The Day After the Day After

Hello, friends. We were supposed to be posting book reviews and essays this week but frankly, we haven’t been able to focus or muster the energy to do so because of the result of the United States presidential election. We are horrified at the reality of President-Elect Trump, and we are fearful for the future.

We shouldn’t be shocked, because the result of November 8 is neither an exceptional nor unique occurrence. It is part of a worldwide backlash against progress – this year alone, we have seen Brexit in the UK, a failed military coup in Turkey, a democratically elected female president impeached in Brazil for nothing (and ensuing local elections that put extreme right wing politicians in power), the election of a radical, violent, isolationist president in the Philippines, among so many other examples. Hell, we have seen the effects of this backlash in our very own SFF community: the Hugo Awards, the puppies, and the past three years of voting. As one of us is a Latina immigrant living in the UK, and the other a biracial woman of color living in the US–no, we are not surprised that the backlash exists. We are very familiar with it.

Today, for now, we are letting ourselves take a break. Breathe in and out. Panic a little. Grieve. Regroup.

Moving forward, this is the time to care. About elections: to go out and vote in the US midterms in the 2018. About the economy and public policy. This is the time to write to our representatives and let them know where we stand on policies. Let’s talk to our friends, family and co-workers; let’s take action and donate, volunteer, and support important organizations today, for the next four years, and beyond. Here is a list of a list of pro-women, pro-immigrant, pro-earth, anti-bigotry organizations that need our support.

And in our little corner of the book world, let us continue to build an inclusive, open, diverse community. We Smugglers will carry on with our mission to review, write and publish diverse fiction. We make a vow to increase our coverage and to publish even more works by women, people of color, and voices from the LGBTQIA community. We will continue to prop those voices and to offer our support whenever and however we can.

Stay safe. And remember: we are stronger together.

For now, we leave you with Hillary Clinton’s address to women and girls in her concession speech: