I am joining the disability march because with my many functional health problems, I cannot physically stand or walk for long hours. I am marching because I am enraged and disgusted. I couldn’t believe it when someone so disgusting as the 45th POTUS was elected. I am continually embarrassed by fellow Americans, some of whom do not understand that facts still exist whether or not one believes them. I am embarrassed that my country, forever claiming to be #1, does not understand what democracy actually is. With Obama, we had been moving forward as far and as fast as possible with the hindrances his opposition put into place. These hindrances were mostly there because of longstanding petty partisan politics, but also because he was a Black (biracial) man. Still, under Obama, so many wonderful things happened to and for this country. Now, the advancement of science, technology, arts and humanities, healthcare, human rights, and even national safety is at risk. My fear is that we will revert, that we will lose all the good works Obama and his people had accomplished. My fear is that people less privileged than myself will be forgotten, or worse, threatened. While I have no power to physically do anything to stop horrible things from happening, I can and will be verbal. I will not be complacent. I will not normalize revolting behavior and injustices against the American people. I will resist. I will continue to resist.

I am an archaeologist, and a recent Anthropology PhD graduate of the University of Wyoming. I grew up in New Jersey and attended the University of Delaware, and have studied and lived in several other countries. It is my belief that anthropology, the study of cultures around the world past and present, if taught from a young age could have a tremendously beneficial impact to humanity as a whole.