About a week ago, I shared a post on Facebook about our former president. My friend replied, “The man is gone, move on to more positive thinking!”. I was bothered and replied, “when someone causes as much pain and destruction as he has, you can't just "move on". And I have no faith he'll just fade into retirement peacefully.”
As I’ve thought about this exchange, I tried to find where the disconnect between her wanting to forget and me wanting to remember. I want to remember the Black Lives Matter protests. I want to remember the LGBTQ+ protests. And I want to remember the white supremacy marches. Our country is divided, our version of truth dependent on the lens through which you see it.
My friend wanted to just “move on”. I want to “move forward”. I want us to see the more than 74 million people who supported a candidate that lied, bullied and incited violence. I believe character matters. When I hear “move on”, I think about putting down all that pain and walking away but I do see the need to “move forward”. I’m in favor of our new president. I don’t just see a politician but a good man. No, he’s not perfect, but he’s decent and committed to bringing peace. With him, we can “move forward”. We, as a country, can learn, grow and heal. We can find our commonality while still seeing our individuality, confronting our biases, and changing our world.
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