A Message to Mila

My original intention for this space never consisted of sharing my political views or opinions. I wanted this to be a safe space to share, learn, and grow through other mamas that are just trying to conquer motherhood one day at a time.

However, I realized that this space is also my own sanity. It's the only place I can put words to paper and spread a message. Whether my viewers like that message or not is up to them. Others opinions won't keep me quiet, they only encourage me to keep speaking out.

So, here it goes...

The year is 2020 and as you and I both know, the world is a mess. Never could I have dreamed this to be the reality I would bring my firstborn child into, but here we are. And to top it all off, we are in the most heated, monumental, and life-altering election year we have ever seen.

Living on the other side of the world throughout most of the Trump administration has been a blessing. I can watch as an outsider and shield my daughter from the mess that is become of a nation I once loved. From this side, I can mingle and share ideas and opinions with people from all over the globe. I get a real birds-eye view of what is going on inside Trump's America without having to be a part of it myself.

Then, on the other hand, living on the other side of the world during the Trump Administration has been a curse. I have missed out on opportunities to stand up for what I believe in and march on the streets of my city. I have missed the chance to have deep, hard conversations with my family members to open their eyes to the bigger picture. I have missed out, but I certainly have not checked out.

Ironically enough, four years ago I found myself writing a similar blog post as a last resort and we all remember how that ended. Post-election I wrote about my frustration and sadness while trying to make sense of it all. And then, I just stopped writing. I stopped advocating because I felt like I was preaching to people who had made up their minds and weren't changing it. I was writing to people who chose hate over love. It was the beginning of the divide of America and I didn't have the energy to be a part of it.

And here we are, four years later making the same plea all over again. The difference is that this time, I have something to fight for.

Over the last few months, I have posted many different political references to my Instagram account that expressed my obvious dislike for the Trump administration, their policies, and the man's character in general. Since I know people disagree with me, I always expect some replies to these posts. In fact, I encourage replies to these posts to have civilized conversations around the many topics that are at stake in this election.

However, I am so completely shocked at the absolutely hateful and disgusting comments that have personally come my way as a response to my opinion. And what's even worse is that these comments come from family and friends, not strangers.

I realized that I shouldn't be surprised by these comments. I mean, look at who these people support. They support a man that has complete disrespect for women and people of color. They support a man that opposes immigration and diversity. They support a man who mocks the disabled and considers our fallen soldiers to be losers. So of course these people respond to me the way they do! They learned from the best.

Whether or not they intend to change my mind, most of these people don't even take the time to ask my opinion. They assume since you "hate Trump" you automatically support Biden and CNN. They assume that since you support Black Lives Matter that you automatically hate every cop in America. They assume since you speak out as an activist, that you are looting and rioting in the streets. Yet not ONCE has a Trump supporter asked for my opinion or been curious to know what I believe. The truth is, they don't care and that's the difference.

The difference between these people and myself is so obvious, but took me a long time to realize. When you support a man who only cares about his own self-interests and the interests of his wealthy friends, you breed a population that quickly adopts this same philosophy. This ego mentality clouds your vision so much that you can't see past your own self-interests. You can only care about yourself and making your life better. While that is all good and well, it's not how I will live.

And yet, somehow the main argument I get in my DMs consists of blaming me and my generation for ruining the country. They act as if we are the selfish ones focusing on our own best interests when in fact it is the complete opposite. We not only support science, we respect it. We believe that all lives will not matter until black lives matter. We understand that if we can't save our planet and endangered species, our kids will never see them. We care about education, immigration, and climate change. The difference between them and us is we are willing to do anything it takes to save the nation we love for our children and future generations while they are ready to watch it burn to the ground.

I have a six-month-old daughter that will be four-years-old when the next election year rolls around in 2024. She will be old enough to understand what it feels like to be angry. She will understand that there are both nice people and mean people in this world. She will begin to realize that some kids don't look quite like her or sound exactly like her. She will understand that she has a mommy from one country who speaks one language and a daddy from another country who speaks a different language. Beyond that, she will be as naive as any four-year-old and not have much of a clue about the world yet. Therefore, it is my job to make the world a good place for her.

Plain and simple, Mila is my "why." She will always be the reason I fight for a better future. To do this for her, I need to educate myself constantly to understand what I am fighting for. I will teach her that her life matters and her opinion matters. She will learn about hate, but she will live with love in her heart. She will be taught to be a strong, world-changing female who can do anything. It is my job to show her the importance of standing up for what you believe in, even if you are the only one.

Looking through my messages, I am reminded that there is indeed more love than hate in my circle. For every nasty comment, at least thirty people are reaching out and reassuring me that I am not crazy. I am not the only one who believes in this future. I know there are many good people out there fighting for change this year. I am reminded that we can make a difference. We have the power to do that by showing up and speaking out.

Our children's future is in our hands. Mila's future is up to us. Lenni and I can shape who she becomes as a person, but the world she will grow up in is going to be determined by all of us. And it begins this year with a single vote.

In the end, I can only hope and pray that people make the right decision this time around. I encourage you to be on the right side of history. I plan to leave a legacy that Mila will be proud of someday. This is all for you, baby girl.

VOTE.

"What you do is your history. What you set in motion is your legacy." -Leonard Sweet