Tears shed for different reasons
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Editor,
One week after returning from the Women’s March in Washington D.C., the tears came. They came while watching (on You Tube) beautiful Alicia Keyes deliver her impassioned talk at the march. They came because I care. Deeply.
When I was nineteen, I enjoyed a college semester at sea, visiting countries in South America, Africa and Europe. Coming home, we sailed through New York Harbor; passing the Statue of Liberty, I wept. They were tears of pride. This is my country, I thought, and after all I had seen, it felt so good to be home.
The difference between my 19-year-old tears and those shed decades later is like the difference between night and day. Tears of joy and pride versus tears of heartbreak and frustration. This time, I wept for basic decency, tolerance and morality; for women’s rights, equality and justice; for dignity, truth and kindness. I wept for the removal of all information on climate change from the White House website, the hiring freeze and the travel ban; for the families of refugees and immigrants; for “newspeak,” “alternative facts,” and outright lies; for vilification, dismissal of questions, and the “no contact” order. I wept for arrogance, petulance and smugness; and for the chaos, outrage and worldwide protests. Is this really the road we are taking?
Emotions are good; more people should tap into them. Bullies should, racists and people who objectify women should. Name callers and trolls should. Patronizing, rigid people should. People who say, “Get over it” should. Apologists should. People who denigrate large swaths of the American electorate and make fun of marginalized “others” should. Emotions humanize people; they soften them.
This no longer feels like my country. Am I an emotional female? Yes, I am, and proud of it. And I intend to fight to get my country back.
Nancy Teggeman
Polson
