American politics have always been a hot-button issue at dinner tables and community gatherings, but from the current political climate has emerged a new kind of division. One side of the bridge feels satisfaction, maybe even vindication, and on the other, communities are grieving.
Families are deciding whether it’s worth it to uproot their lives and relocate to countries they believe to be more tolerant. Many families feel stuck with no plans and potentially no resources that will last another Trump term, reliving the fears they felt during his first.
What once seemed unrealistic has started to appear closer and closer to reality as titleholders within the American government work to overturn laws once believed to be untouchable. Communities thought Roe v. Wade wouldn’t be overturned until it was in 2022. Now, removing citizenship from children with immigrant parents or encouraging discrimination of queer students, both proposals encouraged by Project 2025, doesn’t seem so dramatic.
After the election demographics results were released, rage-filled voters decided the best thing to do was shame the entirety of the south for being “uneducated,” and tell Hispanic and Latin communities they “deserved” deportation for the way “they” voted, reciting phrases once thought to be reserved solely for extremist right-wing voices. This is, of course, on top of the “your body, my choice” DMs and “pick cotton at your nearest plantation” texts being sent to women and Black people across the nation.
And while all that’s happening, others are starting a Blue Bracelet “Movement” to discreetly express their political alignment.
In the words of Amanda Oaks, going by “Word Witchery” on Instagram:
“What tf are you moving?”
Don’t buy the damn bracelet. Get off the internet.
Like the Instagram black square that became popular during the Black Lives Matter movement, the Blue Bracelet is another performative “allyship” trend that was supposed to tell minorities which white people were the safe ones. It’s another action meant to encourage solidarity, but these actions are often not accompanied by sustainable community action and engagement.
The “movement” falls short. It does not move. Plus, as activists on social media have pointed out, those “Blue Bracelet” wearers are going to spend holidays with their families and probably avoid talking about the election all together. People are still afraid of stirring the pot, afraid of ruining the dinner, afraid of making paw paw’s heart monitor go off. The bottom line: people are afraid of being the change.
Assuming that fear comes from a lack of understanding, it’s possible that would-be activists are unsure how to start a movement or community action. These things appear to be led by scholars with degrees in political science, or can feel so far away from day-to-day issues. The solution comes from right outside your front doors, observing your neighborhoods and the communities you already inhabit.
Food kitchens still need volunteers. Your friends and family need spaces to express their emotions. Your classmates, your neighbors, and the people you are already close to still have needs that can be organized by community mutual aid.
In a recent interview by Vermont Public, John Gordon, the minister at the Sheldon Methodist Church said, “The meeting I had this morning with a lot of other service providers, people who provide services to marginalized people, we all had the same feeling. We’re the remnant, and we are the people who, no matter what else happens, no matter how many bad things happen in the country or even around the world, we will be the ones who will remain faithful and will serve other people, no matter what. No matter what happens.”
Don’t overlook the importance of “quieter” work not made popular by social media. Don’t overlook the smaller, local problems, the things a community can accomplish if one person took the initiative to bring them all together.