The hours are melting away from the hands of the clock in my room.

I can feel the weight of history on my shoulders.

And I must speak.

I am a student of history, political science, theatre – in short, I am a student of observing and explaining human nature.

Rarely at a loss for words, I have fumbled for months to find the right ones to string together to explain the human nature driving this election season.  Every news agency and social media journalist has explored the forces behind the 2016 United States election – a seismic demographic shift ushering in an era with the potential to reverse current power structures, a diluted educational system, the ripple effects of terrorist attacks on a clear September morning, the failure of a political party to condemn a sizable portion of a disillusioned [and prejudiced] base, systemic racism and sexism, fear of change and uncertainty, historical amnesia.

What can I say?  What else can be said that hasn’t already been explored ad nauseum?  What can wake people up?  What can make a difference?  What perfect combination of words can jar people from their entrenched bases?

The option I am left with is serving as a witness to history.

In an election cycle of ostentatious gestures and deafening words, this understated role is considered weak.

But witnesses shape history through truth and bold integrity and steady resilience.

I have witnessed terrorism on American soil and the ensuing blowback from American foreign policy on American values and integrity.

I have witnessed the inauguration of our first black president.

I have witnessed political speeches from Howard Coble, Richard Lugar, Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, and Hillary Clinton.

And I have witnessed the protest of Donald Trump.

I brushed off the apprehension of my friends who feared for my safety [as a white woman of privilege, there was a much smaller target on my back].

I laced up my Converse with the intention of getting out quickly in case violence broke out.

I colored in my sign – “Love Trumps Hate” – with fingers trembling from the pain of the Orlando Massacre.

I joined a crowd of people different backgrounds gathered to engage First Amendment freedoms in a designated protest area.

I watched the Greensboro Police Department stand idly by as Trump supporters deliberately deviated from their designated path into the Greensboro Coliseum in order to hassle protesters.

I was barricaded by the Greensboro Police Department bicycle officers as Trump supporters freely gathered and antagonized without police presence across the street.

I learned that the Guilford County Sheriff working to coordinate security efforts publicly endorsed Donald Trump.

I endured passersby telling me to go “f*ck myself” for holding a sign that encouraged love over the polices of hate espoused by their candidate of choice.

I worked to not internalize the social media comments on local news videos such as “Look at these people… Low life and thugs!!!! either drunk or drugged out??? We don’t need these people any how. afraid they might lose their FOOD STAMPS and WELFARE!!!!!!!!!!”

I read and reread shirts enshrining misogyny with the slogans “Trump that B*tch” and “Hillary Sucks But Not Like Monica.”

I witnessed the breakdown of common decency.

As a woman, my heart aches for the realization of a female president.  I am bone-tired of hearing that women do not have the constitution to hold office.  There is no valid argument against female leaders; any argument against female leaders is rooted in sexism. End of story.

Is Hillary Clinton the woman I envisioned for this monumental role? No.  [Do I wish she understood intersectional feminism? Yes. Do I wish she would check her privilege? Yes.  Do I wish she exercised better judgment with those damn emails? Yes.]

But she is the candidate capable of  upholding the legitimacy of our republic. Our system only works if we have faith in it, if we grant it legitimacy.  Donald Trump has chipped away at the essential foundations of this country through misdirection, stoking ungrounded fears, and fomenting unwarranted distrust.

We have a responsibility to restore legitimacy, to reassert resilience, and to reinstate hope as our guiding principle.

Attempt to find beauty in the uncertainty.

Attempt to find empathy in the hatred.

Attempt to find truth in the falsehoods.

Addressing a shattered nation embroiled in a civil war, Abraham Lincoln asserted that “We shall nobly save, or meanly lose, the last best hope of earth.” Now that you have served as a witness during the tumultuous course of this election season, move, and guide the hand of history to preserve the last best hope of earth.