. Recently, we saw how Trump used the media to turn migrants into criminals to be feared and rounded up like animals. We see how Republicans use the media to turn transgender women into threats against women in bathrooms, sports, and children’s identity development.

We are seeing a right-wing takeover of media outlets at every turn. The corporate media, once motivated by profits through clicks and views, is now also fearful of reprisals from the incoming administration if they cross Trump. Social media and corporate news media have ceased robust fact-checking and are actively promoting the voices of those who question the aptitude and leadership of women and people of color as DEI hires despite their resumes. I was shocked to hear the fire chief of Los Angeles being called incompetent because she was a woman. Trump is continuously given platforms to literally lie about the leadership’s response to the Los Angeles area fires, and the media aired his blatant lies and unsubstantiated blame claims with minimal rebuttal.

In response to unchecked media attacks on DEI, companies are rolling back the DEI initiatives that gave opportunities to talented job seekers from diverse backgrounds, including women. In the coming years, our corporate media outlets will be no different from the propaganda mills in China, Russia, and North Korea. The voices of those who speak the truth will be effectively silenced or greatly minimized through algorithms designed to weed out all voices of dissent. Real problems like mass shootings, climate disasters, and pandemic deaths can be easily covered up when media are compelled to simply not report certain things.

This is quickly becoming a problem for all of us. Women, immigrants, environmentalist, people of color, and especially LGBTQ folks are in danger of being demonized at the whim of powerful white men who want to preserve white male domination. The answer is to not be silenced and to demand journalistic integrity. We can support independent news outlets and journalists who refuse to be compromised. We can sue media outlets, like Fox, again for misinformation or for failing to report the actual news. We must continue to sue men, like Rudy Guliani, who defame others. We must support civil rights organizations and their attorneys who will stand up for our civil rights. The next few years will demand our attention, our voices, and our dollars.

My second concern is for young women. Despite becoming more educated than their male counterparts in recent years (which is a problem), we’re watching in real time the push to return women to traditional roles as wives and mothers by the most powerful white men in our country. Raising up men by suppressing women is not the best thing for humanity. Talent and innovation are not found in one gender. Both girls and boys need to be raised to reach their full potential. This requires unconditional love and a collective commitment to invest in their education and character development.

Musk and others claim to be concerned with the low birth rates in the country, but that is only a front for their fears of losing white male domination. They have made having children undesirable under the current circumstances and they have no plans to reduce the cost. In fact, their strategy depends on high costs. They believe that keeping childcare unaffordable will force many women with children to stay home. I predict that a Republican Congress will not pass anything having to do with paid maternal leave to further push women out of the work force. They will reduce food programs to force would-be single mothers to remain in dependent relationships that may be unhealthy and even dangerous. The fact that Republicans are trying to make divorce more difficult speaks to their agenda for young women. And of course, removing a woman’s right to abortion is part of their plan. They claim to be concerned about declining birthrates, but the reality is birthrates aren’t a problem if they are willing to allow immigration from Africa and Latin America. We have always been a nation of immigrants, however, these men and their followers make it clear that they only want white immigrants and white babies. This is about white male domination and returning women to roles of subjugation and second-class citizenship.

I predict we will observe more media campaigns designed to convince young white women that their greatest aspiration and role in life is to be a wife and mother. Watch for the proliferation of romanticized images of happy white women with beautiful white babies in the coming months. The policies are going to favor stay-at-home motherhood and marriage. They will make the lives of single white women a living hell by shaming them into submission. When they control the media, they control the narrative. I see the war among white women on social media over their role as women. More than half of white women voted for Trump. They are at war with each other. Black and brown women have always had to balance work and children. We were never the “June Cleavers” in this country. And so, it is no surprise that black women are currently the most highly educated demographic in the nation. As the DEI doors close, we must continue to boldly forge our own paths forward and upward, presenting our undeniable excellence and qualifications as job seekers and entrepreneurs.

Of course, they will do nothing about black female maternal death rates because they don’t want our numbers to grow. In the coming years, it will be increasingly dangerous for black women to have babies, especially in red states. I hope the white nurse who purposefully broke the bones of black babies in the NICU is charged with a hate crime. Unless something changes, I fear for young black females of childbearing age. My advice is to continue our pursuit of education and honing our talents. Find good men who are educated and who see you as an equal partner regardless of their race or ethnicity. Choose doctors you can trust and leave red states. I know many young black females are finding refuge outside the U.S. and I can’t blame them.

These are my greatest concerns. All the stuff Trump says about taking over Canada, Greenland, and the Panama Canal are only distractions away from their actual agenda: maintaining white male domination by taking over the media and subjugating women.

Let’s not allow it.

I am surrounded by stuff. Most of it we’ve purchased, some was inherited, and a lot has been gifted to us over the years from friends and family. Accumulating stuff is easy. Getting rid of it so that it doesn’t clutter the mind or become a burden to family after we’re gone isn’t easy.

Since I retired, I’ve made several attempts to downsize. I’ve donated my business clothes, shoes, handbags and sorority paraphrenia. I gifted cherished Christmas decorations to family members. I went through my kitchen and donated duplicate kitchen utensils and fad items that once seemed like a good idea but went untouched. I donated pots and pans and mixing bowls and my collection of lunch bags, coffee mugs, and sugar and creamer sets. But I still have too much stuff. I stopped adding to any collections and I rarely purchase anything unless it is a necessity. I realize that I absolutely must make a second round of donations this year. I already have a stack of seasonal throw pillows in my donation pile.

In our wills (one section of our living trust), we’ve designated specific items for family members to inherit when we pass, and we ask that they take whatever they want after that. I’ve directed them to have a professionally run estate sale for everything else and then the can divide up the proceeds equally. It gives me some comfort to know that there is a plan in place for all the stuff we can’t seem to part with in this life. But that doesn’t mean I shouldn’t continue to make an effort to rid us of unwanted clutter. I just feel lighter when I’m not surrounded by so many things. Unfortunately, my husband sometimes stands in the way of my “premature” donations.

I began 2025 by putting away Christmas decorations and setting aside items to send to my children to enjoy in the coming years. There are still Christmas items in the attic that I have yet to address, but I was able to go through several boxes I didn’t open this year while I was putting things away. Some things I will donate because I know the kids won’t want them. My husband was happy to see five Christmas storage boxes emptied on January 2nd. And I do feel lighter.

My next project will be my annual shredding of old files, documents, and receipts. This year I will shred tax returns and documents from 2018. I realize I may be a bit more conservative than some going with seven years instead of five. But I tend to err on the side of caution.

And finally, I’ll ask my husband to help me go through our drawers, boxes, and bins of old electronics and cords. There are so many electronic items that we have been afraid to donate for fear that we might one day need them. In reality, we haven’t looked in some of these bins and boxes for years. We have a Wii system that has been collecting dusk for at least seven years, but he already refused to donate it, thinking guests might want to play with it in the future. I am giving away a digital camera I haven’t used since our trip to Spain in 2010, and some handheld electronic games that I can’t even recall the last time we played them. At the end of 2024, he actually donated his turntable and Bose speaker system, but he kept his many albums. We have two CD players in the garage and boxes full of CDs even though we haven’t listened to music that way for years. The same is true of our four blue ray players and many DVDs. We’ll have to decide together if we’re ready to let go of any of them. Streaming has become our mode of entertainment and yet we are holding on to these collections. The same is true of my 1000-piece jigsaw puzzles.

Perhaps some items like puzzles, DVDs, albums, and CDs will just have to become part of the estate sale along with my books and my mother’s mink coat that I can’t bear to part with for sentimental reasons. For whatever reason, puzzles, books, DVDs, albums, and CDs are in that emotional attachment category and I’ll just have to give myself grace to keep them until the very end.

The point is that collecting stuff is super easy, but downsizing is not only harder and more time consuming; it isn’t even rational.

On January 20th, I expect life to become a bit more stressful and perhaps even a bit more frustrating as it becomes apparent that Americans have chosen chaos and disruption. My goal is to protect my mental health, my physical health, and my financial health from the coming storm while contributing to the protection of democracy and vulnerable people.

This past week I cancelled my subscription to the New York Times to avoid the constant barrage of mind-blowing headlines that will accompany a new Trump administration. I simply don’t want to hear it. The corruption is already piling up. Trump’s voice turns my stomach and his constant threats against sovereign nations who were our friends sickens me. His policies are going to do real damage to individual lives, the environment, and the economy as we know it. Already there is way too much drama. The infighting among the tech bros and MAGA has begun and is only going to get worse. The fighting among white Christians and white Christian nationalists is only now beginning to surface. The loss of credibility among CNN, MSNBC and ABC News has decimated their viewership and promoted the rise of independent journalism. I choose independent journalists, C-Span, PBS and NPR as future sources. It may be that the BBC and Canadian news will become reliable sources to find out what is happening in our own nation.

The best any of us can do is be prepared in advance to find reliable news sources and find ways to protect ourselves and defend decency and freedom. In 2025 I will continue my charitable contributions to St. Jude, my hometown Boys and Girls Club, Doctors Without Borders, Women for Women International, FINCA International, UNICEF USA, and UN World Food Programs. I will continue to donate to the civil rights organizations like the ACLU and Moveon.org because the courts still matter. I’ve added to my donation list Black Mamas Matter Alliance which advocates for reproductive rights and safer maternal outcomes for black women. Of course, college scholarships will always be on my donation list because education is foundational necessity. And I will also support decent democratic candidates because it matters who makes laws and sets policies.

When it comes to finances, I began a methodical move to a cash position and will continue that effort during the first month of 2025 to safeguard my investment funds. I believe the stock market is headed for a steep decline in the immediate future under Trump and so I’m following Warren Buffet with a major move to cash and a safer stock market portfolio to whether the storm. I will also be spending far less on goods and services in the coming years, having already made my home renovations, major purchases, and stockpiled necessities ahead of his promised tariffs. As mentioned before, I expanded my vegetable garden and plan to grow much more of the food we consume. With half the farm workers either deported or fleeing, produce will become scarce and more expensive.

In 2025 I plan to continue my health journey with intermittent fasting (16-8), eating organic, avoiding most processed foods, limiting sugar, and taking long daily walks, stretching for 30 minutes each morning, and doing my own gardening, cooking, and housework. I’ll continue my current knitting and crocheting and add embroidery this year. Music provides an enjoyable background to many of my physical activities while K-dramas provide enjoyment while I work with my hands.

In 2025 I will stay connected to family and friends. I’m an introvert, so I limit my time around lots of people. I find it more draining than ever to be around people for more than an hour at a time. If there is an important event, I will make the effort to prepare myself mentally in advance and convince myself to show up for it on the day it occurs. That is my commitment to maintaining important relationships. My family and my closest friends provide the outer limits of what I can handle these days. I spend no more than an hour with my knitting circle at the senior center each week. Even Christmas Eve was a challenge for me this year, but in the end, I loved being with the people I love. I desire the connection with family and will continue to invite it in manageable doses. I have to gear myself up for phone calls. Long ones exhaust me, and I admit that sometimes I put them off until I have the fortitude to talk. I will invest in my relationships this year by planning well.

I’ve made a personal commitment to intentionally support minority owned businesses in the coming years. I will patronize businesses that are socially and environmentally responsible. I will support the arts that bring social awareness, honor history, and prioritize inclusion. I will be a refuge to vulnerable communities in both my words and actions. In other words, I intend to be a decent, law-abiding human being in the face of bold indecency and hatred throughout the nation.

There are two Bible verses that I’ll cling to for the next four years as my mantra. The first is Roman 12:21, “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” And the second is Matthew 10:16 wherein Jesus says, “Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. Therefore be wise as serpents and harmless as doves.”

There is no escaping the fact that 2025 is shaping up to be a difficult year for many. Our collective lack of political participation has brought us to this place where the most corrupt and indecent among us have gained power. The people who care to do what is best for the people of this nation are in the minority in all three branches of our government and those who are supposed to inform us are running scared. All I can say is that we have the government we collectively deserve. My hope is that the mistake of this election cycle quickly becomes evident to everyone, and I pray that the lesson for those who avoided voting because they hate politics now understand that politics doesn’t avoid them. Perhaps they will vote in the midterms for a more decent and livable future.

The incoming Trump administration is already inserting chaos and uncertainty into our lives. Musk and Trump threatened to oust Republican lawmakers if they passed a bi-partisan government budget resolution to keep the government open through March 2025. Thankfully, this resolution passed anyway. It will provide much anticipated relief for victims of the flood disasters and to farmers. Trump bullied ABC News into settling a defamation lawsuit that correctly characterized Trump as a rapist according to a court of law. ABC not only issued a bogus apology but coughed up a $15 million donation to some Trump foundation and museum. Fani Lewis was removed from the criminal case against Trump on appeal for dating a fellow prosecutor on the case. Huh? And the threats and bullying and bribes and bogus lawsuits just keep adding up. And of course, we still have ridiculous and dangerous cabinet confirmations and tariffs and mass deportations in our future this January.

Honestly, I can’t figure out what game they are playing and who besides the ultra-wealthy will ultimately gain anything beyond more wealth and power than they already have. If money makes them so happy, why do they behave so miserably? They joined forces with the religious right who seek Taliban-like control over the lives of everyday Americans. However, by all accounts these folks fail to live up to the moral standards they hope to impose on the rest of us. The men taking charge in January are petty and infantile with over-sized egos and a total lack of empathy. They are clearly misogynist. None of their proposed policies will enrich the lives of average Americans. In fact, they will make life more expensive, uncertain and difficult for most people. Many will be hurt. The environment will take second place to profits. Some may not survive the consequences of the next few years. What good is money if the planet can no longer sustain life?

It’s alarming to watch lawmakers and journalists willingly bow down to the will of billionaire bullies. We supposedly have three co-equal branches of government, but the Supreme Court and the Republican Congress have bowed the knee to the incoming executive branch in advance. It’s truly a mystery what they hope to accomplish once they have deported necessary workers, imposed tariffs on our closest trading partners, installed unqualified loyalists in key government positions, eliminated the department of education, and dismantled the public safety net, leaving us vulnerable to disease and abject poverty.

I’m not sure where any of this will lead us. I know folks are being silenced and freedoms are being rolled back. Americans were warned that Trump threatened our democracy and they scoffed at the idea and voted for him anyway. In Trump, too many found the freedom to express their discomfort with the progress of women, immigrants, LGBTQ folks, and people of color. They believe they were choosing a return to white male superiority and protections for white women. The reality of what they will receive for their vote beyond mass deportations and higher prices and a chaotic government will soon be revealed.

I do know that the end game, whatever it is, is not going to be good for the country nor ultimately for the bullies themselves. History has shown us that oppressed people eventually gather the courage to revolt against their oppressors. I believe Trump voters are only at the beginning stage of recognizing who those oppressors are.

I’m greatly disappointed in the results of the election. Americans knowingly voted for a convicted felon who bullies , lies, cheats, defrauds, and steals. He bankrupted six businesses and cheated consumers, banks, and contractors. He jokes about sexually assaulting women. He insults and threatens those who disagree with him and seeks revenge against those who sought to hold him accountable for his crimes. This is the character of the person about to hold the highest office in our country for a second time and mark my words, nothing good will come from it. The world is dismayed that we elected such a despicable person.

The strange thing is that a number of otherwise decent human beings held their noses and voted for him anyway because the current system isn’t working for them. I’m speaking specifically about older white people and young white males. They understood that unless you were born into wealth or scored “the exceptional person lottery”, it was unlikely that they would reach the apex of success in this country. They were taught to greatly admire the rich and famous. America calls itself the land of opportunity, but really only those born into prominence or the exceptionally talented, intelligent, creative, energetic, and ambitious can become rich, famous, and powerful. The problem is that they were also taught this only applied to white people, specifically white men. They are bothered by the success of “others” and Trump smartly espoused the promise of lower food and gas prices along with safety from criminal migrants and WOKE ideas as a cover story to hide their true motives.

Americans not only idolize the rich, the famous, and the powerful; they aspire to be them! However, most will not become them. Most refuse to acknowledge the fine print of the promise of America. It clearly explains that white people by virtue of their whiteness get a head start. That males by virtue of their maleness get an additional head start. It explains that the wealthy and well-connected live by rules of their own making that will maintain their status and increase their wealth. It explains that women and persons of color will face explicit and unseen obstacles. It explains that only the smartest, the most creative, talented, energetic, and ambitious will be allowed to rise to the top. And only they should be admired.

What we are witnessing today is a rebellion against the system that finally allowed exceptional people of color and women to scale the American ladder based on exceptional merit. The prominence of these folks in the public eye is a concern to some white folks who never thought they would have to compete with so many “others”. The excellence of these newly successful individuals is undeniable, and yet they are not always admired, but often challenged and even threatened at every turn. Unprepared, grossly uneducated, and lacking resilience, average white people see themselves losing ground. These average white people feel left behind despite the head start they were given. They mistakenly believed that their head start was enough to guarantee their middle or upper class status. In their minds they were at least “better than them!” And they were proven wrong! They would never vote for a woman of color no matter her qualifications and no matter the awful alternative.

Of course they are insecure! Of course they need reassurance! But what they really need is for someone to finally tell them the truth that their whiteness does not make the better! In an effort to soothe their fragile white egos and explain their lost ground, Trump and Republicans attributed the success of these exceptional risers to DEI initiatives. It’s sad how easily insecure people choose to believe the lies that make them feel better about themselves. They believed Republicans will lift them up again. And then they voted accordingly. So here we are.

As Trump fills his cabinet with like-minded billionaires who play by different rules to increase their wealth and power at their expense, it will be interesting to see what they offer the insecure and uneducated white folks who put them in power. Who will fill the labor vacancies left by mass deportations? Who will pay for the tariffs? Who will suffer from environmental deregulations, the loss of health insurance, increased maternal deaths, and police brutality? Their hope is that people of color will suffer more than them. And in some cases, they will be right.

However, they fail to realize that they lack the resilience of people of color. They fail to realize that black women walked through the educational doors of opportunity in great numbers. Most of these white forks who voted for Trump lack the exceptional attributes to make them successful in a global economy. Their whiteness will no longer save them because employers will continue to fill positions with educated, creative, and highly skilled folks in order to innovate and to compete with the world. And the folks they hire are not likely to be undereducated insecure white males.

What follows is a draft of the letter I intend to send to Speaker of the House, Mike John, in response to the re-election of Donald Trump and the continued slim majority of Republicans in the House of Representatives and now a slight senate majority. The American voters have spoken, but not by the landslide they need to claim a mandate.

Dear Speaker Mike Johnson,

As a citizen of this beloved country, I feel it is my patriotic duty to write you this letter, imploring you to take your oath to protect and defend our Constitution seriously as well as your pledge of allegiance to the flag of our great country. Since becoming a member of Congress and now Speaker, your allegiance seems to be misplaced.  You seem to have forgotten that our Founders established three co-equal branches of government and explicitly did not want power to reside with one fallible and corruptible human being for good reason.  We do not have a king!!!!  Your allegiance and deference to Donald Trump presents a real danger to this country, to common decency, and to the rule of law.  As Russia celebrates his re-election and his cabinet picks as a road to “dismantle our nation brick by brick”, I cannot help but wonder if there is a plot at work within your Party to not only undermine our Constitution but to destroy the very fabric of our democracy and the institutions, including the press that the citizens rely on to make good decisions.

None of the plans to deport millions of immigrant laborers and to impose tariffs on our closest trading partners make economic sense. The attack on women’s reproductive rights and on the very few transgender individuals among us do not make Constitutional sense. We are a nation that professes liberty and justice for all, but where is the liberty and justice in the policies your Party is putting forth? I don’t believe abortion is murder according to my faith. I am a female without internal conflict, so I don’t understand the transgender experience, but who am I to judge the life and needs of others? I leave these things to God who says He is the judge. In fact, Jesus warned us not to judge others, not to serve money, not to be hypocrites, and not to bear false witness against others. His is the way of love, compassion, and grace. So, what are you doing? And who are you serving? And for what purpose?

I am a Christian.  I follow the teachings of Jesus Christ.  I also believe in the separation of church and state as provided in the Establishment Clause of our Constitution. The push to teach the Bible in public schools is not only a violation of the Constitution but a bad idea in general. Whose version and interpretations will be taught?  Yours?  Mine?  The Catholic’s? The Mormon’s?  The Jehovah Witness’s? The Pentecostal’s?  The Lutheran’s?  There are many Christian denominations.  But the greater point is that there are many other religions practiced by Americans in this country. What about their religious texts? There are many who do not believe in God at all.  They have the right not to believe and to not be indoctrinated. Our Founders fled the kind of religious persecution your Party seeks to inflict upon the people of this nation.  You will be no different than the Taliban. History has shown that state forced religious laws always leads to horrific oppression, a blood bath and wars. It certainly is not how Jesus taught us to live!  I implore Republicans to leave religious teachings to parents and houses of worship. Public school children should only be taught to recognize and respect the diversity of how people view God and how they may or may not practice religion. No one is stopping school children from praying or reading their Bibles or referencing their religious beliefs at school.  Those freedoms are and should remain intact.  

When it comes to lawmaking, I urge you to defer to our Constitution and its stated purpose of government to “establish justice”, “ensure domestic tranquility”, “provide for the common defense”, “promote the general welfare” and to “ensure the blessings of liberty for ourselves and our posterity”.  Anything beyond that is self-serving and contrary to the welfare of this nation and its people.  Your job is not to serve the profit interests of corporations at the expense of citizens. It is also not to force your religious beliefs down our throats!

More importantly, you and members of your Party seem to require a reminder that you were elected to serve the citizens of this nation and not the president.  We expect you to uphold the Constitution, the rule of law, and to work on behalf of the citizens to keep us safe from deadly viruses, environmental pollutants, gun violence, sexual predators, medical malpractice, unsafe infrastructure, suppression of information, and unchecked police brutality. Your laws should be designed to improve lives, not to endanger them or to remove our individual freedom to live our best lives according to our individual religious and moral beliefs.  The citizens of this country rely on you to use the available scientific evidence, technology and expert knowledge to make the best laws in favor of citizens and not just corporations and especially not in the interest of one man or a few billionaires. It is a balancing act that you have been entrusted with and thus far your Party is failing us.

Leaving women like my daughter to miscarry in a parking lot outside the hospital is not providing the best health care available to young women.  Removing gender affirming care from parents who love their transgender child who is suicidal without it, is not the best we can offer.  Rounding up immigrants seeking safety or fleeing poverty is not in the best interest of a nation that has always depended on immigrant labor.  Fix the immigration laws to meet the actual needs of this country.  Fix our medical system to provide affordable world class healthcare.  Make laws that protect our environment from pollutants that cause diseases and destroy our climate.  Ensure a safety net for those in poverty because of physical and mental disability.  Ensure access to a world class education for American children so they can compete in the world.  Ensure that the elderly among us retire with dignity.  Guarantee freedom of the press to provide accurate information, not government propaganda .  And finally, hold the president and the Supreme Court accountable to obey the laws and defend our Constitution.  Your willingness to overlook corruption and excuse despicable behavior is a gross disservice to the youth of this nation. Nothing good will come of it ignoring lawlessness, cruelty, and bullying. As the saying goes, “one rotten apple spoils the barrel.”

Some say that you are a Christian Nationalist who believes in white supremacy and white male domination.  I hope that isn’t true.  Any reasonable person can look around and see that intelligence, talent, creativity, and drive are not limited to white men, but spread broadly across the human race.  We are all precious in the sight of God and I pray that you believe, understand and govern that way. Please do better and do right by the American people.

Sincerely,

Juanita A. Hall

Citizen of the United States 

I’m glad that Trump didn’t win by a popular vote landslide as previously thought, but by a very narrow margin. That means half the country wasn’t deceived, delusional, hateful, or members of a cult. However, he did win and each of us will have to deal with his policies and observe the inevitable corruption, cruelty, incompetence, garishness, and downright lawlessness he will again bring to the office of the presidency. My response is to do what I can to avoid the mental, physical and financial fallout of another Trump term.

Apparently, I’m not the only liberal who has turned away from corporate media. I ceased watching CNN and MSNBC prior to the election because I noticed they were more interested in views for profit than delivering actual news free of bias. Their “both sides” approach using more pundits with opinions than actual news was a turn off. They clearly sought to gain higher ratings above exercising their duty to inform and so they minimized the actual threat Trump posed to our democracy and to marginalized groups. They normalized his dangerous rhetoric and left millions of Americans with the false impression that he would be good for their pocketbooks. It’s no wonder their ratings have tanked post-election. They don’t deserve viewers, and I certainly don’t want to contribute to national news organizations that omit important stories while they spin the news for views. They committed malpractice and now the nation will pay the price. While CNN and MSNBC don’t outright lie like Fox News, they still failed to report what was really happening and to warn of the danger ahead. CNN was more guilty than MSNBC, but I won’t watch either of them. However, I’ll continue to support investigative journalism, keeping my subscription to the New York Times and getting my news from local stations and publicly funded news organizations who are beholden to me, the viewer, and not corporate shareholders.

Limiting my news consumption will be one of the keys to my preserving my mental health. Already, Trump’s ridiculous cabinet pics and his trade war threats with Canada and Mexico are causing anxiety. When I get anxious, I find action to be the best remedy. I ask myself what I can do to protect myself from the root issue that is causing the anxiety. In this case, my anxiety seems from Trump’s cabinet picks and his promise to place tariffs on our trading partners and to deport millions of immigrants who provide needed labor. Both of these policies will raise prices and cause shortages. Of course, my anxiety cannot compare to the families who will be torn apart by his cruel deportations or the small business owners wondering how they will survive the tariffs on goods they import or the poor who will be negativity impacted by higher prices and cuts to public safety net programs they rely on.

For peace of mind, we’ve acted on decisions to protect our finances and physical well-being. We renewed our passports. We moved some investment money to safer havens. We made major purchases for our home (including a generator) and we completed some renovations we wanted. We’ve stocked up on non-perishables and everyday household supplies. We’ve expanded our vegetable garden. We already grow most of our own fruits and vegetables, but we’ll do more. And this Black Friday, I took advantage of the sales and incentives and purchased essential clothing items and gifts for the next two years. I’m grateful that we were able to accomplish all of this without going into debt or compromising our retirement. We have lived well below our means for many years and our priority of consistent hard work, frugal spending in favor of greater savings and investments has paid off and has prepared us for such a time as this.

After Trump takes office, I will be more apt to wear a mask in public. My husband and I have been vaccinated with all the recommended vaccines for seniors. Already, fewer people are being vaccinated against the flu and Covid-19. I suspect things will get much worse as the Trump administration will be far less likely to be concerned with public health and more apt to cover up any outbreaks and threats to public safety. I will continue to get my annual flu shot and Covid-19 booster if it remains available. But wearing a mask in public spaces will definitely become the norm for me. We already have a water filtration system and air purifiers. I suspect the water and air to go unprotected against pollution in the coming years as the Republicans and the Supreme Court remove power from the EPA. Red states will be worse than blue states that tend to care more about climate change and environmental issues.

A new priority will be saving money and supporting certain organizations. Since we’ve purchased pretty much everything in advance, I plan to use those saved future dollars not on goods, but on greater savings for medical bills, ready cash, and to help fund organizations that feed the hungry, provide education scholarships, and defend our civil rights.

And finally, as a black woman, I think most Americans know that I’m probably not a Trump supporter. That automatically makes me a target to MAGA members, some of whom are hateful and a few who are violent and present a real danger to my well-being. I will avoid spaces where they congregate and when I encounter a red MAGA hat, I will avoid that person. Should a Trump cult member attempt to engage me, I will silently and quickly flee the situation. It is not beyond some people to actively seek confrontation and so I will be avoiding those people at every turn. My greatest concern is that bigots and macho men will be emboldened to harm people of color, LGBTQ folks, young women, and religious minorities once Trump takes office. Our collective sense of personal safety and the expectation of respect from others will be greatly diminished for the next several years. This makes me sad and cautious because I know people are going to get hurt.

My goal is to continue being the caring and respectful human I have always been and to treat others with the dignity and respect their humanity deserves. I plan to be a refuge to the fearful and the injured. I will treat others in the way I want to be treated, with kindness and respect without regard for how they voted. For example, yesterday, I encountered a very pregnant white store clerk. I had no idea how she voted, but I wished her a safe and quick delivery and a healthy baby. She thanked me. She may have been a Trump supporter and if she follows any news, she knows I probably voted for Kamala Harris. However, whatever her politics, she cannot escape the fact that I, a black Harris supporter, wished her well. My point is that we must hold fast to our decency when others have chosen indecency.

There is a verse in the Bible that says it is kindness that leads to repentance. And Lord knows, half of this country is in need of repentance.

Be wise, be safe and stock up and strap in for the next several years.

As we come close to the final vote tally in this presidential election, it becomes clear that Trump actually won by a very narrow popular vote count that rivals the Bush v Gore race. It doesn’t discount the fact that nearly half the nation voted for a despicable human being who shows no regard for our Constitution, the rule of law, or the plight of others. Beyond staying out of prison or seeking revenge on those who tried to hold him accountable for his criminal actions, his desire is to dominate and enrich himself by subjugating others and outright fraud is on full display. As a nation, we witnessed his cruelty, his mob-like behavior, his constant lying and childish insults and yet many still voted for him. His recent cabinet picks are just further evidence that his loyalty lies not with improving the country for its citizens, but with obtaining more power through loyal misfits, sycophants, conspiracy theorists, selfish billionaires, and unethical characters. There is plenty of blame to go around for how we got here, but now is the time to build our personal fortresses to protect ourselves from the mayhem that is about to occur. After that, we must decide whether to fight or flee.

I mentioned last week that we must prepare now to protect the reproductive choice and health of the young women in our lives. Red states are not safe for women of childbearing age as OBGYNs either have their hands tied or are fleeing those states. Red states are becoming maternal health care desserts with dire consequences. In addition, more babies are dying shortly after birth and others will have lifelong severe disabilities as a result of their heartbeat policies. Beyond stocking up on contraception, morning after pills, and abortion medication, those of us in states that protect maternal health can open our doors to young family members and friends who need help or a safer place for pregnancy and delivery. Being willing and able to help financially is also an act of empathy and kindness that can save a young woman’s life and future. Of course, women of childbearing age should have a passport in case a nationwide abortion ban goes into effect.

In addition to protecting the reproductive health of the young women in our lives, we must also pay attention to our finances. Retailers like Walmart have already announced that their prices will rise as a result of the impending tariffs. Companies are stocking up on supplies to ward off price increases. Our response has been to make our major purchases now. We did some renovations, purchased a new sofa and a new television. We are stocking up on everyday goods in anticipation of these price increases to stretch our money further. I even expanded our pantry to accommodate many more staples, and I filled shelves to the brim with unperishable items. I moved money to safer havens with easier access in anticipation of a market drop or a need for ready cash without paying additional taxes or penalties. In the new fiscal year, I will do more of the same prior to Trump taking office. Our goal is to avoid paying the consequences for his unpredictable and unwise fiscal policies.

We plan to be thoughtful about where we spend our money. We created a list of Trump-supporting stores that we will not patronize which includes Walmart, Hobby Lobby, Ross, and Chic fil a. We will patronize minority owned businesses and businesses in our small city before going elsewhere. And we will patronize the movie industry, live theater, visual artists, restaurants, and musicians by spending our dollars on creatives who improve our mental health and advocate for humanity. We won’t be buying anything that Elon Musk or Trump sells. In fact, we won’t even listen to their speeches or interviews. They each get on my nerves.

Protecting my peace of mind in the coming years is paramount. I won’t be watching corporate news any longer. I’ll limit my time and my viewing to local and publicly funded news sources. I’ll keep my New York Times subscription because I value investigative journalism. Instead of just stressing out over the impending bad news, I’m planning to carefully pick organizations actively defending our civil rights and advocating for vulnerable people and donate to them. As for social media, I’ve joined the new platform, Bluesky, and I am already enjoying the science, K-pop, gardening, and art content I requested. I’ve unfriended a number of people on Facebook who supported Trump, and I’ll continue to post my thoughts as an outlet, paying no attention to the number of views or likes I get. I won’t argue morality with morons anymore. I understand that Facebook and Instagram limit political content and I imagine it will only get worse with Trump in the White House issuing threats.

I’m planning to do more gardening, expanding my vegetable garden for more organic produce since prices are going to skyrocket when there are too few farm laborers left to harvest crops after Trump’s mass deportations. And who knows what will be in the food after deregulation for profits and there too few food inspectors empowered to inspect the food. There really is cause for concern and it’s distressing when you spend a lot of time thinking about it. My nerves will need far more mental breaks.

I relax when I’m knitting and crocheting, so I’ll do more of that and donate items to our local seniors, shelters, and newborn hospital wards. I plan to read more fiction rather than non-fiction this coming year. I plan to connect with family and friends in more meaningful ways. I pray and meditate during my daily walks, so that will continue. And I’ll keep listening to music while I cook, garden, craft, and do chores. I’ll spend time watching K-pop content on YouTube because their music videos are amazing. I’ll also enjoy K-dramas and a few U.S. dramas as well. I plan to utilize my dozens of cookbooks more often to discover new recipes this year. And of course, I plan to take care of my health by eating well, sleeping well, grooming well, and exercising.

In conclusion, I am basically choosing flight with a small amount of fight. My fight will be in my blog, social media post, donations to frontline organizations, and in letter to lawmakers. But the actual fighting belongs to white folks. They remain the majority who decided this election, and so they must decide among themselves whether this will be an inclusive multicultural democracy or a Taliban-like white-suprematist theocracy. In either case, I will do what I need to do to provide an ark for my family’s safety and well-being.

Half the nation has bought us to this terrifying moment in time. I keep saying to myself that in these troubled times that God will not be mocked and that we will reap what we sow. I recall that Proverbs 6:16-19 says, “These six things the Lord hates. Yes, seven are an abomination to Him: A proud look, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that are swift in running to evil. A false witness who speaks lies, and one who sows discord among brethren.” Trump and those who support him are all these things and they will not achieve the glorious end they’ve imagined for themselves.

On one of my walks this week, an older white gentleman, whom I’ve seen numerous times out walking his three little dogs, shouted to me from across the street how disappointed he was that Kamala Harris lost. At first, I thought it was bold of him to assume I was a Harris supporter, but then anyone who followed the election results knows that 92% of black women voted for her. And we live in a pretty liberal area of California. So, perhaps he wasn’t so bold after all. As soon as I confirmed his assumption, he crossed the street, and we had a lengthy political post-mortem conversation during which I remarked that this is his fight moving forward. I told him that black folks did our job trying to convince Americans to vote for Harris and then we voted for her as evidenced by the fact that she received 92% of the black female vote and 78% of the black male vote. I told him that we aren’t really fighting among ourselves except to convince other black folks to exercise their hard fought right to vote. He shared the ongoing political struggles within his extended family and how frustrating it was. I was sympathetic but encouraged him to continue the fight because the conflict is among white people and Latino people who make up the largest portion of the electorate. The battle is white women against white women and white men against white men. The same for Latinos. I told him the heavy lifting moving forward is on people like him, not people like me. I shared that my plan was to grab my popcorn and watch the shit show commence while supporting civil liberty organizations and protecting my family from harm.

I’m reading about all the black women planning to “mind their own black business” in the coming four years. Like many others, I have “unfriended” those who voted for Trump because I can no longer associate with people who knowingly align themselves with white supremacists, racist, homophobic, xenophobic and sexist people who agree to endanger and destroy the lives of others for cheaper eggs. Their lack of empathy is not worthy of my time and energy. We are not friends, and I also refuse to knowingly patronize businesses who supported Trump. My plan moving forward is to protect my peace of mind by limiting my exposure to the news and to hateful people while also protecting my loved ones against the harmful consequences of this election.

For all those like me who plan to build an ark to weather the impending storm, these are my plans. First and foremost, I want to ensure the reproductive rights and safety of the females in my family who are of childbearing age. For us mothers, grandmothers and aunties, particularly in red states, we can ensure that we have a supply of birth control, morning after pills, abortion pills, or travel funds ready for the young women in our lives. This is about protecting the mental, physical, and financial health as well as preserving the life possibilities of the young women we love and care about. While children are a blessing, I believe the Bible teaches us that life begins when a fetus is capable of breath around 24 weeks. Before that, I believe the fetus is a human body (temple) under construction as in when God formed Adam out of the dusk of the earth. Adam became a living being when God breathed into his nostrils, the “breath of life” (Genesis 2:7).

That said, I realize that nothing will handicap a family’s upward mobility more than an unplanned pregnancy or a planned pregnancy gone terribly wrong. Access to maternal checkups and safe abortion in red states has been drastically reduced and as a result more women are dying from pregnancy and birth complications (especially black women), and more newborns are already dying shortly after birth in red states according to the CDC. Some of these affected women have other children and their care becomes the responsibility of the family or the state. We will also start to see a sharp uptick in babies being born with severe abnormalities and chronic disabilities. These too will place an added layer of mental and financial stress on families for years to come. If the Republicans are successful in banning abortion and contraception nationwide, that supply of reproductive care products will become increasingly important as will the ability to travel outside the country. For now, California is the safest state to be pregnant and give birth. In short, the time is now to stock up and become a resource to female family members.

The ability to travel may not only be needed to address reproductive health concerns. but for the safety and freedom of targeted groups. The second thing we did was renew our passports in case a quick exit becomes necessary. While highly improbable, as in the first Trump administration, white supremacists are likely to become more emboldened. I suspect it will be far worse this time. Black, brown and Asian men and women could easily become targets of Trump and the MAGA movement, not only targeted for deportation but for mass incarceration and violence. Trump is surrounding himself with the likes of Steven Miller, a white suprematists, Steve Bannon, a white nationalist, Elon Musk, a white capitalist from South Africa, and Mike Johnson, a white Christian nationalist, and many others who believe white people are the only true Americans worthy of civil rights. This country can quickly become a dangerous place for all people of color. The same is true for religious minorities and LGBTQ folks. Having an updated passport and emergency funds set aside is a prudent thing to do.

There is much more to consider when preparing to weather the storm of the next four years. I’ll conclude this post with Proverbs 22: 3: ” A prudent man foresees evil and hides himself, but the simple pass on and are punished.”

Next week I’ll reflect on maintaining mental health and boosting financial well-being in the face of turmoil and uncertainty.