Inauguration Day Thoughts

It’s Inauguration Day, and like a lot of people I’m feeling heartsick at the prospect of a second Trump presidency. In an effort to be and stay hopeful and proactive moving forward, I shared throughout the day positive and hopeful words and images via Facebook.

As it’s also Martin Luther King Jr. Day today, I couldn’t think of a better way to start my sharing than with his words!

My second sharing was a meme featuring a quote by writer Madeleine L’Engle.

L’Engle’s words prompted on friend to write the following comment:

Thanks for what you have posted, Michael. I am sitting here listening to what Trump is saying, and I just want to cry. Much of what is being said is appalling to me. Very uncomfortable. What was I expecting? I should have known better. Has any past President EVER spoken this way at his inauguration?! I make it a practice to never make political commentary, but I just feel sick. I re-read your post multiple times already.

My third sharing today was an inspiration quote from author, activist, and former Democratic presidential candidate Marianne Williamson, who is currently running to be chairperson of the Democratic National Committee (DNC).

I supported Williamson’s 2020 and 2024 presidential campaigns. In fact, on this day exactly one year ago, my friend Kate and I travelled to New Hampshire to campaign for Democratic presidential candidate Marianne Williamson in the Granite State’s “First in the Nation” presidential primary. . . . What a very different president she would have made to the one being inaugurated today.

In honor of Marianne on the day I would’ve loved to have see her sworn in as the first female U.S. president, I wore my “Marianne Williamson for President 2024” t-shirt as my undershirt.



Next, another motivating quote. This one by storyteller, author and scholar Michael Meade . . .

My fifth sharing today was Maarva’s monologue from the Star Wars TV series Andor. Her words never fail to move and inspire me. . . . “Fight the empire!”





Now there are many ways to fight the empire, and personally I’m into non-violent resistance. And by “empire” I’m referring to Chris Hedges’s understanding of the American Empire.

It's the same empire that poet Mary Oliver identifies – one that needs to be named, resisted, and transformed.

My next sharing, which by now was in the late afternoon, was a call to action! I became a monthly contributor to (and a “Guardian of Liberty” member of) the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), and I invited my Facebook friends to consider doing likewise. And I ask you reading this as well! . . . Click here to make a financial contribution to the ACLU.

I concluded today’s sharing of hopeful and proactive thoughts by returning to where I started – the challenging wisdom of Martin Luther King, Jr.

Related Off-site Links:
A New American Era Is Ushered in By a Familiar Trump – James Oliphant (Reuters, January 20, 2025).
“Rewarding Political Violence,” Felon Trump Pardons January 6 Insurrectionists – Jessica Corbett (Common Dreams, January 20, 2025).
Solidarity Will See Us Through the Second Trump Term – Liza Featherstone (Common Dreams, January 20, 2025).
Why We Need to Move Closer to King’s Understanding of Nonviolence – Kazu Haga (Waging Nonviolence, January 16, 2020).

See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
• Democrat Talk on the Eve of Trump’s Return
• The Lamentable Legacy of the Biden Administration
• Signs of the Times: The 2025 People’s March
• Progressive Perspectives on Where Democrats Went Wrong in the 2024 Election
• “A New Chapter of the Democratic Party Needs to Begin”

See also:
• Remembering and Emulating the Visionary and Radical Martin Luther King Jr.
• Martin Luther King Jr. and Democratic Socialism
• Moderates, Radicals, and MLK
• The Good and Just Society
• Martin Luther King Jr. on the “Most Durable Power in the World”
• For MLK Day