[19 January 2017]
I will not be watching or in any
way appearing to be OK with much less enthused about the inauguration of an
individual who in my judgment contradicts every Beatitude, who attacks every
one of my core values. I cannot think of a single president in US history
who could be nominated or elected by those who voted Trump into the
presidency. One way I try to counter the threatening erosion of my core
values is to place symbols where I have to see/handle them every day. I
have inserted a slide below with four of these symbols – (1) a ‘Handala’ image
I purchased a few years ago in Ramallah, (2) a ‘Don Quixote and his squire
Sancho Panza’ image I purchased in Toledo, (3) a ‘Peace’ image I purchased
recently in a neighborhood ‘Peace Store’, and (4) a safety pin (explanation
below the slide) that is attached to the hat I wear all day every day.
Re the safety pin – see the appeal spreading across the
country (http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/14/fashion/safety-pin-ally-activism.html?_r=0) to wear a safety pin as a welcoming signal to all those who are afraid and who
feel threatened by President Trump and his supporters. I am particularly
challenged/encouraged by the following explanation of the safety pin symbol I
recently found –
I am safe. If you are Muslim, a woman, LGBQ, a person of color, Latino, trans, an immigrant, disabled, afraid, . . . I am here. Speak. I’ll listen, hold you, stand up for you, sit down for you, shut up for you, do what I can to let you know I love you. This safety pin is how you’ll know me.
A friend asked me a few days ago
– “How’s your work?” I responded – “Much more difficult and dangerous
than before the election. Donald Trump emboldens everything – every
single thing – I work against and resist in promoting a humane and respectful
practice of medicine that is held accountable by/to a firm social
conscience.”
