A Call from One American Grandma to Another: Stand Up for Our Families
My fellow Americans,
Especially my beloved grandmothers—
We’ve seen hard times before, and we’ve held our families together through them. We’ve rolled up our sleeves, dried tears, baked bread from scratch, and made every dollar stretch. But now, we’re facing a new kind of hardship—one quietly disguised as policy: devastating tariffs that will cause prices to skyrocket and shelves to empty. And who will feel it most? Our children and their children.
These new tariffs aren’t just numbers on a trade spreadsheet. They are a direct hit to the kitchen tables of young families already struggling to make ends meet.
A bag of diapers could cost more—while wages stay the same.
A can of baby formula or a pack of wipes might become harder to find—because components are stuck in a tariff trap.
Everyday basics like pasta, beans, or a box of cereal will creep up in cost—while young parents are told to “tighten their belts.”
This is not just policy. This is pain at the register.
And while millionaires and billionaires won’t flinch, the single mom pushing a cart with a toddler and a newborn will.
I’m asking us—the grandmothers, the wise ones, the anchors of our families—to raise our voices peacefully but powerfully. We know what sacrifice looks like. We know how to stand up when something isn’t right.
Let’s write.
Let’s call.
Let’s march.
Let’s post.
Let’s share the truth that’s being swept under the rug.
Because these tariffs aren’t about strength—they’re about control.
They’re not making us safer—they’re making our groceries more expensive and our future more uncertain.
We must remind this country what democracy really looks like.
It looks like grandmothers speaking up.
It looks like families standing together.
It looks like peaceful resistance for the sake of those yet to grow strong enough to fight for themselves.
We are the memory keepers and the truth tellers. Let’s be the protectors now.
To Tariff or not to Tariff, That is the Question. https://torrancestephensphd.substack.com/p/to-tariff-or-not-to-tariff-that-is
A Call from One American Grandma to Another: Stand Up for Our Families
My fellow Americans,
Especially my beloved grandmothers—
We’ve seen hard times before, and we’ve held our families together through them. We’ve rolled up our sleeves, dried tears, baked bread from scratch, and made every dollar stretch. But now, we’re facing a new kind of hardship—one quietly disguised as policy: devastating tariffs that will cause prices to skyrocket and shelves to empty. And who will feel it most? Our children and their children.
These new tariffs aren’t just numbers on a trade spreadsheet. They are a direct hit to the kitchen tables of young families already struggling to make ends meet.
A bag of diapers could cost more—while wages stay the same.
A can of baby formula or a pack of wipes might become harder to find—because components are stuck in a tariff trap.
Everyday basics like pasta, beans, or a box of cereal will creep up in cost—while young parents are told to “tighten their belts.”
This is not just policy. This is pain at the register.
And while millionaires and billionaires won’t flinch, the single mom pushing a cart with a toddler and a newborn will.
I’m asking us—the grandmothers, the wise ones, the anchors of our families—to raise our voices peacefully but powerfully. We know what sacrifice looks like. We know how to stand up when something isn’t right.
Let’s write.
Let’s call.
Let’s march.
Let’s post.
Let’s share the truth that’s being swept under the rug.
Because these tariffs aren’t about strength—they’re about control.
They’re not making us safer—they’re making our groceries more expensive and our future more uncertain.
We must remind this country what democracy really looks like.
It looks like grandmothers speaking up.
It looks like families standing together.
It looks like peaceful resistance for the sake of those yet to grow strong enough to fight for themselves.
We are the memory keepers and the truth tellers. Let’s be the protectors now.
With fierce love and unwavering hope,
Clarissa Sr.—an American Grandma
United by faith, family, and freedom.