Discoveries Made In Morocco

    Morocco is a beautiful place full of rich culture, interesting people, camels, mint tea, and unique cuisine. The cuisine included a lot of bread, couscous, and tangine (a pot full of cooked veggies and meat). Moroccan landscape is also diverse, full of beautiful cities, breathtaking waterfalls, and mysterious deserts.

    Although, Morocco has challenging aspects too. Poverty is an issue, like many other places. There are many people in Morocco who look at travelers and just see them as things to take advantage of for money. There are beggars, aggressive sales men, and people trying to give you directions just for money. The conservative nature of Morocco also makes foreign women traveling more susceptible to harassment from men because of the patriarchal power of countries like Morocco.

 I also learned a lot about islam and being Muslim in Morocco. People of Islamic faith are not dangerous or scary like  the media makes them out to be sometimes. The Islamic faith does not teach bad things. Some people who are Muslim use Islam as an excuse or weapon to make people do bad things out of corruption such as terrorists. But Islam teaching isn't inherently bad or much different than Christianity.  Religion have more in common than different, they all teach love. Some people think their religion seem corrupt because they manipulate people to do bad things through religion. But this can happen with other religions and beliefs. A truth about religion that was made more clear to me is that most religions have a lot in common. They are all about love. I believe that there is truth in all religions. There is no one right and wrong belief or way to live. I like learning and being open to all possibilities. Diversity in beliefs, perspectives, and ways of living should not be feared, but should be used to grow, learn, and improve from.  Being open to different ways of thinking and doing things makes you more creative and better at problem solving. Getting to know other people's beliefs, perspectives, and experiences also makes you a more compassionate person. Diversity makes our world more unique and interesting, It adds many opportunities for growth and improvement to become more well rounded. The universe is full of many wonders and mysteries, and I think not knowing all the answers makes life more interesting and worth living.

     

     But the more I travel, the more I realize that there are kind and helpful people everywhere you go, all you have to do is open your eyes and heart to seek them out. You can find good people of all faiths, backgrounds, and nationalities. My faith in humanity grows every time I travel. For every person who came up to me and only saw me as a dollar sign, there were many others who came up to me who genuinely wanted to help out of the kindness of their hearts. For every guy who came up to me and said "I love you" and "Can I have your number or FB", who saw me as just a mysterious foreign woman to catcall, there were many other people who really wanted to get to know me and gave me genuine compliments such as "You seem like you have a kind heart and beautiful soul." I had strangers buy me water, offer me food, help me with my luggage in bus stations, give me directions or advice without asking for money, help serve me breakfast at a free hotel breakfast when she was a guest herself, and do many other random acts of kindness.

  The most memorable random act of kindness was from the night I lost my phone on a taxi and was trying to make my way back at night to where I was staying, from a solo weekend adventure. A  and her children came up to me and tried to help. At first, It was hard because neither she or her children spoke English, but then she found another girl who did. They went to the taxi station with me and tried to help me find my phone. They also let me use their phone to get the address of the place I was staying (since the address I had was on my lost phone). We wandered a bit before getting the address, as I tried to describe the school I was staying at. They took me to a couple of schools they thought it could be and talked to other people that they thought could help, until we finally got the address and made our way to the school.  I had made my way to the school through out Larache before by myself, but it was a little more difficult at night. Things looked less familiar but I think I could have made it by myself. Maybe, I could have even made it by myself there a little quicker. We went a lot of ways I did not think were right, but they just wanted to make sure and did not want me to walk alone at night. I thought it was so kind of them to be so concerned about my safety that they did not want me to walk alone.They thought other people would not be as helpful or would not be able to speak English to help me. I was so grateful for them. Even though that situation was unfortunate and I was disappointed in myself for losing my phone, It was the experience on this trip that gave me the most hope and faith in humanity.

      I learned a lot through working with my kiddos who have autism and their mother's in my Workaway parent teaching project. Work away is a website resource that trades affordable/ free accommodation in exchange for all types of volunteer, all around the world. We are so lucky in the USA to have the resources and knowledge of autism that we have. In Morocco, the resources are expensive, non existent, or done poorly. There are some people who claim to be professionals but they do not know as much as they think, and end up doing more harm than good. This is also due to a lack of understanding of autism, that we tried to  to have the resources and understanding improve with our program. The bad therapy, even made the parents not trust real therapist anymore or give up on trying.  A lot of the kids that we had with autism were denied from schools, some even denied from therapy, because the children are thought to be too difficult to teach. The families were so happy to find our program, although some were skeptical at first. For many of the families we were the first to say their children were not to difficult, their children are capable of learning, and we love their children. It made them so happy  to see other people love their children and believe that they have potential. Many of them have had lost hope. Some mothers had done everything for their child and did not teach their child anything because they were told time and time again, that their child was not capable of anything, by professionals, such as doctors and therapists. It made my day to see their face light up when they saw their child do things that they never thought were possible. Simple things such as seeing their child help their mother put on their own shirt, was so meaningful to them. Other children were able to communicate with their mothers through a picture exchange program for the first time effectively. Being able to communicate with their child made such  a huge difference, now they can understand and connect with their child more clearly than ever before. They were also delighted to see challenging behaviors such as crying and running away decrease. It was amazing to give the parents the tools and resources they need to help their children learn, grow, and improve in the future, instead of feeling hopeless. They now have the power to help and teach their child. I am glad I helped make a difference in their lives!

     I learned a lot from my volunteer group as well.  We became a diverse family through out our trip. I got to learn about many different cultures of my group members such as  England, Pakistan,Spain, Holland, Mexico, Hong Kong, and Germany. I am so thankful for Hanan for giving me this amazing opportunity! She is so awesome for all she does for children who have autism and their parents! She can understand the best, since she also has a child with autism. Our group had an amazing time together and hope to reunite one day in the future. I can't wait for many more adventures through Workaway, traveling while trying to make a difference.

I will end with a few of my favorite travel quotes by Anthony Bourdain:

"It seems that the more places I see and experience, the bigger I realize the world to be. The more I become aware of, the more I realize how relatively little I know of it, how many places I have still to go, how much more there is to learn. Maybe that’s enlightenment enough - to know that there is no final resting place of the mind, no moment of smug clarity. Perhaps wisdom, at least for me, means realizing how small I am, and unwise, and how far I have yet to go."

"Travel isn’t always pretty. It isn’t always comfortable. Sometimes it hurts, it even breaks your heart. But that’s okay. The journey changes you; it should change you. It leaves marks on your memory, on your consciousness, on your heart, and on your body. You take something with you. Hopefully, you leave something good behind."

Dreams Deffered

"What happens to a dream deffered?
Does it dry up
Like a raisin in the sun?
Or Fester like a sore-
and then run?
Does it stink like rotten meat?
Or crust and sugar over
like a syrup sweet?
Maybe it sags
like a heavy load
Or does it explode"
Langston  Hughes

Don't deffer your dreams, make a plan, take one step at a time, and make them happen. If you say "Oh I will accomplish my dreams one day in the future.. not now..later, one day may never come. If you keep pushing it back, you may run out of time. Life is unpredictable and you never know how much time you have left.  Make every moment count. All you need is the courage to seek your desires, there is nothing stopping you but yourself. Your dreams do not come true unless you start making the effort to make them happen, now.. not later. I am so glad that I'm not deferring my dreams to travel!

#Why I March

  I am so inspired to see how many people all around the world showed up to The Women's March Movement.  It filled my heart and gave me hope.  Obama was right  when he said, "I am asking you to believe. Not in my ability to bring about change — but in yours."  This movement shows us that we do have that power to make a change. Women in America have a lot more rights and freedoms than a lot of women all around the world, so it made me happy to see Women Marches in other countries around the world too. I hope women in other countries get the rights, freedom, and respect  that they deserve soon! But that does not mean that America does not have room for improvement too. I was really bummed that I did not go to any of the Women's Marches after seeing how empowering it was for so many people and after realizing that there were marches near me too. I plan on participating in future marches regarding these topics. I'm determined to make it happen next time. I am also determined to make a difference.  I decided to research  other ways I could make a difference and I found the 10 Actions in 100 Days Challenge on the Women's March web page. The first action was to write a post card to your senator about what matters to you. The post card was hard to print out and I had too much to say because all of the issues in the Women's March Movement matter to me.  So here is my letter to the Senator:

Dear Senator Tim Scott,

      I’m a supporter of the # WomensMarch movement. I’m from Charleston, South Carolina. I’m concerned about making our community, a safe, free, and healthy environment for all women- including women of every race, women of every socioeconomic background, women of every religious belief’s and women of every sexual preference. This also includes women who are trans, women who are native, women who are immigrants and women who are disabled. Feminist movements like these are not only for women,  equality benefits all men too. To help improve our country, we first have to help improve our local community. To ensure a safe, free, and healthy environment for all, I think our community need to combat violence, always allow access of quality reproductive healthcare, protect the rights of the LGBTQIA community, improve worker’s rights, defend civil and immigrant rights, enhance disability rights, and preserve the environment.

           I am concerned about violence, especially those directed at labels of race, gender sexuality, disability, and religion, because everyone deserves to live their lives without being in fear of violence against their bodies. I hope our community will make sure that our criminal justice system will take accountability and justice very serious against violence  caused by  discrimination, prejudice, and/ or police brutality.  I am lucky to not be a victim of violence but I know there are many who have not been as lucky as me and that is not okay.

     Protecting reproductive rights is another concern I think should be important to our community. Cuts and restrictions to the access of dependable reproductive healthcare services such as HIV/AIDS testing and prevention, birth control, and accurate sexual education should not be acceptable. Abortion should be available, especially in the cases of rape, incest, medical conditions that will cause the mother harm if she gives birth or there are complications with fetal development. Access must be affordable, safe and legal to all because all women deserve to have control over their bodies and everyone deserves to have bodies that are healthy.

      The right and acceptance of sexual preference and gender should be important to our community as well, including rights of those who are lesbian, gay, bi, trans or non-conforming.  I have many friends that this impacts and I think everyone deserves to be able to love whoever they want to love. No one deserves to be criticized or rejected because of their sexual preference or the way they want to be identified.

     Improving worker’s rights is a significant issue to improve our state. Equal pay, sick days/ family leave days, health care, and affordable childcare should be available for all workers. I think it is important that everyone has the opportunity to fight for a minimum wage they could live off of and I think our community should think it is important too. There are too  many people who are poor and homeless in our community.

     Civil rights such as voting rights, religious rights, and freedom of speech should be defended for all people in this community. No one should be in fear of being bullied, intimidated, or in fear that these rights being taken away for any reason. Immigrants should have these rights too because everyone should have the freedom to migrate. We all came from immigrants at one point or another in history. Our rights need to be all-inclusive.

     Inclusiveness in our community should include people who have disabilities. This is an issue that is close to my heart because I have Cerebral Palsy and I feel like disability rights is a topic that is not always advocated as much as the other issues. I have also volunteered and worked at a camp for children, teens, and young adults who have physical or mental conditions for many years, Camp Burnt Gin. Camp Burnt gin has been struggling to fight to keep funding for years. I find this extremely disheartening because of the significance Camp Burnt Gin has for all those involved.  Camp Burnt Gin is one of the only places that the campers get to feel important, loved unconditionally, and included, without being judged or mistreated. It would be heart breaking to so many if anything happened to that camp and this is why I believe to improve our community we need to break the barriers between people of abilities and those who have disabilities to ensure access, inclusion, acceptance and independence to those who have physical or mental conditions.

    Environmental justice and preservation of our environment is something that everyone, no matter where they live in our community, deserves. Clean water and clean air should be a necessity, not a luxury. Our environment should not be taken for granted especially not at the expense to other people's health or safety. We need our environment to be healthy for us to be healthy.

     To live safe, healthy, and free lives I think our community need to combat violence, guard access of quality reproductive healthcare, protect the rights of the LGBTQIA, improve worker’s rights, defend civil and immigrant rights, enhance disability rights and preserve our environment. I intend to continue to fight  against these issues through participating in protests and other events of #Women’s March Movement, as well as speaking up in my every day life when I witness injustice. Thank you so much Senator for taking the time to read my concerns. In the first 100 days of the new administration, I hope you understand and take these concerns seriously.

Sincerely,

Taylor Feigl

Thank You Meryl Streep

    Meryl Strep had an empowering speech at the Golden Globes. She used her fame, power, and privilege in Hollywood to advocate for people who are diverse and  people who have disabilities. As I've talked about in my blog before, people often make ignorant assumptions about people who have  mental and physical disabilities and people who have disabilities are still discriminated against a lot.

    Meryl Streep explains we need people in power who will set a better example in how to treat the diverse people who live in this country, including those who have disabilities. She said that the one performance that shocked her was" that moment when the person asking to sit in the most respected seat in our country imitated a disabled reporter. Someone he outranked in privilege, power and the capacity to fight back.”

    Streep was talking about Trump’s comment during his campaign, when he seemed to be mocking New York Times reporter Serge F. Kovaleski, who has arthrogryposis.

     She continues by saying, “And this instinct to humiliate, when it’s modeled by someone in the public platform, by someone powerful, it filters down into everybody’s life, because it kind of gives permission for other people to do the same thing. Disrespect invites disrespect (and) violence incites violence .When the powerful use their position to bully others, we all lose."

     As Ally Putvin, author of To Meryl Streep, From a Young Woman With a Disability
 said addressing Meryl Streep ," Thank you for using your privilege to fight for those who are vulnerable. Thank you for showing a disabled young woman that you are ready and willing to fight for her and anyone else who can’t fight for themselves."

     As a person who has a disability, I know the struggle of being discriminated against or having people assume ignorant things about me. But I have learned to advocate for myself and I use my experiences to advocate for others who have disabilities as well. We are not always as vulnerable as people may think and we often are able to fight for ourselves more than people may think. But we also need help because when we empower each other and fight for each other, we become more powerful. We also become more powerful when people who have more influence and privilege, stand up for us too. As Meryl Strep said, we have a responsibility and privilege to have empathy for one another.

 Meryl Streep ends her speech with a beautiful Princess Leia quote, "Take your broken heart, make into art."

Here is a link to this speech if you want to here the whole thing:
https://www.facebook.com/HollywoodReporter/videos/10154058510677750/?pnref=story

Obama's Farewell Speech

   Obama's farewell speech is the best speech I've ever heard. I hope everyone will take the time to listen to it, no matter if you like Obama or not, because it is a very inspirational speech. I think his message of believing in our own power to make a change is one that everyone needs to hear.

" And that’s why I leave this stage tonight even more optimistic about this country than when we started. Because I know our work has not only helped so many Americans; it has inspired so many Americans — especially so many young people out there — to believe that you can make a difference; to hitch your wagon to something bigger than yourselves.

   Let me tell you, this generation coming up — unselfish, altruistic, creative, patriotic — I’ve seen you in every corner of the country. You believe in a fair, and just, and inclusive America; you know that constant change has been America’s hallmark, that it’s not something to fear but something to embrace, you are willing to carry this hard work of democracy forward. You’ll soon outnumber any of us, and I believe as a result the future is in good hands.

   My fellow Americans, it has been the honor of my life to serve you. I won’t stop; in fact, I will be right there with you, as a citizen, for all my remaining days. But for now, whether you are young or whether you’re young at heart, I do have one final ask of you as your president — the same thing I asked when you took a chance on me eight years ago.

   I am asking you to believe. Not in my ability to bring about change — but in yours."

   This is one of many of my favorite quotes from this speech, even though it is a really long quote.  I would copy and paste his whole speech here but then my blog post would be too long. So here is the link to hear or read the rest of his speech:
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/10/us/politics/obama-farewell-address-speech.html?_r=1
   And Michelle Obama's message of Hope is inspiring as well:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/video/national/michelle-obama-makes-emotional-final-speech-as-first-lady/2017/01/06/57a19ef4-d434-11e6-9651-54a0154cf5b3_video.html

Animal Agriculture and The Environment

     Here is a paper that I wrote about the negative impact animal agriculture has on the environment. This is something I am passionate about because it is important for people to be aware of! After watching Cowspiracy, I decided to eat as little meat and animal products as possible. I have gone almost three months without eating meat and I hope to try being vegan eventually. I am taking one step at a time but you do not have to cut animal products out completely to make a difference. Every effort to decrease how much animal product you eat makes a difference! I still allow myself to splurge sometimes but I have found that I do not even really want to eat meat as much anymore. I hope you read my blog and watch Cowspiracy to find out more!

     Animal agriculture is  one of the most significant cause of deforestation, water use, and pollution, and it is responsible for more greenhouse gases than transportation. It is a  one of the main forces behind rainforest destruction, species extinction, habitat loss, topsoil erosion, ocean ‘dead zones,’ and almost every other environment issue (Kip Anderson, 2014). Yet, the impacts that animal agriculture has on the environment are not well-known.  But I think this needs to change because it could help improve this planet.  People need to know how huge of an impact animal agriculture has on the environment. Animal agriculture, as a science and social enterprise, can be impacted by, and impacts, many different aspects of the environment. People need to become aware of these, including the economic, business, societal, health, legal, and political aspects involved.

     The reason the environmental impacts of the animal agriculture are largely unknown is related to economic and business components. All scientific information points to animal agriculture as being the number one problem and contributor to climate change, but none of the big environmental organizations (e.g., Greenpeace, Rainforest Action Network, Sierra Club, Climate Reality, 350.org, Amazon Watch) will admit that or make animal agriculture one of their primary campaigns (Kip Anderson, 2014). This is because the animal agriculture industry does not want society to know about its damaging effects. The externalized cost of the animal agriculture industry is four hundred and fourteen billion dollars, including health care, fish production, animal cruelty, environmental impact, and subsidies (Friedrich, 2013). There are some people who have known about the cost of animal agriculture, especially in regards to the environment, but unfortunate consequences have happened to them when they tried to speak out. Animal agriculture industries have gone as far as to threaten, sue, and even kill those who speak up about these issues, in order to keep the impacts a secret from society. For example, “speaking out against the destruction of the rainforest in Brazil, for cattle grazing, got the US born nun Sister Dorothy Stang killed by hired gunmen from the cattle industry” (Kip Anderson, 2014). She is not the only one, as many others who have spoken up had similar tragedies occur.

      Another part of animal agriculture that people must be aware of is the social aspect. For instance, people do not realize “we are currently growing enough food to feed 10 billion people” (Holt-Giménez, 2012), but “82% of starving children live in countries where food is fed to animals, and the animals are eaten by other countries in the west” (UNCF, 2013). Although this food is subsidized for animals to eat and would need to change for people to get the same nutrients out of it. People must be aware of the fact that the world population grows approximately 228,000 people every day (World Population Data Sheet 2014, 2010), and the average human eats about 209 pounds of meat each year (Kip Anderson, 2014). This is too much meat to be sustainable for how fast the population is growing. Children should not starve if we have enough food to feed ten billion people and eating two hundred and nine pounds of meat is not sustainable for how over populated this world is.

     It is important to also examine the health aspect of animal agriculture, because an animal-based diet may not be as essential nor nutritious as commonly believed. Meat does provide nutrients that you need for a healthy diet, mainly protein; however, protein can also be found in food such as eggs, beans, and whole wheat products (Mayo Clinic, 2014). Vegetarians and vegans tend to be healthier from not eating meat, as long as they get the protein they need from other sources (Mayo Clinic, 2014). This may be hard to do in some places but improving the access to healthy food in less developed nations and people in need would be worth the effort. The components of meat that make it so unhealthy include its high fat content, high calorie content, and its tendency to be highly processed (BBC, 2014). Eating a lot of highly processed food leads to high blood pressure and high cholesterol (BBC, 2014). The health risks of eating too much meat can include cardiovascular disease, cancer, and a 13% higher mortality rate (BBC, 2014).

     Some ecological consequences of animal include deforestation, overuse of water, and pollution. Animal agriculture is a cause of more greenhouse gases than transportation. Animal agriculture is the main cause for rainforest destruction, endangered species, loss of habitat, erosion of topsoil, ocean “dead zones” and almost every other environmental problem (Kip Anderson, 2014). Consuming “a vegan diet produces about 50% less carbon dioxide, 1/11th oil, 1/13th water, and 1/18th land compared to someone who eats meat” (Kip Anderson, 2014). In one day, “a person who consumes a vegan diet saves 1,100 gallons of water, 45 pounds of grain, 30 square feet of forested land, 20 pounds of carbon dioxide equivalent, and one animal’s life” (Kip Anderson, 2014). Eating less meat and other animal products can reduce humans’ impact on the environment, which may slow the effects of climate change and help save the planet. But I'm not saying this is the only solution, to help the environment making effort in many ways is the best. Transitioning to a vegan, or at least a vegetarian, diet can make a huge difference in one’s ecological footprint.

     Meat producers and distributors are very rich and powerful. They are in lobbying organizations in the US, like the American Meat Institute, the National Meat Association, and the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (Johnson, n.d.). The Meat Disparagement Laws were “designed to make it easier for food producers to hold individuals liable for criticizing their products” (Kimberly, 2012). The food disparagement laws are also known as veggie libel laws because they have often been used against animal rights and vegetarian activists working to expose the harmful consequences of meat consumption (Kimberly, 2012). But these laws are not constitutional because they go against First Amendment rights.

     The animal agriculture industry is one of the most significant cause of many environmental issues, including pollution, immense water consumption, deforestation, greenhouse gases, extinction of animal habitats and endangerment of animals, erosion of topsoil and dead zones in oceans. Animal agriculture affects many different areas such as social, economic and business, health, legal, and political arenas. It is important to preventing the harms being done to people who speak out about this topic. People deserve to be informed of the significant negative impacts that animal agriculture has on the environment. It is not the only cause of environmental problems but it is a significant one. I hope people put effort in many different aspects of their lives to help the environment , and effort in decreasing your animal agriculture consumption can help a lot.

What We Need Now

    "It's been quite a time for the United States and the rest of the world as we all watched the election results come in early Wednesday morning. Some of us wept for our country. Some of us celebrated. Some of us are already taking to the streets in protest. You all know how I wanted and expected the election to go. I wanted us to choose unity and inclusion over building walls and singling out ethnic and religious groups for hate and suspicion. I wanted us to choose progress over yearning for some long-lost mythical era when America was supposedly greatest. I wanted us to destroy the highest glass ceiling instead of electing an admitted sexual assaulter." John Legend. I wanted what John Legend wanted but this is not what happened. Trump is our president now. So what happened?

     This video explains that Trump is president because we did not listen to each other and try to understand each other.  Instead we just insulted each others views, criticized the other candidate,  and called each other demeaning names. But insulting each other and calling each other names does not do anything but make the other person shut off and not listen. These things do not persuade the other person to agree with or understand your ideas and perspectives. Both sides are to blame. https://www.youtube.com/wa.tch?v=GLG9g7BcjKs

     I think there has been a huge misunderstanding between conservatives and liberals that has divided us more this election than ever.  Conservatives do not understand why Liberals are so upset and think that liberals are accusing all Trump supporters of being racist, sexist, and bigots. Liberals do not understand how people could accept or even worse, support, the hateful things Trump has said and done. To liberals, a vote for Trump is saying that the hateful things he has said about minorities, women, Muslims and people who have disabilities are acceptable. A vote for Trump makes Liberals feel that Conservatives do not care about the rights of these groups enough to tell Trump that it is not acceptable to treat people the way he does. We all deserve the same rights and respect. Liberals are afraid that Trump will take their rights away. Here is another article that describes how liberals feel in more detail:  https://nouveauxromantiques.wordpress.com/2016/11/10/what-i-need-my-republican-peers-to-understand-about-their-hurting-friends/

    I have more liberal views, so recently I have been trying to talk to my conservative friends and family about their views to understand them better. Understanding each other promotes empathy and acceptance. What I have found is that most conservatives still care about everyone's rights but have different ideas about how to reach the same goals and a lot of  conservatives did not take the hateful things Trump said seriously.

    Both sides were afraid but just of different things. For Conservatives it was a fear of Hilary being corrupt and of terrorists getting in through open border,  and for liberals the main fears were the spread of hate and of their rights being taken away. There are more reasons on both sides but I won't go into every detail because what is more important is what we do next. So what should we do now?

     What we need now is understanding, empathy, support, and love.

    I hope the Republicans who do not understand why Democrats are so hurt, listen to their explanations before assuming it is just because their candidate lost. I hope Democrats listen to Republicans on why they voted for Trump before judging them as being all racist, sexists and bigots.

 As Benjamin Studebaker said "When we talk to folks who don’t see things our way, we needn’t accuse them of -isms or treat them with disrespect. We just need to talk to them about what we all have in common and what we all deserve. We need inclusive language which reframes society along unifying group boundaries that favor the policies and attitudes we’d like to see, which gently encourage us to pay attention to the things we share with the groups from which we might feel distant."

    Empathy is another thing that we need. For republicans, "some may think that the connections between some of the incidents (Trump promotes) aren’t that serious or plausible. But the (ones who don't understand) aren’t the ones the arrow is pointing at. It feels different when everything seems stacked up against you. That’s what those who don’t feel personally threatened urgently need to understand. Whether you believe the president-elect’s reckless and careless words and associations really reveal a racist intention or not, your neighbors in all of these groups are reasonably fearful that they do"Anthony Bushnell. Empathy does not require us  to“judge whether they should be weeping,”H.B Charles Jr., it just requires you to understand/feel the pain that others are feeling and be a shoulder to cry on when they need it.

    We need to support each other in order to let Trump know that he needs to support everyone too. Liberals "need to know that (Consevatives) are going to be sure to see that (minorities, LGBTQ, women, Muslims and people who have disabilities) are protected and treated fairly and equally. They need to know (Conservatives) aren’t against them, and won’t forget about them or turn on them." Anthony Bushnell

    Finally, we need love. "It's clear that we all need more love and It's important that we show love and empathy to people who may not look like us or live like us. Those who are marginalized and rejected, feared and left behind."- John Legend. We all need to let each other know that we love one another, despite our differences.  "Love is universal. We all need it. We all can give it. And it will ultimately win over hate. I have to believe that."- John Legend
 
  I will end with John Legend's new video, " Love me Now".

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NmCFY1oYDeM&feature=share

And a quote from Obama :

     "Our youth, our drive, our diversity and openness, our boundless capacity for risk and reinvention means that the future should be ours. But that potential will only be realized if our democracy works. Only if our politics better reflects the decency of our people. Only if all of us, regardless of party affiliation or particular interests help restore the sense of common purpose that we so badly need right now.

And that’s what I want to focus on tonight, the state of our democracy. Understand democracy does not require uniformity. Our founders argued, they quarreled, and eventually they compromised. They expected us to do the same. But they knew that democracy does require a basic sense of solidarity. The idea that, for all our outward differences, we’re all in this together, that we rise or fall as one."