I woke up the morning of January 21st tired, not the groggy just woke up tired. The kind of tired that makes you not want to get out of bed, the kind of tired that makes you want to curl up in a ball and cry, the kind of tired of life tired. 2016 was a rocky year, everyone couldn’t wait for 2017 and for the better things to come. It took twenty days for the illusion to break. Twenty days for a monster to take office. That might be seen as dramatic or an overreaction, but that’s what he is; that’s what he is to the LGBT community, to people of color, to undocumented immigrants, to women. To me. Women and men all over the country and world marched to face that monster. People of all ages, and ethnicities, and backgrounds marched to face every monster they had experienced like him because he wasn’t the first and, regrettably, won’t be the last.

As a world, as a community we used the words that hurt us against them. We used the sexist, racist, and bigoted remarks as fuel. Fuel for our fire. Our fire is passion, our fire is anger, our fire is motivated, our fire will not burn out. As January 21st went on I realized this is not Trump’s America. It is ours.

Trump cannot divide us and he cannot plant ideas of hatred in our minds. Since Trump has become president the worst type of Americans have been slowly making their way out of the woodwork. The extreme right radicals, white supremacists, and straight up Nazis have been using this presidency as an excuse to make our country great again. Our country was never great. Our world has never been great. Us as a race have never been great, we have always been oppressive. The powerful in this world have built themselves on the backs of the powerless. On the backs of slaves, of people of color, of women. People with privilege have used and abused the less fortunate. Trump has privilege, he has the privilege of being a white male born into fortune. While he promotes America and upholding the American Dream, he doesn’t know the meaning of it. He did not have to work for what he has. He did not fight for The Dream. The Dream was handed to him on a silver platter. Trump is not for the working class, Trump is not for women, Trump is not for people of color. Do not act for him. Don’t lay down for him. Rise up.

As I watched the extraordinary people march my heart swelled so much it broke. My heart crumbled with the realization that this would be the next four years of our country. The next four years would be a battle, a war. The next four years would be a fight I am happy to fight. I am happy to stand with so many others. I am happy to cry and sweat and bleed if that means we come out the other side stronger and without the injustices we face now. I woke up the morning of January 22nd hopeful, with reassurance that nasty women build bridges not walls.