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AmberRuffinBlackHIstoryMonth.jpg

Things Are Bad, But We Can Still Have Fun! But Seriously, Things Are Still Really Bad

By Emily Cutler | Late Night TV | February 2, 2017 |

By Emily Cutler | Late Night TV | February 2, 2017 |


I’ve been having an ongoing discussion with close friends and family about the best way of avoiding resistance fatigue. On the one hand, we don’t want anyone to feel like the fight is unwinnable or that we don’t have the ability to fight back, but on the other hand Trump keeps giving us more and more reasons to think this whole mother is going to burn down at any minute. And as much as I think it is only the privileged who are talking about giving up the fight (because PoC, the LGBTQ+ community, immigrants, Muslims, and a whole list of other people don’t get to decide if they’re in the fight or not), it’s still a valid concern that the marchers who showed up the past two weekends keep showing up.

So here’s how I hope a lot of people’s internal thought processes go:

I should find out what’s happening right now.
Good! Do you know if the Muslim travel ban whatever-the-hell-they’ve-agreed-on-for-this-week is still in place? Do you know if everyone detained has been released? Do you know how the ACLU and civil rights lawyers got the stay against the ban? Find out. It doesn’t have to be a slog, Sam Bee will help.

Remember shit is really bad right now.

Is there anything new that’s happened?
Most definitely. Read some newspapers, set up a Google alert, join Twitter.

Remember shit is really bad right now.

Can I donate time or money?
Is the answer yes? Do it

Remember shit is really bad right now.

Have I called my Congresspeople and Representatives?

Do it.

Remember shit is really bad right now.

Have I gotten involved in a local activist or political group?
This one sounds the most daunting, but really it’s super easy. Most of the smaller activist/political groups know it’s hard to get involved, so they make it easy. You’ll probably have a meeting on a Thursday night at a local bar. Yes, they usually have alcohol nearby. They tell you what you can do, and how you can help. You won’t have to do this on your own. There are organizations in place to facilitate activism, we just have to join.

Remember shit is really bad right now.

Can I still have fun?
Of course! Is Trump’s speech at the Black History Month Luncheon as immediately detrimental to our nation as the Muslim ban (yeah, that’s what it fucking is)? Possibly not. Does it show Trump’s and most of the country’s latent racism? Yes. Is that slowly killing us from the inside out? Absolutely. So why not laugh at it? Trump hates being mocked, and Amber Ruffin is delightful. Resisting doesn’t mean we give up on joy.

And as always, remember shit is really bad right now. Being calm about the current political climate doesn’t mean downplaying the significance of the situation. Because this is not normal. This is not normal. This is not normal …