Turning Anger into Action: The Genesis of Riot & Reason

It’s Friday morning and the coffee on my desk has gone cold hours ago. My workload has been piling up all week, but my mind refuses to stand still. I’m practiced at tuning out the background noise of everyday life- you don’t build a successful business by failing to see the big picture, after all. 

This week, though, the noise is louder. 

I’ve tried to pretend that it’s in the background- that the outcome of the 2024 general election isn’t going to shape my day-to-day life for far beyond the next four years. That maybe this time won’t be as bad, that my rights and those of my sisters in feminism aren’t going to be erased one Supreme Court ruling at a time.

But no, that is the state in our country- and my state in our country? It’s hard to go outside and enjoy the Florida sunshine when we just became the first state to vote against abortion access. 

In a world where women are being told, in no uncertain terms, to shrink themselves, to silence their fury, to keep their heads down and smile, it’s easy to think that we are the problem. After all, it seems to be what’s expected of us to internalize and blame ourselves instead of using our voices to push back against the status quo. 

It’s infuriating. And I know there are millions of women in the US and around the world who share my rage, and who have spent the past week reeling as their cautions optimism decayed into disbelief with every red state that populated the electoral map Tuesday night. Women who haves spent the past week in various stages of grief – denial of the apparent direction the country has chosen; anger at the betrayal by millions of women, supposed allies;  bargaining as we try to understand where things could have gone so fatally wrong, depression at the reality we must now face, and acceptance– well, sister, if you’ve already come to terms with this new reality you’re more well adjusted than me.

I’m not there yet. Outwardly, I’m in shock, but there’s a riot inside me as I refuse to lay down and take the systemic failures, the rollback of rights, the continued erasure of women’s voices, and the blatant disregard for intersectionality in the political conversation quietly. 

This blog isn’t about throwing rocks and shouting into the void. It’s about demanding accountability, using our voices to push back against the status quo, and providing space for nuanced, informed discussions.

It’s about showing that rage is not an obstacle to rational thought, but the fuel that drives it. And it’s about ensuring that, no matter what happens, we don’t let the conversation become one-sided. We must include every woman’s voice in this discussion—because without intersectionality, there is no feminism.

“Riot & Reason” is my invitation to anyone who feels as though they’re drowning in the noise of the world’s injustices to come, think, yell, and be heard.

For today, it’s my place to put the thoughts swarming in my mind into words and I have hopes it can be a solace for those who are similarly tired of the state of our nation to gather, to learn, to explore ideas and find fuel to keep up the fight.

You’re heard, sister. And I’m glad you’re here.