The older I get, the more I realise that there is never any good news.
I wanted to write something about Trump's first week, the marches and everything in between anyway, then the news about the Muslim Ban came out and everything seemed to get a whole lot worse. This afternoon I wrote to my MP highlighting my concerns about Trump and this evening I invite you to do the same. It's not very much I know, and from past experience with the detailed MP I highly doubt I'll get a response, but it's your MP's job to represent you and it's the easiest way to take action (that and signing the petition - please sign the petition!)
www.writetothem.com makes it really easy to get in touch with your elected representitives and to invite them to take a stand, whether you are aligned with their politics or not. Put your feelings into your own words, it really doesn't have to be a lot - a paragraph will do, a page will do but if you want to make an impact then say something.
Below is the letter I've sent to my MP - let yours know what you think too. It's easy to feel entirely powerless but together I think we could make some real noise.
Thank you.
-----------------------------------------
Dear
Desmond Swayne,
Living here
in the New Forest, the United States of America can seem very far away, but in
recent weeks and months I have never felt more distant from Washington D.C.
Donald Trump’s opinions, attitudes and actions are so opposing to my own that
they seem other-worldly, yet this is the man that has been elected as Leader of
the Free World and so I feel compelled to take a stand.
In the week
following President Trump’s inauguration he has already begun to take action on
removing essential healthcare measures, shown a willingness to use torture
methods, continued to demonstrate revolting attitudes towards women and has
most recently imposed a ban on Muslims from certain countries entering the USA.
It is these last two points I want to draw particular attention to in a list
that is nothing less than disgusting.
Although I
may disagree with their personal and political stances on some issues, I am
proud as both a young woman and a feminist to live in a country with two women
as the heads of state and government. Donald Trump’s attitude towards women, along
with his past actions and comments, are vulgar, misogynistic and undermine the
capabilities of these strong and powerful female leaders and indeed of all
women, myself included.
Equally, I
am struggling to comprehend Trump’s ban on Syrian refugees and other Muslims
from entering the USA. It promotes hatred, fear, speculation and suspicion of
people that need to be shown love and compassion. It shows that the 20th
century taught us nothing and I am inviting you to publicly reject this ban as
other MPs have done.
At time of
writing, a petition calling to prevent Trump making a State Visit to the UK has
reached over half a million signatures, 500 of which are from our constituency,
and I am writing to you today to ask for your support in this cause when this
issue is debated in parliament and beyond. To ban Trump from our country all
together would reduce us to his level of outright discrimination, but to award
him the warm State invitation usually offered to elected presidents would insult
those women that lead this country and go against what so many of its citizens
stand for.
History has
taught us that we are much better united than divided and that excluding,
mistreating and criminalising minority groups feeds into hatred beyond our
control. I feel powerless in the face of news from the US and I am seeking ways
to take action. Donald Trump is not a laughing matter anymore. This letter is
my first step and I ask you as my MP to take action as well.
Yours
sincerely,
Georgia
Stephenson
No comments:
Post a Comment