Words to Live By.

So the way to live your life and interact with others is  end up on the new Watch List and have the Westboro Baptists demonstrate at your funeral. Got it.

Voices

People ask what can I do? I'm just me, one lone person. What can I do?

Use your voice. Follow the mantra, "if you see something, say something." No don't call the police, call your legislator, call the president-elect, write letters to the editor, get 10 of your friends and pay for an ad in the paper, join the Democratic Party and help change its direction, buy something on the Standing Rock Amazon Wish List, donate to an environmental protection group, support the ACLU, talk to your neighbors.

One voice matters. Your voice matters. Our voices matter.

Theaters are not Safe Spaces

My friend Michael got it correctly. Trump got it wrong. Theaters should never be safe spaces for the powerful.

Stand Up to Hate and Intolerance

Here's my response to the election results.

Stand Up Against Hate and Intolerance

I must admit that I never saw a Trump election victory coming. I refused to believe that so many of my fellow citizens would buy into his hate filled and fear-mongering messaging or fall for the greatest con since P.T. Barnum. But it is what it is.

With no one left to blame, the new world order of the Republican party now owns whatever comes next. I still fear the worst and take no comfort in Trump’s command for his supporters to stop the hate crimes, especially given his pick for Senior White House Counselor, Steve Bannon, who is a self-proclaimed racist, misogynist and anti-Semite.

With no real agenda of his own, Trump will gladly take whatever House Speaker Paul Ryan and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell serve up and sign it into law. One can only hope they temper the urge to completely dismantle the progress made since the Great Depression. The signs are not encouraging and I fear Social Security and Medicare will be among the first legislative casualties.

The message that hate is the order of the day continues to spark unacceptable behavior towards those made out to be responsible for our lack of “greatness.” Hate speech, neo-nazi graffiti and white supremacist rantings are being widely reported. The Klu Klux Clan will hold a victory rally later this month. Talk of a mandatory Muslim registry with Japanese World War Two internment camps serving as prescedent runs rampant. With an over zealous evangelical Vice-President elect ready to attack the LBGTQ community with conversion therapy and roll back same sex marriage victories, many fear for their safety and the safety of their families.

So where do we go from here?

All of this forces a necessary discussion in communities across the country. Is this what we really want to have happen where we live, go to school, attend church and raise our families or do we want something different?

Several campaigns have sprung up to address these concerns. One has people willing to stand against hate and intolerance in all its forms wearing safety pins. The pins are a visible symbol that the wearer is an ally to those made fearful or attacked in our current climate. We stand ready to intervene when we see inhumanity visited upon another person. We will record and report those who attack and shelter those oppressed with kindness. We will say no to hate and intolerance and try to defuse emotional situations with kindness and redirection.

The safety pin became a symbol in Britain of solidarity with and protection of immigrants who were being attacked after the vote to leave the European Union.

Locally, some are opening their businesses and homes as Safe Spaces for those subject to hate and intolerance. Soon you will begin to see Safe Space signs in windows so that those in fear know they have someplace to go for help, comfort, referrals and assistance. In community Safe Spaces, all will be respected and treated with the dignity they are due as fellow human beings without regard to gender, sexual orientation, race, immigration status or other targeted minority status. Safe Space providers will not accept hate or intimidation in their businesses or homes. 

Choosing to provide a Safe Space or wear a pin will hopefully help send a message that we build a nation based upon dignity and respect for all and not by giving into fear of the “others” who can conveniently be blamed for what ails our society.  Having Safe Spaces will lead to a discussion of what kind of society do we want to share with our neighbors and the rest of the world.

If you want a Safe Space sign like the one above, I can send one to you for your window. They print up nicely on photo paper. If you want training in how to be an effective ally to those in need, let me know and we can let you know when the training starts. You can reach me by email at waringfincke@gmail.com

Anyone can wear a pin or provide a Safe Space. You just have to care about your fellow human beings and be willing to help those in fear or in need.

Waring R. Fincke is a retired attorney and vice-chair of the Democratic Party of Washington County.

Make Your Space a Safe Space

Put this in your window and welcome those rendered fearful by Trumps's bigotry

Stand Up to bullies

I have been a member of the ACLU since 1975. My grandparents helped found the first Civil Liberties UNion in New York. Now they need our help more than ever. Please join

I am an Ally

I am an Ally for all targeted by bigotry and all of the Trump promoted "isms."