One more day until the Trump Presidency comes to an end, although I believe we will feel its impacts for many years to come.
On 19 January 2017, I marked my work calendar as “World Kindness Day” for 20 January 2017. Although it was my cousin Matthew’s 21st birthday (and he celebrated with my cousin Kaitlyn in Washington, D.C., where she lives, which prompted her to post, “Happy birthday to my brother, even though the Orange is getting sworn in right now.”), 20 January 2017 was Inauguration Day. I, like millions of others, were dreading this day and I decided to make it “World Kindness Day.”
I’m only going to focus on 2017 for this entry because the Trump Presidency was exhausting. Yet, I can be grateful in a way because 2017 was the first year I used a Happiness Box and his utter chaos and absurdity sort of helped build this project. I won’t claim that too much because he might sue me for royalties and I wish I could say that was a joke, but that petty man would probably find ways to milk something and clean it dry. I made my project successful and it really helped during these four long years.
Let’s begin on World Kindness Day, 20 January 2017.
After Trump was inaugurated, our local Metro paper posted an article about a new species of moth that was named after him. Ironically, this moth was named because it was becoming endangered and the scientist hoped that by calling the moth Donaldtrumpi would educate the public about the real threats of climate change.
If you’d like to learn more about the Donaldtrumpi moth, please read this article. Moths scare me (I’ve had a lifelong fear of moths), but this is interesting: The Metaphorical Meaning of a Moth Named After Trump
Right away, Trump set to work on the Muslim Ban, anti-Semitism and hate crimes sky-rocketed. Then his staff scrubbed the White House’s LGBTQIA page clean, our Asian, Black, Brown, and handycapped friends all became targets under this administration. I held my friends tightly and close; I hung out with Danielle and her boyfriend, Lee, a week after “World Kindness Day” and we danced to her father’s band. I also sent my dentist a Lunar New Year card and celebrated the Year of the Rooster in Philadelphia’s China Town.
A Jewish cemetery was defaced and I read about it in the Metro. I reached out to one of the coordinators of the Jewish Federation and donated some money. Thus, began my relationship with the Jewish Federation. I took a DNA test in July 2017 and that helped on the journey too. 2017 began my spiritual journey.
Around February, this flyer popped up in the library, near the young adult section. I know children, teens, and young adults were feeling especially afraid.
I was so happy to see this. It was so wonderful seeing others try to spread kindness around as well. In the first few months, random acts of kindness mattered.
On 1 March 2017, I was issued my invitation to apply for residency in Canada. I’m thankful for those who helped me reach my financial goals and while I was refused residency in October (my full-time job didn’t write the letter), I’m thankful for those who let me use those funds for the liver crisis that popped up and led to the Celiac diagnosis. Although I didn’t make it in 2017, things happen for a reason and I can try again when things are more settled. I can also try again when there are better relations between the foreign countries and the US. Donald Trump destroyed all of those relationships and built better ones with dictators.
Science was placed by “alternative facts.” We pulled out of the Paris Accord and the dumb-dumb in chief said windmills can cause cancer. “Alternative facts” are lies and the scientific communities came together on Earth Day and marched. I had the pleasure of being present for the march in Philadelphia on 22 April 2017.
Even the Juggalos marched on 17 September 2017. The Browns invited me on a trip to Washington, DC, so I was able to go for a little bit. Juggalos are so kind and I felt safe. Ironically, Juggalos are better behaved than the White Supremacists that met on 6 January 2021. We were peaceful and kept it peaceful, and the fact that we’re labeled a gang is so wrong.
I am grateful that the Browns invited me and that the Browns welcomed me into their family. We may be neighbours, but they treat me as family. All of my communities and I came together for celebration and that love countered the hate.
Even travelling brought kindness. When I went to Atlantic City on 26 August 2017, someone gave me their rented beach chair. They were leaving and saw me sitting on the sand, so they offered me their chair. That was so beautiful.
I went to Baltimore a week later and the Air BnB I stayed in was awesome too. Max, the owner, invited me to watch college football with his friends. I watched the games with them for a few hours and sadly, I didn’t get photos of this, but I did of the accommodation. Max was friendly and his friends were courteous, they weren’t loud, and it was a good experience. That was my first time using Air BnB.
Yet, there was more absurdity in the summer. In August, Townsends, a Colonial cooking YouTube, showed a video about making an Orange Fool. A fool is custard dessert and has nothing to do with Trump. Yet, the Trumpflakes saw this and trolled the heck out of Townsends, which prompted Townsends to create a YouTube video condemning this trolling. I made an orange fool and it was good.
This is only the tip of the ice berg, but I think I’ve done a good job documenting life during this presidency through this blog. While the Trump Presidency is coming to an end, let’s dub 20 January 2021 as “World Kindness Day” again. Let’s Make America Kind Again and let us build back empathy.
The Happiness Box Project 
MAKA – Make America Kind Again
Hi, Jessica Marie! I like that acronym a heck of a lot more than the one that’s been used, misused and abused by Trump and his zealous followers. I enjoyed this recap of your life and blogging experiences over the course of the last four years under Trump’s tyranny. Thanks to that evil bastard, tens of millions of Americans are living under the delusion that the election was stolen from him. Like a serial killer who goes to his grave without ever having confessed to his crimes, without having the decency to let grieving families know where he buried the bodies of their loved ones, Trump seems determined to go to his grave without ever telling his rabid supporters the truth, that he lost the election, that Joe Biden won fair and square, and by a wide margin, a landslide, in the most secure presidential election in modern history. I don’t know how it is possible, but 70% to 75% of all Republicans still regard the Biden presidency as illegitimate, and Trump will no doubt continue to be a powerful and persuasive influence on the G.O.P. for years to come. Through it all, through these four miserable years of hate and discrimination, your Happiness Box Project flourished, exerting a positive influence, offering a voice of reason and humanity and standing firmly in support of minority groups that have been under siege by the outgoing administration.
America can only be great again when Americans learn to be kind again.
Let’s replace “stop the steal” with “stop the hate.”
Enjoy the rest of your week, dear friend JM!
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