CCCAA State Championships continue through @MtSAC as @MtSAC_Softball take on @ECCWarriors tomorrow at 11am. Game on! #GoMounties @MtSAC_athletics #Playoffs #CCCAA #StateChampionships pic.twitter.com/RzhkdNURMT

— SAC Sidelines (@SACSidelines) May 18, 2018

The tweet above is from comedian, activist, and radio host John Fugelsang. He is quoting writer, activist, and Pulitzer Prize winner Alice Walker.

I have heard people say they don’t “do politics” or keep up with it because they feel “helpless” like they can’t do anything about it. SOME of those people have wised up and realize that it isn’t just voting, but also mentoring kids, volunteering,  assisting homeless-all social moves you can make, or even doing something as simple as phone banking for a candidate you like.

I’ve heard others say they don’t vote because they think all politicians are one in the same; that there was no lesser of two evils in the last election, and fuck politics. Or that Trump doesn’t affect them. These are the ones that don’t wise up, and that is scary. The ones that act indifferent or are complacent and act like nothing affects them. This just masks the fact that they don’t care enough to be informed, to use their brain, to read and chop it up about politics instead of sweeping it under the rug as we were told to as kids. These last people are much worse than the ones who don’t even ask how they can “do something.”

Don’t drown in complacency. Reach a hand out from the water, because if you really think this man in office and his cabinet are the same as his predecessors, you’ve got issues.

To those people who say they feel helpless  I’ve got two examples for you: The Parkland Shooting survivors and Dreamers.

The Parkland students were not able to vote on bills nor candidates when they began to speak out in support of gun reform. They went head-to-head with trigger-happy Trump supporters by speaking out on television media outlets and social media platforms. They took insults on their appearances and even endured personal threats, and to this day, they still speak up.

Dreamers, who were brought here as minors, remain undocumented and live under a certain atmosphere of fear and feel they have needed to hide. But may dreamers have broken that notion and stereotype. I personally have friends who came here and are part of the Dream Act but they do not let fear be their narrative. They have created media groups like UndocuMedia, whose mission is to “disseminate information, through various forms of media, which pertains to legislation that addresses the undocumented community.” My friends are urban architects. They work at marketing firms, write poetry, and speak at college campuses and have a massive following on social media. They are visible and without fear.

If these individuals who have less privileges than those who were born here and have the ability to be informed and vote, why are you copping out by using the lame excuse, “I feel helpless?” No. You are lazy and I am not sorry for calling you that. Or maybe you are on your throne and believe that nothing affects you because you have a great life and will never want for anything. If this is you, Trump is probably and secretly your candidate.

What can people do instead of claiming they are a deer in the headlights and risk getting run over? You can read up and vote in our California primaries, as a start. The website https://votersedge.org/en/ca is a non-partisan site created by the Women’s League of Voters. It easily breaks down what your choices are on the ballot with information on candidates, details on measures on the ballots, and who supports them. The site also helps you find where you can vote and what hours your local polling spot is open. Primaries are June 5 and the last day to register to vote is May 21.

According to Ballotpedia.org, specifically on our California ballots are “The top-two primaries for California’s state executive offices, all 80 seats in the California State Assembly, 20 of the 40 seats in the California State Senate, all 53 of California’s seats in the U.S. House of Representatives, and California’s Class 1 seat in the U.S. Senate.”

At the moment, Republicans hold 14 of California’s 53 seats in the House of Representatives. Seven of the seats are in districts where Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton won. This means, as Ballotpedia states, there is a good chance for Democrats to get those seats, paired with the “low approval rating in the state and changing demographics that favor Democratic candidates…”

The midterm elections are just as important as the Presidential Election. Voting in the midterms presents a chance to change The House of Representatives and the United States Senate. Right now, the Republican Party, Trump’s party, has control of both. There are seats on our ballots that are up for election through votes within our districts. For those who are not happy with representation within the senate, voting from our areas will give a better chance of changing what happens in Washington D.C. We have the chance to move the Trump zombies out.

And in 2020, hopefully people have come to their senses, and now see how damaging a “man” like Trump is, and will vote him out. He has called immigrants “animals” and corralled everyone in the same group as gang members, has tweeted about petty political shit while there was an active shooter at Santa Fe High School where the death toll is up to 10 as I type this, has threatened to take away credentials from journalists from credible and globally respected publications for publishing accurate news, has disrespected women by stating he can grab them by their genitals etc., etc.

If you stay zombified and complacent, you are part of the problem. You are just as bad as the supporters of this current administration. This administration will eventually affect you, and is most likely affecting the ones you love. Time to show empathy, stop sitting pretty (READ: ignorant) and do something because you have power and you can.