When I was a kid, my aunt used to call me Veronica Lake, after an actress of the 1940s whose signature style was having her long blonde hair styled over one eye. I did it to hide my face - I've never been comfortable with my looks, have avoided mirrors and photos my whole life, and even went so far as to remove or cover over mirrors in my various apartments over the years. I finally realized I did this because someone close to me, someone I believed loved me, constantly whispered in my ear that I was not good enough, I was not pretty enough, I was not thin enough, I was not worthy of love enough ... If only I lived my life a different way, I might not be so ugly. There are forces at work in our culture who are trying to say the same things to us, forces that have been there a long time, but they are louder now, in positions of greater power, and their battle cry is the same - that we are not worthy to be seen, to have rights, to exist, to be healthy, to marry, to be our true selves. You know what? He was wrong. And so are they. Everyone of us is brilliant and amazing and wonderful in our own rights. #RESIST and #SHINE. Remember in November that the GOP put xenophobia and bigotry ahead of their country. Remember that they put corporations ahead of people. Remember that they put the 1% ahead of Mother Earth, ahead of her endangered species, ahead of the quality of air you breathe and the water you drink. #REMEMBERINNOVEMBER #RESIST #WOMENSMARCH #METOO #WHYWEWEARBLACK #THEYCANNOTWIN
