Well this has been a
fairly awful day.
Donald Trump is
America’s future President.
A candidate endorsed
by the Ku Klux Klan, who boasted of sexually assaulting women, vilifying
minorities, mocking the differently-abled, and … I don’t want to go on. Because
I can’t believe I have to.
I can’t believe the
most over-qualified candidate in any Presidential election lost to a
fear-mongering misogynist who ran on a platform of sexism and xenophobia. And
won.
But that’s where we
are.
And America may not be
my country, but I live in the free world that it purports to be the leader of,
and I’m devastated.
Shocked, and
devastated.
It feels like a second
Dark Age has just been ushered in – a rejection of freedom and egalitarian
values, of knowledge and enlightenment.
But that’s where we
are.
… except, it’s not.
Or at least, it
doesn’t have to be
My favourite response
to this moment in time comes from actor, composer, rapper, writer, and
ironically the creator of musical Hamilton
– Lin-Manuel Miranda. He tweeted this, in response to someone making the
millionth ‘moving to Canada joke.’
There’s work to do.
Amen.
And right now I’m
thinking of America’s youth.
I’m thinking of young
LGBTQ+, differently abled, Muslim, black, Hispanic, and so many more young
people … and I’m thinking we’ve all got to be there for them.
We’ve got work to do.
Not just Americans,
but all of us.
Because America is not
alone in their toxic bigotry and conservatism.
The United Kingdom
voted for Brexit on the back of anti-immigration rhetoric, and here in
Australia we’ve ushered back in the xenophobic One Nation Party. And Celeste
Liddle is right; ‘There are too many battles going on here of which far too
much of the public remain blissfully ignorant…’
It’s not good enough
to throw stones in glass houses; when Australia doesn’t have marriage equality
and we’re torturing
refugees.
We’ve got work to do.
We all do.
And because my
background is in books, I’m thinking of Neil Gaiman’s commencement speech and
his call to ‘Make Good
Art’.
I’m thinking of the
books written by Sara Farizan, CeCe Bell, Jacqueline Woodson, Angela Johnson, Corinne
Duyvis, Tim Federle, David Levithan, Sherman Alexie, and so many more.
I’m thinking of the
books written by Will Kostakis, Ambelin Kwaymullina, Erin Gough, Maxine Beneba
Clarke, Robert Hoge, Rebecca Lim, Jared Thomas, Garth Nix and so many more.
How Stephen King says;
“Books are a uniquely portable magic.”
I hope all those
stories, and so many more yet to be written illuminate the way for young
people. I hope they continue to make them feel safe and loved, and not so
alone.
And it’s in that
spirit that I offer you this new poster – designed by Jessica Harvie – and based on a concept
from the both of us.
We had hoped to share
this in solidarity and celebration with the United States, for their breaking
the glass ceiling and ushering in a new chapter of history.
Instead, we’re still
offering this in solidarity and celebration – but with a more sombre note.
This is an #OzFeminism
poster. A collection of books celebrating Australian feminist writers and
stories by women, about women, for everyone.
We recommend these
stories.
We support these
books.
We hope you don’t feel
so alone.
Because there’s work
to do, and it can only be done together.
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