It’s so bad right now. I’m still in a post-election stupor but I cannot have a heavy heart for four years. This failure to protect ourselves from a dictator is shocking when you grow up with stories that always or usually end in a happy-ish resolution. If I were a younger woman, I would go to law school. Poor Jack Smith. Just doing the right thing and now has a target on his back. What does fascism mean? It means a threat of violence if you disagree — and that violence is right on the tip of the tongue, a whisper, a shimmer — any moment, things can be set off.
I also privately wonder what is the obligation when we don’t agree? I hated watching President Joe Biden behaving cordially and respectfully in the hand-off meeting.
I am still processing so forgive the meandering nature of this post. I am thinking about how I can make a difference. I want to choose a specific area — reproductive freedom, reduction of guns? The racism of the country feels too overwhelming to tackle. I have avoided most of the analysis of where Democrats went wrong — who cares? Kamala Harris ran a perfect campaign with a terrible hand — not one misstep. I do not want to read editorials where she “misread the room.” Fuck off. We didn’t understand how uneducated our country is. Most cannot comprehend the thread of actions that lead to the current moment. Like remember the pandemic? People blamed hospitals, when what really was was a failure of leadership at the Federal Government, etc., etc.
Of the pundits speaking, I don’t disagree with Eddie Glaude, Jr, Professor at Princeton, who says that America has a serious problem with racism, that the election was not about economy and people not affording bread — it was about racism. Ooof. That is so hard. I don’t know if I can keep going if that is the main truth of this country, so I need another reason, another dimension. Like please god, let’s not be the main reason.
I’m planning to direct my first play reading this spring. I’m open to other weird ideas like running for office. Like hope is essential. Joy is necessary fuel for the revolution, and art is more vital than ever. It’s important for our sanity and as a space for independent original thought!
Anyhow knows. I have repeatedly experiencing a sand storm of multiple thoughts, and then my life budges not at all or just a smidge but it is exciting to think about possible ideas. For me, when I’ve been reading Waging Non Violence newsletters, they talk about the power of the collective — the coordination of a small action among many — kind of like choreography. Parris Gobel, the choreographer of Rihanna’s Super Bowl show, discussed how she loves how a small gesture performed by a large number people amplifies that moment. We can engineer a political action much the same way. Like what if I coordinated a collective Amazon cancellation in protest? That is exciting! So much potential!