The first thing everyone reading this should notice is that the sun did indeed rise this morning and we rose with it. We are still here with the same commitments to justice and equity and-dare we say it?-peace.

Donald Trump won the U.S. presidential election. With four states still too close to call, Trump is credited with 278 electoral votes (eight more than needed) and Clinton has 218. Perhaps even more surprisingly, the Republican Party held onto its Senate majority in a year most pundits expected Democrats to win all or most of the closely contested seats. The GOP's House majority has been slightly reduced, but estimates are that the net GOP loss of seats was only five when some thought a switch to Democratic control was possible only a couple of weeks ago. In addition, Republicans netted two additional state governorships, giving them 33, the most in a century.

The consequences that will unfold from this in many of the fields and communities in which we work are as yet unknown, but our imaginations, fed by our on-the-ground knowledge of the realities of our operating environments, already have many of us considering what we must do to protect and even advance the things we value. The truth is it is hard to see what parts of the rhetoric of the campaign will be brought forth, but we do have some control over how we will carry on.  Continue reading