Sheletta: Like Michelle Obama, I, too, will be skipping the inauguration

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The invitation that arrived in my email inbox is the kind that I frequently receive.

“You are our dream MC!!!” the emailer enthused, laying it on thick with all those exclamation marks.

They must have known I’m a sucker for compliments.

The request was for me to step into the spotlight with a featured role at the upcoming People’s March, scheduled for Saturday at the Minnesota State Capitol. Across the country, such marches are planned in the renamed version of the women’s marches that drew hundreds of thousands of protesters in January 2017, days before Donald Trump’s first inauguration.

Honey, I stay booked and busy with speaking engagements. I’m in demand as a professional panel moderator, gala emcee and featured keynote. I routinely break fundraising records when I host events. It’s just one of the many things I do for a living, and I do it well. I’m the best in town.

And although I love being on stage, entertaining crowds and raising money for worthwhile organizations, this was one invitation I declined. I plan to continue saying no to grassroots groups that seek to leverage my position as a public figure to “fight for democracy.”

“Thank y’all so much for thinking of me and I hope your march is successful, but Black women are standing down right now,” I wrote back. “The time for marching was to the polls on Nov. 5th to make history by electing the first African American female president. That didn’t happen. We are resting from resistance and won’t be moved to march until it is time to vote again.”

The People’s March may be a good cause, but it is no longer my cause. Instead, I am narrowing my focus and answering the call to serve causes I’m passionate about, where my efforts will be appreciated and make a real difference.

Like many Black women who won’t attend this march, I wish them the best in figuring out what they need to do next to preserve democracy. But Black women will be busy minding our business, drinking our water and doing our yoga with Shontel Booker at the YWCA in St. Paul. From here on out, we will be watching from the sidelines, not the front lines.

Because we already did our part. Loyal, patriotic, dedicated Black women registered our neighbors, drove souls to the polls, made the calls, sent the texts and knocked on the doors. About 92% of Black women voted for Vice President Kamala Harris to become Madame President. However, exit polls also showed most white women — 53% of them — decided that a twice impeached, four times indicted, convicted felon who lied about Haitian immigrants eating pets was a better choice.

Black women are tired of people playing in our faces. We have risked our lives to preserve democracy. But by ourselves, we don’t have the numbers to carry the causes this country claims to champion. We can lead, but we needed the rest of our alleged allies to show up for Harris and for us and y’all didn’t.

Instead, you chose a man who is proud of his plans to gut the fragile web of laws and norms that protect us. You voted individually, not collectively. You prioritized your own interests and you sold us out cheap over the price of a dozen eggs and a gallon of gas.

The lessons of history remind Black women that we are not the first to experience disappointment and find the need to disengage and disconnect from causes that continually devastate us.

“I must confess I’m tired,” the Rev. Martin Luther King said in 1966. “I’m tired of marching. Tired of marching for something that should have been mine at birth.”

It’s an ironic quirk of the calendar this year that both Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Inauguration Day are on Jan. 20.

For years, the federal holiday, on the third Monday in January, has been designated a National Day of Service. Instead of taking the day off to watch Netflix and cool out at home, it’s a tradition to honor King’s legacy by volunteering.

I was always so proud of the way President Barack Obama and his family served in the community during their years in the White House, helping others in a meaningful way. My family and I emulated that. If they could make the time to help out, so could we.

This Jan. 20, I don’t want Black women to relive the rejection as the next president takes his oath of office when we should honestly be seeing one of our own break that glass ceiling instead. Former First Lady Michelle Obama has stated she will not attend. I, too, will be skipping the inauguration.

As I looked for something to do to avoid the wall-to-wall coverage of the swearing in, certain to run up my blood pressure, I remembered another quote from King: “Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, ‘What are you doing for others?’”

I recently helped a woman who visited my church who was in an abusive relationship find a safe place for herself and her children at Tubman. I hosted the shelter’s fundraiser last year and knew of all the great work they do for families in crisis. When she checked in, I learned they needed more bedding for families temporarily living there.

In an instant, my exhausted spirit got a jolt of energy and creativity and God gave me an idea for civic engagement. At that moment, I stopped thinking about what I wasn’t going to do and my spirit was filled with a new way to serve.

I quickly organized an MLK Day of Service project especially for Black women.

Instead of taking to our beds on Inauguration Day, we will buy bedding so our sisters can take their own rest.

So, I’m not going to lead your march, but I’ll be marching to Tubman in Maplewood on Monday armed with sheets, pillows and comforters to comfort these strong courageous survivors of domestic abuse and to show them how much we care about them. If you’re a Black woman in Minnesota and you’re looking for something to do on Inauguration Day besides watch TV, go to Target pick up some blankets and pillows and join me at Tubman at noon Monday. For more details, go to ShelettaMakesMeLaugh.com.

And Mrs. Obama, since your calendar looks to be wide open that day, you can come, too.