Yesterday morning blossomed with such promise. I went to the Susan B. Anthony gravesite to work with friends in the Rochester Documentary Group on a collaborative project chronicling the day in which, for the first time in history, a woman had a chance to become President of the United States. Equally important, it was a way to document the thousands – close to 10,000 – people who made the pilgrimage to the grave to recognize the role Susan B. Anthony and her team of suffragists played in giving all the right to vote.

It was a wonderful day full of laughter and smiles, memories, hugs, and even the occasional tear, in remembering all the things we more mature women were not allowed to do when we were young – play percussion, play softball, take shop or woodworking, wear pants…. Those limitations seem minor, but they are symptomatic of all of the barriers and slights that existed, and still remain elsewhere in our lives.

I am struggling this morning to come to terms with the promise of yesterday versus the loss I’m experiencing this morning. I feel anger, sadness and betrayal.

On facebook this morning, I read platitudes penned by many who try to convince us it’s not as bad as it seems…. “Don’t worry, there are checks and balances in place.” “Don’t worry, one man can’t do that much damage in four years.”

I want to shout, “Are you crazy?! Have you not been reading and watching the news, have you not been on social media to see how the American dialogue has changed?! He has done that much damage in 20 months!”

The hatred and divisiveness, sexism, racism, retaliatory rhetoric and anti-“otherness” that may have been bubbling beneath the surface have now become acceptable social norms. You can see it on the roads, in the classrooms, in the news stories, and beyond. It surfaces its ugly head again and again and again.

I want to say to my daughters and their friends, “Do not despair, and never change who you are to ‘fit in’ to this environment.”

I want to say to my International friends, “Do not judge us all by the Ugly American Poster Boy that has just been elected President.”

I want to say to my friends of color, my female friends, my LGBTQ friends, “It will be okay.  But be wary and be cautious until we can turn the tides back again… no matter how long that takes. Every pendulum eventually swings the other direction.”

And yes, those words too seem like platitudes too. But I want them to know we will stand together to fight against ignorance and intolerance,