What I technically should say is that you did too. The reality is that the vast majority of Americans voted for Trump way before this election cycle began. Similar to the results of Brexit across the pond, the American people have been fed fear, we were all told of the evil that has been lying within our country that so desperately needs to be eradicated. We were told of the illegals that have been plaguing our country from the South, we were told of these religious maniacs called Moozlims that are seeping into our country like poison, we were told that jobs have been going all over the world and that America needs them, especially the working class Americans that have been going through dire straits(though the same person spreading this has everything in his own companies made abroad).

There are people who voted for him for economic reasons and I don’t deny that money is important, but when you vote you take the whole package. We didn’t vote for him just because of his economic benefits (whatever they may be) we voted for him because we as Americans are mad (both in the American and British linguistic meaning of the word).

Many of you are joking about leaving the US now, but let me tell you that you aren’t going anywhere and never will. You fear what you don’t know just like many of our fellow Americans. You are quite comfortable where you are, despite what your heart tells you to feel. The shooting at a poll station scares you, the happiness you see in the eyes of a racist scares you, but to leave your home scares you more. You’ll never go anywhere and that’s okay.

What isn’t okay is what I think will happen to many people in America over the next few years.

We will get accustomed to the evil as we have throughout our lifetimes. We will hear the stupidity, we will see the stupidity, and we will pass it over and eventually call him “my President” (I’ll stick to He who must not be named). We will go back to seeing and hearing events of oppression in our communities and say absolutely nothing to stop it and go home to our spouses and children to only instill more fear in them. We will be burdens to our respective communities by telling them about everything they are doing wrong, failing to remind them about the good that they should keep doing, nor shall we help them accomplish these goals.

I say all of this because this is exactly what gave Trump the pedestal he needed. It was the silence.

The silencing of visionaries like Malcolm X who had long ago told us that we need an internal change within our communities.

It was our silencing of the reality of Martin Luther King Jr,. as though singing “We Will Overcome” will rid us of evil.

It was our lack of unity for the oppressed around us (and our crawling speed of supporting them once the movements began).

It was the discord within our growing communities that continue to be dubbed minority although we have more power than others want to admit.

It was the Million Man March that didn’t get half a million in attendance.

It was the co-worker you heard call another co-worker a terrorist.

It was the fancy event you attended where my wife and I were invited to, and when we needed to pray you watched as they stopped our prayer, grabbed me by the arm and asked if I am allowed to be in the room.

We are here because of all the deafening silence.

It was silence that gave him rise and it was silence that put him in office. It was the silent anger and hatred that came out in numbers in places like Sarasota and Tampa, Florida where I would often drive and see a glaring Confederate Flag reminding me of a dark past and an equally dark future. But that flag stands and will continue to stand because of silence.

How silent will you be now?

The reality is that we do not have time to be silent anymore, nor have we ever had the time. A while back I mentioned that we need to bring back morality to our elections, but it isn’t just a morality that we need in our voting, it’s a morality that we need in our lives. Our moral compass has been broken for a while. The White House is only a mirror of ourselves, so how do we fix our problem?

We fix ourselves. We uphold values that have long since deteriorated. We stand up when we see injustice, not just for a flag. We run for offices and despite the pressure to crumble and to appease the paper trail of funding, we straighten our backs in prayer by night so that we can stand tall by day against immorality. We break down the evil misogyny that has grown rampant, we quit giving rappers merit for the amount of foul language they use in a song, we give the mailman cookies again, we help the old lady cross the street, we dropkick the frat guy who makes it clear he’s only here to get the next cute girl drunk.

What I’m trying to say is this is actually an opportunity for us all and no one says it better than Br. Michael.

“I’m starting with the man in the mirror.

I’m asking him to change his ways

And no message could have been any clearer

If you wanna make the world a better place

Take a look at yourself and then make a change!”

America, we can do this. God never gives a burden more than we can handle. This is our task. The slogan never belonged to him, or to Hilary, to be honest. We will make America Great. We passed laws, we had affirmative action, we gave women suffrage but they were just laws without an internal change within us all. You can put whatever you want on paper but until the people change, it’s all just words.

It’s time for us to make it happen. Don’t lose heart, just give more love. Don’t lose your voice, speak louder. Don’t me immobile, move forward and make things happen! We’ve been through much worse, we’ve seen others go through far worse, in the Muslim tradition the Prophet Muhammad was persecuted and nearly killed for standing against the system, for attempting to flip it upside down and protect the rights of all, we have our villain and good always prevails.

This is the catalyst; it’s time for change, and it’s unfortunate that it took this to make us wake up but as my father said, “This guy is the president we need, not who we want.”

Ultimately we should remember that this is the plan of God and He never gives us a burden we cannot handle. This is a call to action for all of the heroes to make their appearance, all of those heroes that have been silent for too long. For the younger generation to stand up and take the baton, and of course this is a call to you. . .and for all of those who believe.