Writer Maya Angelou attends the memorial celebration for Odetta at Riverside Church on Feb. 24, 2009 in New York City. (Photo by Astrid Stawiarz/Getty Images)
You may write me down in history
With your bitter, twisted lies,
You may trod me in the very dirt
But still, like dust, I’ll rise.
— From “Still I RIse” by Maya Angelou
Maya Angelou grew up in the small southwest Arkansas town of Stamps. Raped as a child and beaten as a young woman, she became virtually silent for years. She later turned to prostitution for a time but ultimately rose above the hardships and the racism and became a person whom many women, including me, consider a role model for our daughters and ourselves. Angelou not only regained her voice but also marched and lobbied for equal rights, sang, danced and wrote — and oh, how beautifully she wrote!
The above excerpt from Angelou’s 1978 poem “Still I Rise” has been shared repeatedly on social media since the Nov. 5 presidential election when former President Donald Trump, a Republican, defeated Vice President Kamala Harris to become president-elect.
Harris is a Democrat, but more importantly she is a Black woman — a fact many women consider a silent killer in politics, the one that ended her White House hopes just as it did eight years ago with Hillary Rodham Clinton, another strong woman albeit a white one. Both lost to a physically large, extravagantly wealthy man with three wives, six corporate bankruptcies, 34 felony convictions, and a naughty reference from one Stormy Daniels on his resume.
Many people would disagree, at least publicly, with my blaming gender and racial prejudice for Harris’s defeat. Among those no doubt are Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders who campaigned for Trump and was his press secretary in his first term, the young Black and Latino men who say they supported Trump because of the economy, and many voters who staunchly oppose abortion rights for women in all or almost all cases.
While I do not blame only race and gender, I am convinced both were significant factors in the election. Even Trump marveled in September that a woman was doing so well against him. “They put her in, and she somehow — a woman — somehow she’s doing better than [President Joe Biden] did,” he said.That was just one of Trump’s many misogynistic comments. Was he playing to his sexist followers, to the disciples of religions that teach women should be submissive, not only in marriage and the church but also in business and government?
Also, consider the much-regurgitated words of white supremacist Nicholas Fuentes who on election night wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter: “Your body, my choice.” Later, Fuentes bragged, “More people saw this post than voted for Kamala Harris in the election.”
I doubt most voters would boast of opposing Harris because of race or gender even if they did. Instead, many Trump supporters have cited the economy, abortion, immigration and their own Christian views. Still, even if these voters don’t see their own bias, I see it in their willingness to shrug off Trump’s hateful rhetoric, immorality and lies while also saying Christians should vote for Trump, not Harris. The apparent alternative for these voters was to skip voting entirely. Would voting for a Black woman who’s imperfect like every other candidate in history really have been so difficult? Someone said Jesus wasn’t running, so there was Trump. There also was Harris, a decent human and an intelligent, mentally agile candidate who respects the Constitution and the law.
But do not forget: It was a Black man, one Barack Obama, whose relatively stable presidency led to a white-supremacist backlash and the political rise of Trump. Some people clearly couldn’t cope with the idea of a Black man being their leader.
Further, since leaving office in 2021, Trump has worsened, in at least one case beyond his control and likely to worsen as he ages. The 78-year-old president-elect’s mental decline has become increasingly obvious in his rambling speeches and sometimes vulgarity-laden comments — words one can transcribe but not always comprehend. So, no, I don’t buy the argument that Trump was the better candidate.
What do we do now? The first thing I did on election night was turn off the TV, close my laptop and go to bed. But I can’t ignore reality forever; nor should I.
Since the election, I have tried even harder than usual to stay informed on current events. I hope to join with others in working toward the mid-term elections in two years to support the best candidates in Arkansas and elsewhere.
As a journalist, I’ve long monitored local elections and encourage others to do so as well. Legislators on the state and national levels often start their political careers on those levels. Republicans have successfully launched support networks starting at the school board and quorum court levels. Democrats must work harder at these startup levels.
I’ve never been much of a campaign donor. But even if we can’t or don’t give money, we can help register voters, join organizations that share our views, speak out against actions that discriminate against any group of people, and strive to help those who are victimized by any political system or party.
We also must be informed and not fall for the lies and hyperbole of either party. Read and listen to state and national news, preferably from multiple sources. Follow the social-media sites if you wish, but not for facts. Support our public schools so that our children and grandchildren can someday make informed decisions.
Above all, be persistent. It’s OK to take a break, but make it short. Keep working, keep educating, keep voting. Never give up. And just like Maya Angelou, we, too, shall rise and make our lives better slowly but surely.