Dear Congressman Jim Banks,

Congratulations on your well deserved election to congress. I want you to know that I voted for you. That I looked at who you are and who you are trying to become and voted for you. That I believed the conversations we had, while you were campaigning, when you said that we are all Hoosier and that you will represent us all the same regardless of what faith we ascribe to or where we hail from.
In your victory announcement you said that your campaign "have focused on a positive, solution-oriented agenda to address the challenges our country faces" and Now that you are elected I ask you, will you address my challenges?

Will you help my wife feel safe again? Heather, whom you've met, was born and raised here. Yet for the very first time in her life she feels unsafe in her own country. Will you consider her challenge and the challenge of many women and men who bravely and proudly show a faith that is different than the professed faith of our president? 
Will you address her challenge in Trump's America?
What about my daughter and two sons, who are of the same age as your two daughters, will you address the challenges to their childhood? What about the children of my Black, Sudanese, Chadian, Mexican, Bosnian, Burmese and Arab friends? Will you uphold the trust their parents put in you by voting for you? Will you address their challenge in Trump's America?

What about me? A person you shook hands with, looked straight in the eye and promised a change. Will you address my challenge when I come back from visiting my family in the Middle East in January? What if I tell you that on the same trip I plan on going to Mecca to perform a mini pilgrimage, will you address my challenge at the borders in Trump's America?

Will you address my challenge and the challenge of many immigrants who chose to make America home, who toil day in and day out to keep it great, who appreciate, respect and uphold the values that make it the sanctuary they chose, will you address our challenges in Trump's America?
I ask because I put my trust in you by giving you my vote. I ask because I need to know that the person I chose to represent me will address my challenges with the same commitment and fervor he/she would give to any other challenge.

I will pray for your success as you face the many challenges ahead.

Sincerely,
​
An immigrant, Muslim, American husband and father in Trump's America

Trump won, fair and square so accept it and let's move on.
There are an estimated 250,000,000 eligible voters in the US. Trump got 59,701,573 of those votes or 24% of eligible voters and Hillary had almost the same exact numbers.
So Trump managed to win with a quarter of eligible voters. I will give many of those voters the benefit of the doubt and NOT assume that everyone of them is a xenophobe, a misogynist,or a racist like the person they voted for and go with the thought that it was economic reasons that compelled them to vote for him. This means a few things for me
- The hate that exists in the hearts and minds of a big chunk of our society has now been exposed. It was always there but now it is out in the open and to a large extent sanctioned by the election of Trump. The question we need to ask ourselves with regards to that is why? Why do these people still feel that way? Racism and hate are not genetic. They are taught. Why have we not disrupted that cycle?
- Those who were economically compelled to vote for Trump and overlooked his flaws were driven by a fear that was not addressed by the DNC candidate. That further exacerbated the feeling that elitism rules Washington and that the divide between "us" and "them" cannot be reconciled by one of "them". Trump, with all his flaws, was a straight shooter that didn't dinck around and was able to have the "bar" talks with them. They are not "dumb" or "idiots" or "uneducated", they are people with real concerns that were not addressed and I think were exploited by a cunning candidate.
- Having said all that I believe that the biggest failure of this election is that of the DNC. This election was the DNC to lose and they lost it big time. Think about that for a moment. Half the eligible voters did not vote. I do believe many believed in Hillary and supported her and her platform but a big chunk of those who voted for Hillary voted for her out of fear of the alternative. They voted for the "lesser of two evils". Now think about those voters who are now completely disenfranchised by the electoral process, what will they do next election cycle? They will sit it out and instead of looking at half of eligible voters not voting we may be looking at three quarters of them and the number of people who determine the election outcomes become smaller and smaller. The DNC has failed miserably and I hope they learn their lesson.
The DNC needs to clean house. 
The RNC needs some soul searching. 
We the people need to see the humanity in each other, understand what concerns us and work towards it. We need to wake up from the dream of a one person, a president, being able to solve our problems.
Shake off the complacency and get to work.

​To everyone who is tired, I'm right here with you.
To everyone who is angry, I'm right here with you.
To everyone who is scared, anxious, disappointed, heartbroken, I am right here with you.

I'm not going to pretend like I know how you feel.
I'm not going to deny or try and pacify how you feel. 

All I ask is that while you're working through all of it, 
or when you have worked through all of it, 
to remember that I.am.here.right.here.with.you. 
I always have been and I always will be. 

We stand together. 
We hold our heads up high, 
keep our sleeves rolled up and our hands in the muck. 

It is people like us who saw an end to sanctioned slavery.
It is people like us who took the first steps towards civil liberty.
It is people like us who secured the right for women to vote.
It is people like us who saw the first black president win office twice in a row.

And it is people like us who will see this country through the upcoming, dark tunnel.

Peace, love and everything good

#Hope