Donald Trump will be the next president of the United States.The pundits didn't see it
coming. The polls were all wrong. And many of us — particularly the groups our
new president-elect has targeted throughout much of his campaign — feel like
we've woken up in a country that no longer wants us. A country we no longer The 115th Congress will have a record-high 21 female senators in it next
year, including more women of color than ever before.This session, 20 of the 100
senators are women. Although an increase by one is admittedly not a huge jump,
we'll still have the most women ever in the U.S. Senate next year. While numbers
fluctuated in the years between the bars above, overall the figures represent a
good sign for gender equality in Washington. Meanwhile, the number of women of color
in the Senate quadrupled. Catherine Cortez Masto beat
Joe Heck in Nevada to become the very first Latina elected to the Senate. She'll be taking the seat
of Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, who is retiring. “It
should have happened a long time ago,” she told Fusion in September of the possibility of making history.
She has no plans to put a progressive agenda on hold because of a President
Trump. “I’ll be one hell of a checks and balances on him,” she told a crowd
after the election. “Tonight, we start our fight together.” Tammy Duckworth, a double-amputee veteran of the Iraq War who was born
in Thailand, cruised to victory over incumbent Mark Kirk in Illinois. "The military gave me
leadership skills," she once told the Asian American Policy Review. "It taught me to stand up
and express myself. It taught me, then, to defend what I think is the best
solution." Plenty of people around the country were rooting especially
hard for Duckworth after her opponent made a racist
jab at her family during a debate last month. California Attorney General Kamala Harris held on to her sizable lead
and will soon become America's first female biracial senator. "All of the most
substantial movements in this country started with or have been championed by
students," she told Lenny last year. "I feel strongly we want to
encourage student voice and take it seriously." These women and so many others reflect a Senate that's (slowly but
surely) looking more and more like the American electorate. We've got a long way to go,
especially with Donald Trump poised to be the 45th president of the United
States. But the changing faces of our leaders mean more and more groups and
communities — women, racial minorities, the LGBTQ community, and so many others
— have someone fighting for them in the halls of Congress. Representation
matters because without their say in Washington, it's easy for the voices of
these groups — their concerns, their challenges, their dreams — to go unheard.
This is an article published by Upworthy, written by Robbie Couch.
I am personally very worried about the fact that a racist, homophobic, sexist rapist is going to be our president. Although I am worried, the fact that we are going to have more women to opose him is good.
This is an article published by Upworthy, written by Robbie Couch.
I am personally very worried about the fact that a racist, homophobic, sexist rapist is going to be our president. Although I am worried, the fact that we are going to have more women to opose him is good.
I think it's good to look at the steps forward that we are taking in other areas that may not be the presidency.
ReplyDeletei feel as though in this time of doubt and negativity its good to appreciate our lives we share with other people and for the time being we have not personally been effected by the outcome of this election.
ReplyDelete