Reclaiming My Own #AuntieMaxine

"Give evil nothing to oppose and it will disappear by itself." - Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching

We have seen a value in speaking out recently. We have seen the power behind making the choice to "put self first." Whether it is in public or in private, as a country we have seen the counter action to closed-minded hate and the remedy is "self-love."

When we have examples of hatred that are so apparent and are constantly on twitter and in the media spouting useless rhetoric, it is refreshing to see someone that can say, "I love me, more than you can hate me." It is powerful to watch someone embrace their self-respect and put a "power grab" in its place.

When I was able to watch Maxine Waters "reclaiming my time" when Mnuchin attempted to use it to stall and not answer questions, I felt validated. It is not only powerful to be a woman that is aware and in charge, but it is also empowering to be a sister that is going to allow every sister to feel the strength of unity and solidarity. Maxine Waters had the goal of holding this man accountable for avoiding to answer for his actions, and she did that. She made sure that he knew that his choices were not respective of the American people and that it was her job to make sure that he answered for all of it. She also made sure that she did the best she could to let America know she will not stand for any sly acts of privilege such as taking up necessary hearing time to appeal to her ego. When she let him know "I don't want to waste my time on me," she was stating that I am not here for you, I am here for the American people that elected me. By the time she was done answering questions, Mnuchin understood that he was not going to make her feel as though she owed him anything. He was going to be asked and was expected to answer.

I have been silently sitting back and experiencing people that feel as though they have the right to overstep my boundaries. I have watched women time and time again yield the power of their femininity to men that have no idea what true power is. Now that we live in a time when individuals will rely more on the ignorance of their prejudices than on the validity of cultural knowledge. When people will reinforce hatred instead of encouraging love. Now is the time for sisterhood and motherhood to step in and create space for humanity to yield to compassion.

When we as sisters reclaim our strength by allowing ourselves to love and support each other, there is no need to care who attempts to oppose us, the permission that we give each other to "be" allows each of us to reclaim our power. When sisters are able to embrace sisterhood, we give permission for each other to know and understand who we are. I am encouraged by Auntie Maxine and her relationship with the rules that made Mnuchin have to sit in that hearing and answer her questions. I appreciate the bravery that she showed by using her strength to force him to recognize his limitations and follow the rules that were placed before him. I am empowered by knowing that I can be pushy until the rules are equally applied to everyone else just as much as they are applied to me.

To recognize the strength of Lao Tzu's words, as sisters we don't need to fight the hate that this country has seen in the last few months. We just need to decide to love each other more. We can do that by standing and walking in a solid agreement to Reclaim power over hate. Let's stop responding in anger and learn from Auntie Maxine. Let's be courageous and speak up. Let's refuse the privileged to bend the rules at our expense. Let's make sure that when we remind the privileged of what the rules are and how they apply that we don't lose anything that is ours in the process. This is Our time sisters, let us Reclaim what's rightfully ours.