Dirty Politics & A Sweet Pea Dirty Martini

This alcohol-free martini won’t solve the U.S. political spiral or chaos rippling across the Mexican border—it’s just a drink.

sweetpea dry martini with vodka, gin, or alcohol-free rice vinegar brine

After another exhausting, chaotic election cycle, sometimes the best thing you can do is sit down, take a meditative breath, and have a little drink (with or without booze). Living in Mexico for the past decade has granted me some healthy distance from the circus of U.S. politics, but that doesn't make the implications of another "orange clown" presidency any easier to swallow. “Few places in the Americas stand to be as jolted by a new Trump presidency as Mexico, the nation of nearly 130 million people that the president-elect made the target of numerous threats during his campaign,” according to the NY Times.

Every cycle feeds us with binary choices of “lesser evils” that never quite seem to serve the full spectrum of human needs amid ongoing environmental and human tragedy. The return of the 45th president to the White House brings with it the same threats and baseless rhetoric he peddled before—unhinged and aggressive stances on immigration, trade, and border security that have always targeted Mexico, my adopted home, and its people. The plans to ramp up mass deportations and potentially intervene militarily against Mexican cartels would create new pressures for Mexico—a nation that already shoulders the weight of U.S. policies on migration and drug trafficking. Watching things unfold from Mexico, the political turbulence feels like an unwelcome echo, reminding me that no matter how far I am, the storm of U.S. politics always finds a way to reach almost everywhere.

“Few places in the Americas stand to be as jolted by a new Trump presidency as Mexico […]” — Simon Romero & Emiliano Rodríguez Mega

As a Black woman who grew up in a West African immigrant household, I know that the focus on immigration has always been rooted in racialized xenophobic and misinformation that has spread and permeated inside Mexico itself. It’s reflected in the way Afro-descendant immigrants and migrants are treated and targeted, seen in the “go home” sentiments and the unjust immigration processes in many countries. Some might say this was reflected in much of the Latino vote within the U.S., with immigrants pinned against other immigrants. But the reason Latinos flocked to Trump may not be as simple as the exit polls would have us believe. Same true for the Black vote.

The truth is that the U.S. has long relied on Mexico to take on the burden of its immigration policies. The reality is far more complex—migration is driven by factors like economic instability, violence, and political upheaval, none of which Trump’s rhetoric addresses. His policies don’t just harm Mexico but the global south, as they fail to address the root causes of migration, opting instead to demonize migrants while ignoring the systemic issues that drive people to seek refuge. Being away from the U.S. doesn’t mean I can escape the consequences of an orange-man presidency. As Mexico finds itself once again in the crosshairs of U.S. political games that disrupt families and livelihoods, this serves as another reminder that no matter how far I’ve come, the dirty politics of the U.S. will always find a way to touch my life wherever I am.

The dissonance between who I am, who I'm expected to be, and who I was told to vote for has been suffocating. I can't help but think about how many election seasons are spent choosing the lesser of two evils, with little attention paid to the voices of marginalized communities. My little sweetpea-infused martini doesn’t symbolize anything profound; it’s just a creative recipe I developed for an event I’m hosting tomorrow to dance some of this pain away. The infusion process sort of represents the care and intention behind something small yet delicate, sweet, and understated—much like the way Black women’s political contributions are often overlooked, but are, in fact sometimes essential.

The Recipe —