By ELLISE A. SMITH
The morning after the election left a lot of people in their emotions.
For some, it was a victory. For others, it was a deep exhale from the days of holding their breaths praying to finally create a generation that did not fear the gender of leadership nor dismiss the truths of those who are harmed ā no matter the amount of video evidence or number of voices from the community crying out for help.
Some prayed, shouted, rallied, educated, volunteered, knocked on doors, became transportation systems, etc. to ensure fair and intentional democracy would have a chance at winning. Some voted because they thought America was ready to shift and head in a new direction.
But we learned we aināt ready. Yes, aināt. We are still a society that allows the fear of difference to interrupt our opportunity to improve experiences and lives.
As I have mentioned in previous columns, I was raised by my grandparents, Shirley and James Steeple. Two individuals born and raised in the small city of Ware Shoals, South Carolina. In the 1960s they moved their three small children to Detroit, Michigan. Detroit was āfast-pacedā compared to their experience in the south. My grandfather became a truck driver, and my grandmother worked at General Motors (GM).
Growing up, they were the Beyonce and Jay-Z of my family. They instilled in us the value of hard work, the realities of racism, and that money was not everything, but it did allow you to navigate life easier if you put God and doing the right thing, first. Holding these lessons close, I started to observe the experiences my grandparents shared.
My grandfather mentioned that he married my grandmother due to her fair skin, in hopes to not hinder his future children from experiencing hatred that he had due to his dark skin. He mentioned not driving his āniceā car to work in fear of retaliation because no one believed he deserved to have equal or more than them.
At first, I wanted to believe these were just āstoriesā, that grandpa was telling a āfibā (because telling a ālieā in my house had serious lessons attached to them). But the reality is, my grandfather spoke about his experiences from the 50s through the 90s, until he retired in the early 2000s. But here I am, in 2025 still hearing and learning more about individuals who experienced what my grandfather experienced.
Learning more about his experiences drove me to challenge society and its desire to create barriers for some versus others. My familyās story made me realize the work of DEI had a deep-rooted history and led me to act via advocacy, education, activism and using my ābig mouthā to interrupt unjust systems. Over the last nine years of my professional career in DEI, I have watched individuals change their perspectives, ask questions, desire to learn more and even push back. However, the difference between 2020 and 2024 showed me just how much those who are misinformed about DEIās efforts have control to cancel the work and they did so by closing offices across the country including higher education institutions and corporations.
The morning after the election, the world felt awkward. A cringing feeling where some thought they won, others felt like they made a mistake and some sucked their teeth as if to say, āhere we go again.ā
Social media never had a still moment. Posts were going up at rapid speeds. There were individuals of multiple viewpoints blaming each other, all the wings were leaning against each other, while confusion and fear suffocated others from speaking.
Up until the election, I reminded colleagues and clients that no matter the results, those who come from low-income backgrounds, different religious beliefs, identities of the historically silenced, and vulnerable populations, would live in confusion and fear no matter the elected official. One side was going to cheer in glee, continuing to think they have the right to say and do harmful and hateful things, a group of people upset if they saw a woman in office, and another group terrified that their already silenced identities would lead to further isolation.
For me it was about intention.
No candidate is perfect, and accountability is what we employ in order to break down the barriers of racism, sexism, all the āisms and phobias as they have real life consequences. The impact includes being excluded from affordable housing due to your race.
Being denied health care because you are in a same-sex relationship or do not identify as the gender society wants you to be. Not being able to live in safe communities because your 40-hours-a-week job doesnāt afford you necessities for basic survival. When the intersections of your gender and size is the root cause of all your health ailments even the ones with no scientific evidence supporting those claims. When your race and ethnicity automatically make you a suspect in a crime.
So, when people tell me DEI has no value and we only gripe about not being able to talk about our āstoriesā, I remind them of the decades of research that speak about the aforementioned, and how it continues to impact, intentionally, some groups of people more than other groups. Therefore, when I speak of intention, I speak of the intentions of everyone. Even the ones who have an agenda and their agenda does more harm than good, like being a DEI hater.
I often question why the people āin-chargeā or with power are the ones who can make decisions for livelihoods they do not occupy? Why are those who are far removed from the experiences they are passing policies, laws, procedures, etc., about being allowed to make decisions that impact those who do not have the same control?
When we look at who has been appointed, we have someone from WWE and X (formally known as Twitter) and they are all millionaires if not billionaires. Even in our state of Indiana, we have elected officials who have proudly stated they will eliminate the office of DEI day 1 in office.
Now, take a moment to open the ācontactsā app on your phone, start at the top of the list and scroll from A to Z and stop on the first millionaire or billionaireās number you have (and the number to CVS does not count. I need you to speak to the person). I am speaking about you talking to the actual owner.
Now that you are done, most of us do not have access to a person of this caliber, but the current administration does. Therefore, if only a small percentage of people in the world are millionaires and billionaires, do you believe they will support the rest of us hundred-naires fighting for gun control, rent control, regulation over the rising costs of food, gas, clothes, etc?
Look around your community and see how many of these affluent people are pouring into the intentional revitalization of your neighborhood that is being purchased by development companies and pushing people out of their homes due to rising costs of homes.
The people who advocate to have safe neighborhoods, good schools no matter where you are located, access to food and healthcare services, well-paying jobs that continue to stimulate the economy, and other intentional human rights, are the ones who know DEI aims to break barriers and make these resources accessible to everyone. However, the ones aiming to stop this work continue to use fear, greed, and misinformation to avoid it.
Remember, you have a voice to make change, including post elections.
Continue to show up and be involved beyond a social media platform. Connect with your local organizations and community members to learn more and move from lip-service to action. Be sure to uplift the histories that mobilized DEI and recall how far this work has brought us. We are not new to this; we are true this.
The haters gonā hate, but this is nothing we are unfamiliar with. Continue to rise and make them mad.
Take care, friends!
Your #DEIHomegirl