Resist in Style

The look of resistance.

I can no longer hold my tongue - I’m scared.  Not for myself, but for my friends who are not privileged white males, friends who are women, ethnic and religious minorities, who have disabilities and belong to the LGBTQ community, among other designations.  These are some of my favorite people, and we now have a president who mocks them, derides them, threatens them and tunes them out.  We entered a new period of governing Friday under this president, and I’m still processing the carnage called for in its wake.  There was no “carnage” before - in order to keep it from happening, we must heed the words of Childish Gambino and “Stay woke!”

We must resist.  I was unable to attend the Women’s March in St. Paul last Saturday because of work, but my mother and many of my friends marched in solidarity.  I had relatives march at similar protests across the country, and I'm appreciative of their willingness to stand up and fight.  No one bragged about the sizes of the crowds at the marches across the country - they spoke for themselves so there was no need.  Not everyone who marched is hyper-liberal because at this point resistance transcends political ideology.  Our fear is no longer political.  Our fear is for the loss of our well-being, the loss of the well-being of others and the disappearance of decency from our daily dialogue.

Martin Luther King Jr. in suit and tie, the uniform of resistance.

When we resist, we must do so in style.  Sure, we can rebel by donning suits and ties, by coopting the uniform of those we are fighting against.  This has been a longstanding technique - think the well dressed men and women of the Civil Rights movement (MLK always wore a suit) and jazz musicians who subverted the ensembles of the square establishment.  Style, however, runs deeper than clothing.  Style is the way we stand, the way we move with conviction, the way we fight for what’s right - not left or right, but in terms of human dignity.  We must stand up for each other and for ourselves. We must listen to one another, because we each have valuable experiences to share and understanding to gain from them.  

I am unafraid of being political, but there is nothing political about fighting for human rights and decency, for making sure women have access to reproductive healthcare and for making sure middle class economic woes don’t get worse, among other things.  Over the past eight years, hundreds of reforms brought these issues to the table and important work was done to move in the right direction, even though racial and class tensions felt more noticeable than in past decades.  That said, we must wake up because it’s not the 1950s anymore.  Dressing in ‘50s garb is radical, but acting in a ‘50s manner is reprehensible.  This is 2017.  We are one-sixth of the way through the 21st century and we must act like it.  When we resist, we must do so in style.  We must resist with conviction and with an endpoint in mind, with political determination but moreso with the goal to preserve humanity and the fate of our world.  

Shirt and Chinos: Uniqlo, Denim Jacket: Levi's Made & Crafted, Coat: Barbour