011: Inauguration Day
Re-discovering a few journal entries from 2021.
Today is January 20th, 2025 — and two things of consequence happened:
Donald J. Trump was inaugurated as the 47th President of the United States.
I (finally) spent some time tidying my room.
All this to say that, while cleaning my bookshelf, I happened upon some of my old journals. Ones from 2021, my senior year of high school.
They’re not particularly well-written, but I thought they may be of interest to some.
I’m including 3 short entries below: from January 13th, 15th, and 20th. I ask that you remember I was 17 at the time, and that fact is certainly reflected in the political naivety (and youthful optimism) you’ll find below.
1/13/21:
I haven’t journaled in nearly a week. Last Wednesday, January 6th, Trump supporters rioted in the capital. The scenes were sheer chaos; it reminded me of the news coverage of anti-Maduro protests in Venezuela (except the ones in Washington looked more violent).
Myself, my classmates & teachers…quite literally everyone was shocked. I never thought I’d see the day that such an insurrection could be witnessed here, in the United States.
It’s been a full week today since the riots, and we’ve had another historic Wednesday. This evening, just a few moments ago, President Trump was impeached a second time — the first US president in history to have this distinction.
I believe the official charge was something along the lines of ‘inciting violence against the government’. To be quite honest, I was surprised by the Republicans’ response. Only 10 of them voted in favor.
I thought that Impeachment #2 would be something of a silver lining, a chance for regular, non-violent/insurrectionist/far-right Republicans to distance themselves from Trump, who most must recognize as a sinking ship. Why not take advantage of this opportunity?
1/15/21:
A lot has happened since I last long-form journaled. Trump was impeached (again, on Wednesday), and I think people have decided that last week’s rioters at Capitol Hill had ‘the intention of assassinating representatives in Congress’?
It’s certainly escalated quickly.
Also, Trump was banned from Twitter, suspended from Facebook, and has lost the business of some golf organization at his properties. The Congresspeople accused of inciting violence on Wednesday have lost many of their corporate donors.
1/20/21:
Today was the third historic Wednesday in a row. The 6th saw the riots by Trump supporters at Capitol Hill, a terrible day for American democracy.
The 13th was another historic moment: Trump became the first president in US history to be impeached twice.
Today, finally, some good news: we have a new president. Joe Biden was inaugurated as the 46th President of the United States.
And, best of all, Trump doesn’t even have Twitter to complain about it, or claim that the election was rigged, or rile up his supporters. He’s finally irrelevant, and no longer needs to be the topic of dinner table conversation.
That’s all for today.
The inauguration was certainly interesting, and I’m toying with a few ideas for pieces based on today’s events. We’ll see if anything comes of them.
Appreciate this was a bit of a random entry; personally, my favorite corners of the internet tend to include things like these. Miscellaneous snippets that capture the experiences — sometimes ordinary, sometimes not — of an individual. So, if you ever wondered what was going through a 17-year-old’s head in 2021: that’s a little glimpse for you.
That’s the end of the entry. Thanks for reading, and I’ll be back in your inbox with the next issue soon! As always, a reply (even just to say how you’re doing) is always appreciated.
Hope your new year is off to a great start!
Best,
Kaylyn
P.S. Reporting back on the book club I mentioned in my last entry — I had a wonderful time! Got to meet some cool people, have interesting discussions on Morrison’s short story, and spend some time strolling around the city (with new book club friends).
P.P.S. I once spelled ‘inauguration’ wrong at a middle school spelling bee; never forgot it again!
yayyy got so excited to see this in my emails!