Week 1 in Trump's America
A thought, story, photo, or observation for each day in the first week of Donald Trump's presidency
Day 1: Friday, January 20th
I got in the uber that I had called to take me from the West Hampstead neighbourhood in northwest London to Heathrow airport. From there, I'd fly to Chicago O'Hare, the closest airport to my hometown of Kankakee, Illinois where Donald Trump won the county with 54%. My uber driver didn't know any of that. We didn't chat much - or at all - about where I was from, where I was flying, and even who I voted for. The radio was very low the entire drive out to the airport, and I could just barely hear the top 40 or classic rock song that was playing for the 40 minutes I spent in his Prius. But something caught his attention, and he turned up the volume. "Donald J. Trump will be sworn in as the 45th President of the United States," a British radio announcer said. We heard what bible he would use to be sworn in, what time it would take place (in Greenwich Mean Time), and other details that would fit into a 90-sec news blurb, and then when it moved onto the other news of the day, the uber driver turned it down again as he chuckled quietly. For a moment, I wasn't a political researcher or even an American. I got to be a fly on the wall, observing someone react to Donald Trump half the world away.
I kept thinking about that guy as I watched the inauguration live from over the Atlantic. I was equally impressed and disappointed that Lufthansa had CNN live on my flight.
Day 2: Saturday, January 21st
I went to the Women's March with the feminist who brought me into the world (as well as over 250,000 other people in Chicago).
Day 3: Sunday, January 22nd
My dad is a member of the Kankakee City Council and has been my entire life. He gave me yet another lesson in public service on that Sunday morning when he told me his new perspective on his role in municipal government in a small city in Illinois - a role that deals with pot holes and street signs as much as the city budget and community safety. After watching his wife and daughter march with millions of others across the country and around the world, he felt a reaffirmed sense of duty as a city council member. That role would be his way to stand up to social injustice and work towards a better society.
“You have to use what you have, and this is what I have.”
Day 4: Monday, January 23rd
You'll have to google the translation for the name of this beer yourself.
This beer had originally been served at Trump establishments as "Trump Golden Ale", but the brewery, 5 Rabbit, changed the name and severed their ties with Trump following his comments about immigrants. (Which comments? The first ones.)
Day 5: Tuesday, January 24th
Even though the 2016 election has passed, there are still two yard signs that I've observed in Kankakee, Illinois for two fairly different, yet potentially overlapping issues:
Day 6: Wednesday, January 25th
President Trump had taken specific aim at Chicago the night before when he tweeted that he would "send in the Feds" to deal with Chicago's gun violence, and followed that up by signing an executive order on Wednesday that promises to withhold federal money from "sanctuary cities". As I watched the local Chicago news, the reporter explained that "sanctuary cities" refer to cities that have adopted a policy of protecting undocumented immigrants by not prosecuting them or taking it on a case-by-case basis.
Alderman Sophie King, who represents a ward on the city's South Side, responded to Trump by saying,
“We welcome the federal government, but he needs to come with money for jobs, money for neighborhood schools, money for economic development in these communities and then we can address the disparity. There is a direct correlation between poverty and crime.”
And Chicago's Mayor Rahm Emanuel said,
“I want to be clear. We’re going to stay a sanctuary city.”
Day 7: Thursday, January 26th
On Thursday evening, I contributed to the resistance by enjoying this Chicago beer in Hyde Park on the South Side of Chicago.