The 2024 election is over, but its wounds are fresh. The chasm between us feels wider, the rhetoric harsher, and for many women—myself included—the outcome stings like betrayal. This wasn’t just an election; it was a stage for misogyny, loud and unapologetic.
Yet what haunts me most isn’t the antipathy—it’s the silence that followed. Silence is violence, as one protest sign declared. When facts fail to unite us, storytelling becomes our lifeline—not just for understanding, but as resistance, healing, and hope.
Why Stories Matter More Than Ever
Facts get dismissed as “fake news.” Statistics turn into battlegrounds. But stories? They slip past our defenses. Psychologist Kurt Gray says it best: Personal stories of suffering connect us because they’re human, not partisan. They force us to see each other as people—flawed, hurting, hopeful.
Take Viktor Frankl, who survived Auschwitz and wrote:
Author: Viktor Frankl, MD, Austrian neurologist, psychologist, philosopher, and Holocaust survivor
Storytelling lives in that space. It’s how we choose empathy over outrage, bridges over walls. Historian Timothy Snyder put it bluntly in his book On Freedom: “Valuing truth is a moral commitment. Truth requires courage.” That’s why I’m back at ABeautifulVoice.org, a place where stories aren’t just shared—they’re a meaningful response to the deafening silence.
Rev. Shannon Kershner, former pastor, Fourth Presbyterian Church of Chicago, (February 28, 2021 sermon)
Misogyny, Caregiving, and the Tales We Bury
Let’s name it: this election normalized misogyny. It wasn’t whispered—it was screamed into microphones, tweeted without shame. But what astonished and mystified me wasn’t the vitriol—it was how few pushed back! Meanwhile, caregiving—the labor of love often labeled “women’s work”—was dismissed, again. The message? Your worth is conditional.
Social scientist Riane Eisler calls for a “partnership consciousness,” where caregiving isn’t gendered but shared. But to get there, we must confront the systems that have held us back—including institutions that should know better.
Rabbi Sharon Brous put it plainly:
“Silence isn’t neutrality. It’s complicity.”
If we don’t tell these stories, who will?
Why I’m Coming Back to ABeautifulVoice.org
Author: Rabbi Sharon Brous, senior rabbi of IKAR, a Jewish congregation in Los Angeles
This past year, I stepped away from ABeautifulVoice.org. Life pulled me in a dozen directions—travel, research, and exploration of what’s next. Never intending to be away from this medium for self-expression, it was this election’s cruelty, especially toward women, which has finally prompted me back. My faith – shaken but not broken – is key to actively putting this abandoned space to work. This platform was built for moments like these: to turn anger into resolve, silence into solidarity.
From master teachers, we know that “Healing begins when we speak the unspeakable.” The defeated party isn’t silent because they don’t care. But if we stop telling our stories, the darkness wins.
Rev. Thomas Are, Jr., Interim Pastor, Fourth Presbyterian Church of Chicago
Beauty as Rebellion
It’s easy to drown in despair. But beauty—real beauty, not the Instagram kind—is revolutionary. It’s the power of arts and nature. It’s the caregiver who shows up, the neighbor who listens, the story that says, “I see you.”
Maya Angelou said it best: “You may not control all the events that happen to you, but you can decide not to be reduced by them.” Stories are our light. They don’t erase the dark—they guide us through it.
Author: Maya Angelou, poet and civil rights activist
Your Story Matters
This isn’t about grand gestures. It’s about truth—messy, imperfect, human. Share yours at ABeautifulVoice.org. Not to “win,” but to connect. To remind us all: we’re more alike than we think.
The Next Chapter
The 2024 election wasn’t an ending. It’s a crossroads. As Wendell Berry wrote, “My job is to love my home place.” For me, storytelling is how I love this fractured world—by choosing hope, one story at a time. It is an act of love – for our communities, our shared humanity, and the future we hope to build.
Let us move forward, not with silence, but with truth and clarity.
Blog Author:
Susan Troyer, MS, BA, is author and curator of ABeautifulVoice.org.
Blog Co-Author:
Zulekha Ali (“Zuley”) is a freelance writer with a commitment to delivering informative and impactful content to enrich readers’ understanding and empower them to make informed decisions.
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