Contacting Ten Thousand Voters
I had a goal of reaching ten thousand voters before the upcoming U.S. Presidential election, and I think I’ve met or exceeded the goal. I contacted friends and family and invited them to join me in contacting voters. Thirty people said yes to this challenge. People were hungry for a way to plug in [get involved]. As soon as I made the decision to try to contact ten thousand voters, I felt stronger, more focused, and more energized than I’ve been in a long time. It continues to be a great contradiction to discouragement. The more I do this, the more strategies I come up with for what to do next. I think the best part is that I now have a group of thirty plus people who are also taking action and at least a little bit looking to me for motivation and direction.
I am in a dance collective, and because I pushed for it, we postponed our (online) show from November to December so we could put our time and energy into getting out the vote. They have also taken many actions because of our conversations. We launched a weekly action party on Zoom where friends and family could join us. We do a check-in, share resources, encourage people, and help them find ways to take courageous action. We try to follow up with everyone who comes. We always do a dance in the meeting. The dance is invigorating and is a way of dealing with the fear and anger we are facing and to move as a collective.
Everything about me fighting here is connected to being female. I am also noticing that the combination of being raised poor then raised middle class has allowed me the chutspa (courage) to reach out to middle-class people and expect them to take action. As a white person, I am appreciating the chance to work to end racism and am excited to be connecting with other white people who have decided to take action against racism.
Working together with thousands of other USers has been heartening. It’s been exciting to figure out how to lead them and to start to get clearer about our distresses as I challenge people to take action. I notice that many USers seem to be drawn to seek comfort, to be cynical, to complain, but be immobilized—there is so much for me to learn here.
My main motivation is to do this for my child. I tell people that I want my child and her peers to grow up in a democracy. I also want her to see me fight hard for what I think is right. It’s difficult to do this as a parent because I don’t have a lot of time. There is also bad air quality because of the forest fires, and we don’t have much help as parents because of COVID, but that would be true whether or not I took on this fight.
I’m excited by the ways that we in the RC Community are taking on some real and big challenges in our world. I’m proud to be with you.
USA
Reprinted from the RC e-mail discussion list for leaders of women
(Present Time 202, January 2021)