WWAHD?

My roommate took this photo after a flash protest in NYC last Sunday. This photo was taken in front of Alexander Hamilton's grave at Trinity Cemetery.

By now it should come as no secret to anyone how much I admire Alexander Hamilton.

And lately, my life has been moving at a very fast pace full of ups (getting asked out on a date! giant creative project!) and downs (death of a mentor! politics!). And - as many of you may have realised, especially those who have read a lot of this blog - I'm a very anxious person. I do not like unknowns or change, and in dark moments I am tempted to allow my fear and anxiety to paralyse me.

Lately, with all these big changes and opportunities, I have at times been fearful and anxious. And though it started half-jokingly, I began asking myself when opportunities (whether for creative projects or political activism or even just accepting a date from a girl I hardly know) arose, 5 simple words:

"What Would Alexander Hamilton Do?"

Make fun of me if you wish. I agree, it is somewhat ridiculous. It's also helped me to become more courageous in the past week than I ever have been in my life.

I'm sure Alexander Hamilton got scared sometimes. He must have been fucking terrified on the ship over to the 13 colonies, or during the Revolutionary War and the winter at Valley Forge. There very well may have been moments when he considered just giving up. (He did once write John Laurens "I hate Congress—I hate the army—I hate the world—I hate myself.")

You know what else he did? He stood up for what he believed in. He wrote passionately about his beliefs whether they were popular (or legal) or not. He gave a lengthy speech on the steps of King's College to stave off a mob. He stole British artillery cannons and distinguished himself as he fought hard in the Revolution.

When opportunities came flying at his face at a breakneck pace, Hamilton did not back down. Hamilton seized them by the balls and ran with them. Hamilton looked fear in the face and told it "not today, motherfucker".

And that's what I'm aiming to do lately, too. 

I like to think he'd be proud of the protests that have been happening lately, to know the legacy of himself and his revolutionary brethren has not been forgotten. I like to think he'd be honoured that protestors were offering him their signs and thinking of him. And I know that if he were alive today, he'd be on our side. The man, for all his flaws, was not a fan of tyrants.

"When a government betrays the people by amassing too much power and becoming tyrannical, the people have no choice but to exercise their original right of self-defense — to fight the government." ~ Alexander Hamilton

So if it helps you to do so as it's helped me, whether for purposes of political activism or just because you got a romance or career offer you weren't expecting, ask yourself:

"What would Alexander Hamilton do?"

And then do that!

~Nym

Why I Marched

"The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don't have any." ~ Alice Walker.

Unless you've had your head in a hole for the past year or so, you're well aware that yesterday was the largest global protest in history - the Women's March. 3 million people worldwide. Not just women, but men and nonbinary folk. Not just the young, but the old and even children.

The New York Women's March was not as big as DC's, but as NYC is huge it was still pretty big. I heard people saying it was upwards of 300,000 people. And you bet your ass I was one of them.

You see, I've been in a hopeless kinda funk since the outcome of the election. I'll say it, I do not think Tronald Dump should have won. I do not think he even should have had a fighting chance. I don't think his platform of hatred has any place in our world, and for a long time I felt like I just didn't wanna live in it. My decision to go to the Women's March was a last-minute one. I'd heard about it, but thought "What's the point?"

But on Friday I decided, you know what? Fuck it. I'm always saying how much I hate the idea of "slacktivism" - people who make a post on facebook and then think "well I did my part, my work is done, now where are all my likes?" (Side note - if you are unable to do anything else, this criticism does not apply to you. This criticism applies to able-bodied adults who are totally able to contribute time or money to a cause, but instead just use it to get attention online.) So I signed up. At least, I figured, it would be a way to kill a Saturday.

It was so much more than that.