Kimberly Theidon

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Each day more faculty, staff and administrators sign on to express their commitment to human dignity and equality. Please share these Statements of Solidarity with your friends and colleagues. Thank you.

Let each of us plan our next moves. There is too much at stake to remain silent now. I draw strength every day from my friends and colleagues who share a commitment to human dignity and decency. And let me say it: I am a relatively privileged white woman with a PhD. Trump and his kind will not come for me first— they will turn first on the targets Trump enumerated throughout his campaign. People of color, Muslims, members of the LGBTQ communities, undocumented workers, asylum seekers— they are on the frontlines of the forthcoming assault. So let us be the best allies we can. If the Trump administration registers Muslims, then state you are a Muslim. If the right to same sex marriage is repealed, then register as gay every time you must state your status. If asked your (binary) gender, check the box for Other. They will not come for us first, so we must be the buffer for what comes next. People we love are in danger.

This can also be adapted to your local hotlines and email addresses.  

One former student who is Muslim let me know how much it mattered to her in the aftermath of 9/11 to have people — friends and strangers — reach out to make sure she was alright and to offer a safe place if she needed it.  As she wrote, “When suddenly you are judged for just being who you are, having kind people around you makes the world of difference.”  Be that difference in someone’s life.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/safety-pin-trump-brexit_us_58251b53e4b0c4b63b0c11a9?

Here is another tool. This can be adapted to your school or university. It reclaims public space as a site of peaceful association, and can help our students who feel particularly threatened right now. One colleague, with the support of her provost, has made a version with her Lehman College logo and they are posting these across campus. For professors and schoolteachers, you can hang this on your door. Our students need reassurance now.