I had allowed myself to hope that American voters would choose the better of the presidential options available to us, and I was wrong. I am disappointed. I am sad. I am afraid.

But, you see, I was disappointed, sad, and afraid before the election, too. In and outside of the United States, across the political spectrum, governments are and have been failing their people. And it is the people who have been fighting not just to protect themselves, their communities, and the things they love, but also fighting for people they’ve never met, in places they’ve never been, living lives they’ve never lived, facing horrors they’ve never faced.