I’m gutted. Donald Trump is the next president of the United States and I’m simply gutted.

I understand that so many people are thrilled for this, and I respect the outcome of the election as well as their right to be happy their candidate won. I, however, am devastated. I’m devastated and at a loss for the right words.

It’s not that I think that the Washington establishment is fantastic. No. Not at all. But what saddens me is road the country has traveled to get to this point. The ugliness we’ve seen and the lack of listening to each other. Conservatives have felt unheard over the past eight years, I get that. As a black woman in America, I have felt unheard for my 39 years. When I’ve talked about being the target of overt and covert racism, I wasn’t believed. When pointing out sexual harassment in the workplace, I was dismissed.  

Believe me, I understand what it feels like when no one is listening to you.

Once the celebrations and protests have quelled, can we all take a collective deep breath and remember we’re stronger when we work together? And not just half the country, the whole nation. This where the hard work comes in. Where we have to set aside differences and try to find some sort of middle ground to move us forward.

But I’m afraid that we won’t. Especially since cooperation and compromise seem to be bad words in American politics these days. So yeah, I’m afraid.

I hope that my fears are not realized. I hope that we can focus more on what makes us similar instead of what makes us different. I hope that my gay brothers and sisters will still have their hard-fought right to get married, that Muslims and other non-Christian faiths will feel their First Amendment right to worship as they please, that women won’t have to worry about the government meddling in their uterus, that people of color will be protected and served, and not marginalized or stigmatized.

So those are some of my hopes for the US, but please don’t brush them aside because you haven’t walked in my shoes. I’ve heard you conservative America, all I ask is that you keep an ear and heart open to someone who doesn’t look like you, believe like you, but who, like you, is human, desires a better future for my children and wants America to be “indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”