"But as the election approaches, I know I can’t rely on a President Biden to cure my Trump-era depression."

"If he wins, it will simply represent a return to the normalcy favored by Democrats and the lie of American unity. A Biden presidency would not bring with it the same level of incompetence-meets-evil that we have suffered under the Trump administration. But without an agenda aimed at radically transforming (or in some cases eliminating altogether) the institutions that have caused so much harm, the best we can hope for is four years of bipartisan compromises that leave us facing the same challenges.... I can imagine coming out of this depression when I think of examples of people acting together to make the world better and fairer for themselves, but also for strangers.... This is perhaps the greatest lesson of the Trump era for me, one worth repeating to myself every day even when this presidency is a distant memory: We need one another.... I can look through the fog of this Trump-era depression and imagine what could be next — regardless of who wins the election — and feel almost giddy."

Writes Mychal Denzel Smith in an adapted excerpt from his forthcoming book "Stakes Is High: Life After the American Dream" (NYT);