Parenting in a Looming Dystopia: Lessons from Sarah Connor

The Trumpian Time Warp

Drowning in the daily deluge of Trump-era chaos is easy. The constant crises, the relentless attacks on everything decent – it's a deliberate tactic. It's designed to keep us perpetually reactive, endlessly defending against the latest absurdity, blinding us to the long-term damage.

But my two sons, ages 9 and 12, force me to look beyond the immediate horizon. They force me to confront the bleak future being built for them, a future shaped by Trump's relentless assault on everything we hold dear.

Generation X: A Collective Mea Culpa?

I grew up in a time of flickering hope, a brief moment when a multiracial, multiethnic democracy seemed within reach. My generation, however, failed to secure that future. While some still champion Gen X, I'm ready to concede our shortcomings. Barack Obama famously said, "We are the ones we've been waiting for." He may not have considered what happens when "we" turn out to be…well, a disappointment.

Sarah Connor: A Parenting Paradigm?

My focus now is on equipping my Black sons for the dystopian future Trump seems determined to create. For inspiration, I turn to a fictional parent facing similar challenges: Sarah Connor, the heroine of the Terminator franchise.

In the first film, Sarah is a damsel in distress, running from a killer robot sent from the future to prevent the birth of her son, John, the future leader of the human resistance. By the second film, she's transformed. Ripped. Hardened. A warrior, preparing her son for the apocalyptic war to come.

Beyond Guns and Ammo: Equipping the Next Generation

I’m not advocating for literal armed rebellion. Our fight won't be won with brute force. But, like Sarah Connor, we must prepare our children for a future unlike anything we've experienced. We must prepare for a time where they will need different skills and different forms of strength.

While killer robots might still be a hypothetical threat, the dangers facing our children are no less real. Climate change, algorithmic manipulation, unchecked corporate power, resurgent white supremacy – these are the forces shaping their future, a future potentially more dire than anything Hollywood has envisioned.

Raising Warriors of a Different Kind

So, what am I teaching my sons? Not how to stockpile weapons, but how to be wartime consiglieres. Ruthless, cunning strategists, fluent in the language of media and persuasion. Thinkers who can outmaneuver the enemy, employing any means necessary to restore freedom and democracy.

I'm teaching them Black pride, a crucial survival skill in a society that constantly seeks to diminish them. I’m teaching them to understand how algorithms manipulate information and shape perception, to be digitally literate in a world dominated by tech oligarchs.

And perhaps most importantly, I'm teaching them that suffering is not inevitable, a predetermined fate. That success and failure are not solely the products of individual merit, but are often determined by systems rigged against them.

The Rule Breakers

Finally, and perhaps most challenging, I'm teaching them the necessity of rule-breaking. In an authoritarian future, blind obedience to unjust laws only perpetuates evil.

This is a work in progress, a constant learning process for both me and my children. Like Sarah Connor, I’m adapting, evolving, figuring out how to equip my sons for the fight ahead.