This year definitely saw some of the most interesting movements with huge political. When it comes to women empowerment, Locally, we’ve had important wins like the passage of the maternity leave bill in both the House and the Senate. We’ve also been witness to several short-scale movements that by no means do we consider small. Every little help counts, after all. Internationally, the #MeToo movement is now over a year and still going. And judging from the results of the recent US Midterms Elections, it’s going strong. Over the year, it has seen ups and down. The biggest, and most recent blow, was that of judge Brett Kavanaugh being confirmed for the US Supreme Court, which seemed to send the message that women’s voices don’t matter. In retaliation, furious citizens promised to “grab them by the midterms.” True enough, voters went all out during the election, and thanks to them, history happened.
Though we’re an entirely different country, we can’t help but celebrate with them, knowing that a record number of women will now be serving in the US Congress—and to top it off, many of them are minorities as well. Victories include Kansas’ and New Mexico’s Sharice Davids and Deb Halaand, respectively, who are now officially known as the first Native American women elected to the US legislature. Two Muslim women will serve in the Congress too, namely, Minnesota’s Ilhan Omar and Michigan’s Rashida Tlaib. Democrat Ayanna Pressley, on the other hand, will become the first black woman to represent Massachusetts in the House. Moreover, South Dakota’s Kristi Noem became the state’s first female governor, and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is the youngest elected congresswoman in New York. Let’s not forget, Fil-Am Gina Ortiz is still in the running to become congresswoman in Texas’ 32nd district. The election is a win for the LGBTQ+ community too, because Jared Polis from Colorado is now recognized as the first openly gay man to be elected as governor.
This is all so overwhelming, but what does it all mean? The way I see it, it’s a big middle finger to their current president, Donald Trump, who, as we all know, is the biggest adversary of women and minorities. These historic victories are the people saying abusive men in powerful, who has no real merits to their name other than the socially-assigned privilege they were born with, can’t get away with their BS anymore. Having women and minorities in seat matters, because now the people they represent—the marginalized—will have their voices heard; their needs fought for. The past political climate has been tough to them especially, and this historic election turnout is something the people deserve. It’s also a sign that the movements we support have results. Women—minorities even—were empowered enough to pursue a seat. Likewise, voters were empowered enough to have achieved this great feat
That said, we will be having our own midterm elections soon as well, and I just hope our country follows suit. I don’t mean to elect women just because of their gender, but rather, to be empowered enough to recognize and vote for people who we’re confident will best represent us; those who will selflessly fight for us and make our voices heard.
Art by Marian Hukom
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