Nevertheless History Persisted Part 3

 Part 3: Nevertheless, She Persisted

You might have noticed that the title of this series is a play on a quote by Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell when he silenced, or attempted to silence, Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren. She was warned. She was given an explanation. Nevertheless, she persisted. This was supposed to be a derogatory remark, essentially painting Warren as a shrill, power hungry woman who wouldn’t stay in her place. Except, Warren and her vast legion of followers and women in general turned it on its head. It became a rallying cry, a movement. Persist. Don’t let ignorance or misogynists win. Nevertheless, she persisted is the name of several monthly playlists I have made; it’s printed on several shirts and, lately, it’s run through my head every time I read the news. 

History, like a woman who refuses to stay in her place or anyone who refuses to stand idly by and watch injustice and tyranny occur, persists. It’s never going to go away. Sure, they say history is written by the victors. But we have learned not to always trust that the writers got it right the first time. We are learning every day about Black people and women in male dominated fields whose accomplishments were written over to put the spotlight on their more palatable (at the time) contemporaries. The best part is that the resources to find the truth are right at your fingertips, in your pocket, at your library. There is no stopping you if you want to learn what happened in the past and to learn from the mistakes people made long ago. 

There are unsung heroes everywhere if you wish to look for them. It’s so easy to fall into hopelessness and despair when you read the news and think that this is the worst it’s ever been. As the governor of Illinois, JB Pritzker, said in a speech on Monday, August 25, “This country has survived darker periods than the one that we are going through right now, and eventually the pendulum will swing back…” And it will. It might not seem like it right now, or even this month. But at some point, the pendulum of time, history, and power will swing back the way it’s supposed to go. 

That being said, there are things that you can do to help. You can help people in need, you can protest Trump and his establishment, and you can listen and learn so you are better able to fight back. Below are some resources for places to volunteer and donate to, as well as contact for more information on how to move that pendulum a little bit faster:

• Volunteer Match is an organization that will help you find opportunities in your town. 

• Habitat for Humanity builds homes for those who need them

• Move On is an organization dedicated to moving toward a better future.

• As always, you can donate to groups that help those whose rights are being taken away or infringed upon by the government, such as the Human Rights Campaign, the Transgender Law Center, Planned Parenthood, the NAACP, and the Sherlock’s Homes Foundation

• And keep calling your senators, representatives, and state representatives. Just keep pushing. 

Most importantly, keep learning, keep reading, keep one eye on history so we can make sure we don’t repeat it. Learning and reading give us the wonderful skills of compassion and empathy. Without those, we can’t move forward. 

That’s what this new series is, in a way. A way to spread knowledge about people who came before and who fought the good fight. With this being the end of the introduction, we look onward to meeting some interesting people. As Martin Luther King Jr. said,

“We are not the makers of history. We are made by history.”

Sources:

Nevertheless, she persisted. (2017, September 11). https://www.theadvocatesforhumanrights.org/News/A/Index?id=135

Team, C. C. (2025, August 26). Full text of Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker’s speech at news conference on reported Trump military plan for Chicago. CBS News. https://www.cbsnews.com/chicago/news/illinois-governor-jb-pritzker-speech-news-conference-full-text-trump/

Martin Luther King, jr. - we are not makers of history. we... (n.d.-a). https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/martin_luther_king_jr_115052

Nevertheless History Persisted--Part 2

Part 2: She was given an explanation…

Hello again, I have spent some time this morning going over how I want to word everything I have to say and not call anyone names or insult their intelligence. I am not going to pretend I don’t feel a bit like I am screaming into the void. I’m sure no one who disagrees with me has actually bothered to read the first part… or will read any of this. But the thing is, if I want to change anyone’s mind, if I want to make a point of any kind, it’s going to be hampered by insults and calling names. Oh, the irony…

When Joe Biden took office in 2021, it wasn’t like I had super high expectations. Honestly, the bar he was about to tiptoe over was low enough that even ants could have managed. I also hoped that over the next four years, Trump’s supporters would lose interest in him and that he would find something else to do. Unfortunately, I was incorrect on both counts. Somehow, he gained more support, and the reasons why, as I have heard them explained to me and others, are as follows:

• He’s not a politician.

• He’s a billionaire; he can fix the economy. 

• He’s just like us. 

• He’s draining the swamp.

• He’s not corrupt.

• He’ll make America great again.

Let’s take this from the top, shall we? Because while this part of the introduction is about explaining how we got to this point, I also get to explain how this is completely incorrect. 

They were correct; he is not a politician. The problem with that is he has no idea how the law works. He has no idea how any of this works. He’s basically been doing what people told him and occasionally going off and doing other terrible things all on his own. Sure, not knowing how laws work might not seem a huge deal. Until you realize…well, what does he know about the way the government works? And clearly, the answer after the first four years was “not much.” The answer after…dear god…it’s only been a little under nine months…is “he’ll make it up as he goes.” Now, on this point, just one more thing. If Barack Obama or Joe Biden had done any of the stuff he has done, every redneck across the country would have been up in arms. Oh, wait, January 6th, which his followers either ignore or consider their ‘peaceful protest.’ No, both inciting the riot, as he did, and the people who participated in it broke the law. And I promised I wouldn’t insult intelligence, so that’s where I am leaving this one. However, it ties quite nicely, I think, into point number two.

Being a billionaire, he can fix the economy. Well, sure…for rich people. The rest of us are going to suffer. As evidenced by the eggs that you people said would be cheaper. Or the rising cost of living in general. Or when he decided to cut funding for disaster relief, the National Weather Service, and education. But Donald Trump doesn’t care about protecting people. At least unless it will benefit him in some way. And, listen, I homeschool. I get it. The public education system needs to be fixed. But it doesn’t need to be defunded. It needs more money. It needs more resources. But I can’t imagine that a man who is, rumor has it, next to illiterate, would even consider this to be an issue. In fact, when it comes to leading mindless drones he probably prefers people don’t have an education. Point number three “he’s just like us,” goes with this explanation, too. For one thing, he’s a billionaire. Not like most of us at all. Second, he would never lower himself to help any of you up if you fell, and you would do well to remember that. Finally, do you really want to be just like someone who’s a racist, sexist, felon with multiple accusations of rape and sexual assault against him? I didn’t think so. 

“He’s not corrupt”/“He’s draining the swamp.” Oh please. If you don’t think that man is corrupt, you are lying. Case in point, from his first term: after a mass shooting, he said he thought maybe there should be more gun control laws. Right up until the NRA had a talk with him, and suddenly he backtracked on that. And what exactly is he draining the swamp of anyway? The good people? The innocent people? The ones trying to help others who don’t agree with him? Oh, the horror! Not decent, compassionate people trying to make lives better for their constituents! Whatever shall we do? (I apologize for the sarcasm that is now dripping from your device.)

When he and his supporters say that he’s going to make America great again, I always have two thoughts. The first is pedantic and unnecessary. It’s the United States; don’t lump the other poor countries that are unfortunately attached to us into his mad plans. The second is, well, was America ever that great? It depends, I guess. If you are a straight, cis, rich, white man. You probably haven’t had too many problems. I’ll even go so far as to say that if you are a straight, cis, rich, white woman, you’ve definitely felt the sting of sexism but probably not to the extent others have felt prejudiced. And really, it’s not. There are other countries that are smarter, with better healthcare, more affordable healthcare, and less poverty. That’s the thing, something most of us learn as kids: there will always be someone better than you at something. America is not and has never been any better than other developed nations. It’s just different. It does things differently. We think differently, we live differently; hell, we even stand differently. But the thing is, it’s the growing and the learning and the changing into something better that makes a country great. And Donald Trump and his cronies have not done anything to make the country better; they’ve only taken us backwards. 

My last point concerning why these things are happening actually has nothing to do with Trump. It’s not even about why he was elected but why his movements to grow into a dictator are so problematic. It’s another quote about history. This time, from one of my very favorite historical figures, Frederick Douglass. He was a slave who learned to read and write. He traveled the country and the world facing all the hate it could throw at him, and still, he kept pushing forward for a better world. His explanation for why unchecked power over anyone, what the current president and his followers want him to have, is this:

“Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did, and it never will." —Frederick Douglass

What demand will finally be the straw that breaks your back? What does he have to do to make you realize how terrible he is for this country and for humanity? If you’ve already had your answer, welcome to the group. We currently alternate between anxiety, panic, and anger on a regular rotation. If you’re not there yet, I’m sorry. You will be soon. 

Sources:

Bender, Michael C. “Trump’s Mantra from Schools to FEMA: “Move It back to the States.”” The New York Times, 1 Apr. 2025, www.nytimes.com/2025/04/01/us/politics/trumps-education-back-to-the-states.html.

“BrainyQuote.” BrainyQuote, 2025, www.brainyquote.com/quotes/frederick_douglass_134371. Accessed 27 Aug. 2025.

PBS NewsHour. “All the Assault Allegations against Donald Trump, Recapped.” PBS NewsHour, 21 June 2019, www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/assault-allegations-donald-trump-recapped.

Robertson, Lori. “Trump’s Mixed Record on Gun Control.” FactCheck.org, 8 Aug. 2019, www.factcheck.org/2019/08/trumps-mixed-record-on-gun-control/.

Winkler, Libby. “Seriously, Though. Is It True That Trump Can’t Read?” Medium, 24 Jan. 2024, libbysuethewriter.medium.com/seriously-though-is-it-true-that-trump-cant-read-0c5920ab0fce. Accessed 27 Aug. 2025.

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Nevertheless, History Persists Series Part 1

 Part 1: She was warned…

The number of times that I have thought ‘This is why people need to study history. This is why people need to read anything. This is why people need education’ is far too high. Add it together with the number of times I thought that between 2016 and 2020, and the number is too high to consider. The problem is that I knew it was going to be a thought that I had repeatedly this year, since the inauguration in January. It’s not like it was a long time ago that Trump wreaked havoc on the US and the world. It was a four year gap. I think my mistake was thinking that people would learn. And yet, somehow, people thought that having him in office was better than having a woman in office. Or they genuinely think he’s a good president, in which case…sorry, but even if that is technically an opinion question, your opinion is incorrect. 

See, Donald Trump really dislikes poor people, people of a different race, different sex, and people who are different from rich, white men. Which, unfortunately, is a vast majority of us. A lot of people are going to be outraged by what I am about to say, and that’s okay. Because here’s the thing: if you go pick up a history book (or Google it, if you don’t want to lower yourself to pick up a book, it’s on your phone), the conclusion is obvious. Trump is a fascist who would love to be a dictator like Adolf Hitler was. 

We’ve all heard the quote about not studying history and being doomed to repeat it. Clearly, some of us missed some lessons because if you had been paying attention, he’s checking a lot of the boxes for a racist, sexist, overreaching wannabe dictator. Let’s go through the list together:

• Leading a cult of followers who will swallow anything he says and try to justify it by any means necessary.

• Has a parade for himself. 

• Taking over cities, citing reasons of violence.

• Doing away with the rights of minorities.

• Complaining about holidays that he feels are unnecessary because they support a minority.

• Doing away with birthright citizenship and deporting anyone for any reason to any place, regardless of where they are originally from.

• Labor Camps = Alligator Alcatraz

• Fires employees and destroys the lives of anyone who disagrees with him.

• Destroying museum exhibits that he deems too ‘woke’ or, apparently, educational.

If you can look at this list and tell me that any of it isn’t the work of a man bent on painting society in an image that he thinks is perfect and getting rid of the rest of us, then I don’t know what to tell you. 

This has all happened before. Somewhere around ninety years ago is an example of which most people are aware. Hitler started small, with his cult and making it seem like it wasn’t that big a deal. But he started having parades for himself, he started occupying cities (especially those that disagreed with him), he started ‘getting rid’ of immigrants, then people who followed a different religion, then people who looked and acted differently. Trump’s already made fun of people with autism. He’s already talked openly about sexually assaulting women and it being okay. There is no getting around it anymore; he’s dangerous and he’s also mentally incompetent. He can’t be allowed to continue in this way. If I end up on a watch list for this, so be it, but he shouldn’t be and cannot continue to be in power. 

Back to the quote about history. There is another, less well-known but much more optimistic quote from Maya Angelou (ironically, someone Trump would absolutely despise). She had an incredibly difficult life, especially her childhood. She was an amazing poet and author, and this quote, spoken by someone who still saw the light, should give us all hope. It’s not too late; we can still make a difference; we don’t have to relive history. 

“History, despite its wrenching pain, cannot be unlived, but if faced with courage, need not be lived again.”

—Maya Angelou

Sources:

Maya Angelou - history, despite its wrenching pain, cannot... (n.d.). https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/maya_angelou_387255

Hitler Comes to Power: How, when, & Key Dates | Holocaust Encyclopedia. (n.d.). Holocaust Encyclopedia. https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/hitler-comes-to-power#:~:text=Adolf%20Hitler%20came%20to%20power,manipulating%20the%20democratic%20political%20system.

Donald Trump appears to mock disabled reporter. (2017, February 6). [Video]. NBC News. https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2016-election/trump-s-worst-offense-mocking-disabled-reporter-poll-finds-n627736