Optimism is something I have become a seasoned veteran of. I try to refrain from voicing/forming my opinion until I am inexplicably certain of that opinion and can confidently back it up with facts based on extensive research of reliable, unbiased sources. In the past months, and especially in the last couple hours - I have exhausted this mindset and concluded that I am *almost* incapable of forming any type of optimistic outlook in regards to Donald Trump winning this election. If this were any other Election, if this were any other candidate, if this were any other time in History, I would humbly accept the decision & the differing views between my peers and I. I would say "This is America, this is Democracy, the people have spoken, and we must have faith in our system and our decision as a country." However, this is not just any other election, this is not just any other candidate, this is not just any other phase in history. I told myself I would refrain from public gloating if Hillary Clinton won, yet I never even considered how I would respond to a Donald Trump victory because it was something I legitimately deemed unfathomable. I firmly believe that silence is siding with the oppressor, and quite frankly I refuse. I will not humbly accept this decision, I will not respect the differing views of my peers whom support this - I will not support, nor will I respect Donald Trump as the President of the United States. What I will continue to support and respect is Women, like my Mother, Sister, Grandmother, Aunt and friends, who have the fundamental human right to their own bodies. I will continue to support and respect my Latino/a friends who are now scared for their livelihood with legitimate reason. I will continue to support and respect Muslims for their Constitutional right to simply exist in this Country, and their human right to exist in this world, for their Constitutional right to Freedom of Religion. I will continue to support and respect the LGBTQ+ community which I am proudly apart of in our continued pursuit for equality in every sense of the word. I will continue to support and respect my PoC friends, who after decades of fighting for equality, now have to completely start over again. I will continue to support and respect love, peace, equality & progress. I have watched our country and society make enormous progress in almost every conceivable aspect in the last few years, and I will not stand idly by and accept any steps in the opposite direction. Donald Trump winning this election is a giant leap in the wrong direction, and his presidency will likely take us back decades in the aspect of social progression. (But, hey, at least you get to keep your guns, right?) Although deeply, deeply shattered to its core - my faith in my generation and my country will remain intact. I know we are better than this, and I know in time we will make this right. I don't know where to go from here, I don't know what I can do to help this situation, but I know that I will continue to do as much research as possible and act accordingly. I will continue to be fiercely outspoken on my dismay for this situation, and I will do everything in my power to make sure the Racist, Homophobic, Misogynist, Xenophobic, Vile, Uneducated views of both Donald Trump and his supporters do not become the new social norm, and I know I will not be standing alone. I won't even be standing in the minority, I will proudly stand WITH the minorities and with the millions upon millions of educated, intelligent, progressive side of society who recognize this for exactly what it is. I'll make this very clear, I have been paying very close attention to all of you who are supporting and celebrating this decision - and from here on out, you and I will have no contact. That decision is not about politics, it is not about Democratic vs. Republican, it is about your incredibly destructive views and feelings towards the human race that you have made very clear and public during this election. I will not be moving to Canada, I will not lay down and shut up, I will be staying right here, I will stand up and continue to fight for what is right. My only form of optimism is that I am alive for what is indisputably the most important time in American history, and the only thing that I will humbly accept after this result is that I now have the opportunity to witness and participate in what will be of the most important movements in history. #FUCKDONALDTRUMP.