As an American, I understand freedom of speech and all of the other amendments within the Bill of Rights. I know about the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. I understand how the electoral college works and it is not a just or fair system. I understand a lot about government and a little bit about politics. I’ve taken two different Government classes and I am currently in a Politics class in college. I’ve taken numerous American History courses that have taught me all about our country and how our freedom has come about. How blacks fought for their freedom, and how women fought for equal rights. These are things that we are still fighting for today. These things, amongst many other things will soon be moving backwards. If you don’t believe me then fine. And because of my right to exercise the first amendment, I feel the need to write this.

Have Your Voice Heard: Become an Odyssey Creator

So it’s been about a week since the election and I hate to bring everything up again, but ever since that day and seeing all of the social media posts and protests, I have felt compelled to write and express how I've been feeling…

For some of you who voted for Trump and you had a legitimate reason then okay. Like about oil fracking, I get that. My neighbor’s husband is in that industry so I can see why someone who has family in the oil fracking industry wouldn’t vote for Clinton since she wants to get rid of it. I cansee from someone else’s point of view. But if you like Trump and voted for him because you think he’s funny and you think that it is awesome that he is a loud mouth who's not afraid to say what he wants, when he wants, then I don’t think that’s a good reason. But that’s MY opinion. Honestly, I think having a business man in office would be great, just not him.

If you look at it from my point of view, a woman, who is half black and a Christian, voting for Trump would go against any morals or values that I have ever learned. Being a half black, Christian woman, I am in the minority. Trump doesn’t seem to be very fond of minorities. Whether it’s the Muslims, the Hispanic and Mexicans, the Blacks, the disabled and mentally handicapped, the LGBTQ community, and even women. In some way shape or form, he has degraded them. If you’re in one of those categories, I don’t understand how you could of voted for that man. I am horrified. What horrifies me even more is that I have friends and family who voted for this man. I know some of you just jumped on the band wagon because you hated Clinton and that bothers me. And I know others did their research. Either way, it’s your life, your opinion. You do you. But don’t bash on me for me doing me, when I state my opinion.

I grew up in a home. A home where I had two loving parents, a little brother and later on a little sister. We were raised to respect others, no matter who or what they believed in. We were raised to be the bigger person in situations. We were raised to be honest and truthful. We were raised to be strong in what we believe and never back down. We were raised to love and accept one another. We were raised to treat others how we would want to be treated.

Does Clinton represent any of those? For some of them, yes, but others, no.

Does Trump? No.

That is why I could not bring myself to vote for him. I stared at my ballot for what felt like forever before I casted my vote. As I stared at that ballot before hitting the big red 'VOTE' button for the final time, I thought long and hard about who I wanted in office. A man who could potentially send our country back 50 years, or a woman who lied about her emails, or a third party or a write-in. I stood there for at least five minutes trying to decide. There are a lot of things about Hillary Clinton that I do not like, but when I thought about everything that Trump has done, I knew it would go against every single moral I grew up with to vote for him.

I’m not mad that Clinton lost, quiet frankly, I didn’t want her to win either. I’m mad that we, Americans, allowed it to come to this. That we allowed these two candidates to get this far. I know I should just accept that Donald Trump will be our new president because its inevitable now, but I can’t. At least not yet. I can’t accept a man who has put me in fear of bringing back oppression and wants to send certain people out of the country because of their religion. A man who degrades women. A man who says that Hispanics are rapists. I don’t need to go on. Who knows, maybe Trump will miraculously change and not deport Muslims or push to build a wall or whatever else he wants to do. But that just means my prayers have been answered. I believe that God works in mysterious ways and He can use people in ways we can't imagine. God always prevails. So if Trump does change then great. If he doesn’t and he brings separation, oppression and war to this country, then I will blame those of you who voted for him. But my faith is in the Lord.

I understand people are saying everyone is overreacting, but a lot of people who say this, are not in the minority. So take a second and look at all of this from someone else’s point of view. He has had nothing good to say about minorities. So think about how it would feel to be a minority, in one of those groups of people that I mentioned before. I understand Trump can’t do everything he wants because of Congress. I get that. Checks and Balances, I get it. But I just don’t understand how we could elect someone who doesn’t respect 40% of our population within the United States. I’ve done my research on both candidates and we didn’t have very good options. But that doesn’t discredit the type of man Donald Trump was and still is.

I don't care if this article gets hate or I get unfriended or whatever because of it. If everyone else can and has been saying their opinion and anything that they want about this election then why can’t I? I’m not one to ever bring up politics in a public place, let alone on social media, but this election has stirred me so deep to my core that I couldn’t help but write about it. When I woke up on Tuesday morning after going to sleep before the results, though we already knew what the outcome would be, I went on Facebook and thought I was still sleeping. I thought that I was in a dream. I saw everything from people who were horrified and people who were thrilled and people who were right in the middle saying we must accept and deal with this fate for the next 4 years. But then I realized that this dream is now our new reality. So I would say, ‘wake up America,’ but it’s too late.

Post election violence needs to end. It is completely and utterly unnecessary.

Because now is the time when we must stand together. No matter who becomes oppressed, I will stand with them. No matter what happens within the next four years, I pray that the Lord will keep us safe. And no matter what, I will always stand up for what I believe and what is right, even if people don’t like it.