☰
World NewsCovid-19NewsUK NewsUS NewsPolitics2020 electionCultureLifePeopleTechEntertainmentIdentitiesGenderClassLGBTQ+RaceEducation
Start writing a post

An open letter to the U.S. Capitol rioters

January 12, 2021
white concrete building under blue sky during daytime
Photo by Syed F Hashemi on Unsplash
Jaana Rehnström

This story is a fictional account of a grandmother finding out that her grandson was a part of the Capitol Hill riots.

Dear grandson,

I was so upset today. I noticed on the news that you were among the rioters at the U.S. Capitol, so I felt I had to write to you. I am trying to understand how it came to be. I am sorry we have not been in touch throughout your life because we live so far from each other.

As you may have heard, I have been taking care of your grandfather pretty much full time ever since he had that accident and became confined to a wheelchair. He had no health insurance at the time, and after that, he couldn't get it either, so we have been struggling.

When I heard Mr. Trump say on TV to his followers, "I love you," "you are special," I thought that might have been why you and so many others like you support him. He is like a father figure to you, and perhaps the people in your life never told you that before! So, you probably are pretty unsure of who you are and if you are worth anything.

Certainly, my son wasn't around, as he suffered from addiction when he was about your age and ended up in prison, where he remains today. But not before he got your mother pregnant with you.

She had tried getting birth control, but the clinic's wait times were so long, and by then it was too late. I know she told you she tried getting an abortion, but the clinic was too far away, and she couldn't ask anyone to drive her. She kept it secret for a long time, unsure what to do because she knew her family was against it.

She wanted to go to college, but that's hard to do with a kid. So, I'm sure she somewhat resented you, but then again, she tried to be a good mother. I have kept up with news about you through your aunt, who still in touch with your mom. I also follow you on Facebook.

That waitressing job your mom got didn't pay much, so she couldn't afford childcare. Thank goodness for your other grandma, who took care of you when you were little. You must have been so upset when she died. You were kind of a restless kid, so the only way you could sit still was in front of the TV, with a slice of pizza. As a result, you gained a little weight, and the kids at school made fun of you.

That is until you tried to show them who's boss. Your teachers talked to your mom and said you started bullying the other kids. It didn't help that your mom met your stepfather, and when he lost his job when the factory shut down, they both started to drink and yell at you and your sisters.

Then your stepfather started abusing your mom. When you protested, he was aggressive and kicked you out of the house. It was good you found a place to stay, but I don't think those guys you ended up with were a good influence on you: with their beer drinking and boasts about trivial things.

I think you all had that thing in common— you all had a miserable start in life and blamed it on the immigrants and Black people who took away the jobs. You needed someone to make you feel special.

Some of your friends ended up in church and found validation of their self-worth in the gospel message. But I guess it never stuck with you, because instead of God, you found Mr. Trump. He became the father figure, and you believed everything he said. Your church friends also rallied behind him because of one thing: his (supposed) anti-abortion views.

Let me tell you; I believe he is a con man and figured he could get the evangelicals behind him because of that. Before that, he was totally pro-abortion. But in this group, I guess you finally found the identity you had been searching for. It's too bad school didn't teach you about actual history, like the Holocaust and slavery and so on – or maybe they did, but you weren't listening, seeing as you got bad grades.

At least when you were growing up, the TV was turned to the Fox channel, and you only heard one point of view. They think the government should have no role in creating happier circumstances for people – because that would require people to pay taxes! No, it's every man for himself, and if you don't make it, that's your problem. And on social media, I see the talk between you and your friends.

It's like you live in a different world.

And with the Covid-19 pandemic, you feel boxed in by all the restrictions and feel like you're being walked over. You can't even go to a sports game to vent some of your pent-up frustration. And you and many of your friends lost your jobs when the businesses closed, so you have very little money.

I really think you have been duped and led astray by this man. He doesn't care a hoot about you and your followers, only about staying in power and about money. He would have been less dangerous if he wasn't so rich. He brainwashed you, and then he, the "commander in chief," egged you on to "fight," sneaking away to the White House to watch everything unfold on TV while partying with his family and friends – while five people are dead and many others arrested.

I hope you don't get arrested! I can't deal with another family member in prison. Are you hungry, sweetheart? Grandma doesn't have much money, but I can send you something.

Love,

Grandma

Dr.Jaana Rehnström is the Founder and President of the Kota Alliance, an organization elevating collaboration across borders for women-centered nonprofits, NGOs, and much more. View her work here.

From Your Site Articles
Related Articles Around the Web
capitol riots

Trending Topics

Can tech help female entrepreneurs break the bias?

Women founders continue to come up against common challenges and biases
Photo by Christina @ wocintechchat.com on Unsplash

Written by Kelly Devine, Division President UK & Ireland, Mastercard

Starting a business may have historically been perceived as a man’s game, but this couldn’t be further from reality. Research shows women are actually more likely than men to actively choose to start their own business – often motivated by the desire to be their own boss or to have a better work-life balance and spend more time with their family.

The recently published Mastercard Index of Women Entrepreneurship 2021 found that in the category of 'Aspiration Driven Entrepreneurship’ – capturing those who actively choose to start their own business – women in the UK surpass men: 60% vs 56%. And Mastercard research from February 2022 found 10% of female business owners started their business in the past two years compared to 6% of men – meaning women were 67% more likely to have started a business during the pandemic.

Yet, there are common challenges that women founders continue to come up against - not least the gender imbalance in the household and long-held biases which are still prevalent.

In the UK, women are almost three times more likely to be balancing care and home commitments than men, and this was exacerbated during the pandemic as the additional barriers of school closures and lockdowns meant that the care time of dependents rose significantly on a day-to-day level for women. In addition, women were less likely to have access to a home office, greatly impacting the work they were able to accomplish when working from home was the only option.

It's also widely known that female business owners are still more likely to struggle to access funding for their business ideas. According to Dealroom, all-women founding teams received just 1.4% of the €23.7bn invested into UK start-ups in 2021, while all-male leadership teams have taken almost 90% of the available capital.

Without financial support, and when juggling significant time pressures both at home and at work, how can women grow their companies and #BreaktheBias (as this year’s International Women’s Day termed it)? What tools or support can save them time and money, and give them the headspace they need to focus on building their business?

With female owned businesses collectively estimating revenue growth of £120 billion over the next five years, solving this problem is bigger than supporting women – it’s about supporting the national economy.

Using tech to level the playing field

There are clearly societal issues at play that need to be resolved. But when we look at the rise in technology businesses during the pandemic, we can plainly see an alternative source of support critical for business growth: digital tools.

A third of female business owners say new technologies will be crucial to the success of their business in the future and one in five say it is the most important thing for business growth.

With new technology comes new ways to pay, create, and work. And yet there are barriers that prevent business owners accessing this technology. Women are significantly more likely to say they want to use more digital tools but don’t know what is best for their business and also more concerned about the security of digital tools.

When technology is adopted by businesses – whether using online accounting solutions or messenger services for communicating with staff – it saves them time, allows them to maintain and grow their customer base, and ultimately increases cost savings and profit.

By drastically improving the training and support that is available to women-owned business to access and utilise technology we will allow these businesses to grow and succeed. And we know there is demand for it.

Research done by the IFC and Dalberg shows that female entrepreneurs are more likely to invest time and money in business development. This includes product development, customer base expansion, and digital tools and training and there are plenty of services available offering this type of support – many of them for free.

One such programme is Strive UK – an initiative of the Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth – which aims to reach 650,000 micro and small business owners across the UK and empower them with the tools they need to thrive in the digital economy through free guidance, helpful tools and one-to-one mentoring.

Working together with small business experts – Enterprise Nation, Be the Business and Digital Boost – we hope to ensure hundreds of thousands of UK female business owners have the tools they need to succeed and reach their ambitious goals. Because this ambition remains strong in the UK, with female business owners largely optimistic about the future despite the multitude of challenges they are facing. Four in ten say they will grow their business in the next five years – compared to only a third of male business owners – and they’re also 35% less likely than men to say they plan to downsize or close the business.

But if we do not empower female entrepreneurs to access the tools and technology they need to grow, there is a risk this optimism could be misplaced. Support programmes that provide business owners with guidance and mentorship can help ensure this isn’t the case, allowing female entrepreneurs to not only survive but thrive in the months and years ahead.