I am a 65-year old, white, straight, post-menopausal, single, retired woman who was brought up in upper middle class America, was able to make a good living and raised her son as a single mom.

I am afraid.

It is January 20, 2017. The events of the past few months and especially today have filled me with anxiety for my well being.

If I feel this much fear, what must my sisters and brothers of color, those in the LGBTQ community, those who are working jobs that barely give them enough to live on, those who need quality health care for their children and themselves, those who are just starting out in their adult lives, and all the others in various configurations of life who have become targets, be feeling right now?

In my younger days, I was quite politically active, and I will go back to being even more so. I marched countless miles in protest of the Vietnam War and in support of Civil Rights. I worked countless hours on the Let Us Vote campaign to lower the voting age to 18 from 21. I worked with the Grape Boycott. I stood up with countless others in favor of the ERA and Roe v Wade. I worked for the No Nukes campaign, and in support of Emergency Women’s Services to help those who needed to get out of abusive situations. That was all so many years ago, and here I am, once again, ready to take to the streets in protest of unfair treatment of my fellow human beings.

I will undoubtedly be affected by the changes that are coming toward us…probably not as much as those who may fear for their very lives and livelihoods, but when Medicare and Social Security are affected, I will be also.

This is not what scares me, though.

What scares me is the breakdown of a society that has been corrected and refined to an incredible degree just in my adult lifetime. What scares me is that we will all suffer to such a degree that we may not be able to recover in a reasonable amount of time, maybe not at all, ever.

I read somewhere today that it is time for elders to be elders and for young people to take up the mantle and become leaders. I agree. I look to those younger than I am to motivate and direct, to get charged and to charge others in the non-violent activities that will lead us all out of this mess. And I will meet you out there.

Wage Peace.