I came across this article a couple of days ago. It links the choice of clothing by Melania Trump on her first trip to Houston to the vacuous gaze she, and also Ivanka Trump, so often project as part of the Trump administration's image.

https://www.thecut.com/2017/08/melania-trump-hurricane-heels-and-the-artifice-of-fashion.html

And here are my thoughts.

45's trip to Houston #1

The entire trip to Houston by 45 and his wife was nothing but a photo-op. And their clothing, especially hers, showed it. (The FLOTUS hat!) What he wore, what she wore told the world that they weren't going down in the trenches and help. It told that they were there to say a few words, take a few pictures, and then leave. That is exactly what they did.

But the writer is also saying that this was more of the norm for this White House family than the exception. The choice of garb--and the garb has always throughout history been used as a symbol of power, money, and status--has been important for this family, especially for women.

They are not alone. Jackie Kennedy wore hers to perpetuate the idea of the Kennedy White House as the American Camelot, Michelle Obama wore her clothes to show American wholesomeness, especially because there were those who doubted, Trump comes immediately to mind, that the Obama White house was legitimately American.

The writer takes this a step further. She makes a foray into a dissection of the photo-op obsessed mind. And why not? Photo ops are exactly what they are--they create an image, a mirage of a package that tells a story of your making. So what is the story?

Though the article seems to be about clothing, it is about more than that. The clothing is just a symptom of what is wrong with the White House right now. In that sense, the blank stare that you get from Melania is not really about the clothing or even about her former career as a model. It is a symbol for what is so tragic about this administration: the vacuousness, the lack of honesty, the lack of character. It is the story of an American tragedy.

What is sad is that women are made to be the purveyors of this empty message. But that is hardly surprising.

I remember the day after Donald Trump won the presidency.

I walked into a quiet classroom with several brown faces visibly upset. I knew I had to say something. "I know many of you are feeling unsafe. I promise you that, when you are in my classroom, I will do everything I can to keep you safe."

I am not a big person. I know I am just another person of color who was feeling as unsafe as they were. But these words meant the world to my students. As a teacher I know that students look to me for guidance, not because of my physical attributes, but because of what I stand for for them. Someone with authority. Someone with knowledge. Someone with wisdom.

At the of the class, Maria (not her real name) got up. She stands several inches shorter than me. She hugged me and said "Thank you. That made me feel so much better."

People of color knew what the Trump election meant: HARM. Many whites dismissed it. They told me to get "real. This is America." Yes, this is America with its long history of racial violence. Genocides of Native peoples. But white America has hushed it up. Lynchings of black and brown people. Yes, brown people. White America had buried it as the past. Internization of yellow people. White America has simply forgotten it. Restitution of some thousand dollars and quickly forgotten. But we, the people of color, have the experiences to tell you that the political climate can produce the most horrible atrocities against us. We knew what to expect.

People of color have been throwing their bodies in front of cars, buses, bullets, batons for justice.

Dear white people. We can't do this alone. Join us. It is time to act. Nazis are marching in the streets of Charlottesville, chanting Nazi slogans, wearing Nazi emblems, quoting Hitler. They came with their militias ready to start a war. Isn't this enough? Your greatgrandfathers, your grandfathers, your fathers gave their lives to fight the Nazis. If they could see what's happening, they would weep.

We have to this together. Because this is America. We are fighting for our land. Our soul. Our future.

August 12th shall live in infamy.

Charlottesville, VA. Donald Trump's War #1.

I really thought that his first foray into war would be elsewhere, but I was mistaken. It happened here. In America. My heart is so heavy, I question my decision to marry an American and to strike my roots here.

I just remembered. In my dream last night I was being chased by neo-Nazis. As I ran, a hand grabbed me and took me away. I looked at whose hand it was, it wasn't Eric, my tall, white husband, but an older, shorter, stocky white man.

This is the reality for people of color. We do what we can, we protest, we march. But without our white allies, there is only so much we can do.

That is why my husband insists on coming with me whenever I have to go somewhere unknown. That is why I feel safer when my children go places with my their white dad than with me. My husband is aware of his white privilege and uses it to protect his family.

Dear white people, YOU HAVE white privilege. Use it. Use your white privilege against racism. Use it to act. Because to stay quiet is tantamount to tacit consent.