A Brief Commentary by Doug Draper
Posted October 10th, 2024 on Niagara At Large
A young woman who simply identified herself as ‘Lady Liberty in Mourning’, holds a vigil at the Elmwood Village Farmers Market in Buffalo, New York a few days after a U.S presidential election that saw Trump returned to power. Photo by Doug Draper
What a difference an election can make.
It was just a few weekends ago, when my wife and I crossed the border for a short trip to Buffalo, that people we talked to in the Elmwood Village area of that city were still feeling hopeful that Kamala Harris would win the presidency in their country and that they would see the back of Trump, once and for all.
In that area of the city, which has had a long history of voting for Democrats, Harris campaign signs were visibly present on front lawns and a local book store continued to sell out of ‘Kamala For President’ buttons and bumper stickers as quickly as they could get them.
This weekend of November 9th however, on another trip to the same area of Buffalo, just days after U.S elections that saw Trump win a second term as president, people we met at the coffee shops, at the farmers market and some estate sales we attended sounded pretty down when the top of the election came up.
Heads were shaking over how and why a serial liar, sex offender and convicted felon was able to pull off such a decisive win and thoughts were turning to what, if much of anything can be done to minimize the damage he might do to the country and around the world over the next four years.
Like so many others on both sides of the Canada/U.S border, she is in a state of mourning that only standing up and getting more engaged in the issues that impact our lives and communities can crush.
Through it all, the sight of one individual at the Elmwood Village Farmers Market, holding a candle, and wearing a black dress and shroud over her face seemed to sum it all up.
She simply identified herself as ‘Lady Liberty In Mourning’ and as she and others said, unless or until more people get together at the grassroots level and fight for the issues that impact their lives and their communities, that image of Lady Liberty will continue to stand.
As we in Canada might soon face an election at the federal level that sees a Pierre Poilievre Conservative Party with Trump-like trapping come to power, we should work at getting more engaged at the grassroots level too.
NIAGARA AT LARGE Encourages You To Join The Conversation By Sharing Your Views On This Post In The Space Following The Bernie Sanders Quote Below.
“A Politician Thinks Of The Next Election. A Leader Thinks Of The Next Generation.” – Bernie Sanders
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