A Thanksgiving Message: Please Take Action

Note: The views expressed here are my own and do not represent the views of any organization or institution or school with whom I work.

I keep thinking of those old saws we use to anchor ourselves and guide our behavior. In the past, they have helped. Consider these: if you have nothing nice to say, don’t say anything. Sticks and stones will break your bones but words will never hurt you. You reap what you sow. What goes around comes around. 

Yet, these statements ring hollow for me at present. I worry about this: paralysis by analysis.

There is lots that could and will be said, discussed, debated and written about why the election turned out as it did. Pundits, policymakers, politicians and professors will be wrestling to explain the 2016 election outcomes for years.  But about this there is no room for speculation: it is unacceptable by any measure to demonstrate or support (overtly or subtly) discrimination, harassment, vulgarity, sexism and hate by leaders towards those who live and work in our nation.  And, even if the offenses were decades ago, some things are not cured with the passage of time. By way of example, you may have stopped drinking and driving but the girl you killed at age 16 while intoxicated is still dead.

Seems to me we need different aphorisms to guide us through these uncommon, uncomfortable waters. Something with power, something reflecting action, not just taking what’s dished out or done.  Something quicker than a pendulum swing. Something with punch (figuratively). Something invoking protests.  Something beyond analysis.

Some people have turned to the TSA public service message (to protect us from terrorists at airports and train stations): “If you see something, say something.” Useful in today’s world: all the travelers’ eyes are brought into problem solving. And, the saying is a certain call for action to be sure. 

But, try this saying: Our thoughts create fear; action tempers (even eliminates) fear.

Empowering. Those of us who are experiencing fear post-election, we need to stand up and speak out and take action. We need to move through our fear by not standing by and analyzing but by acting – peacefully, thoughtfully, wisely. Instead of lamenting to each other (speaking to the converted doesn’t do much), we need to act – literally – through our deeds and words, and in our workplaces. We need to cause a ruckus. We need to be thorns in the side of those who are hurting us and our values. We need to be galvanized.

The “Women’s March on Washington” in January post-election day is an example of action. Protests in the streets, outside Trump Tower and on campuses are other actions that have merit. The number of actions is only limited by our imagination.  

That’s my new call to action to friends, colleagues, students, politicians, pundits, policy makers and professors this Thanksgiving: Action curbs, if not eliminates, fear. Let’s act. Now.