election checklist, week eight.

We have 50 days until the 2020 election in the US. That’s 7 weeks during which I’ll be trying my damnedest to get leaders elected who will move the dial toward equity, inclusion, and progressive policies that will do the least harm and the greatest good.

I love lists. I love checking things off of lists. I’d hazard the guess that lots of folks reading this do, too. So, every Monday until November, I’ll be listing one specific action to take in preparation of the election. Electoral politics won’t solve everything, but voting is a tool in the box and it needs to be sharpened, oiled, and ready for action.

Week Eight: Phone a friend.

“To refuse to participate in the shaping of our future is to give it up. Do not be misled into passivity either by false security (they don’t mean me) or by despair (there’s nothing we can do). Each of us must find our work and do it.” – Audre Lorde

I’ve been battling a niggling feeling of despair lately. The compounding disasters of climate change and the coronavirus are weighing heavy on my mind. The numbers—people who have died, people who are infected, acres burned, particulates in the air, tons of CO2—are so staggering I can hardly make sense of them. So when Brooklyn activist Sarah Sophie Flicker shared these words from Audre Lorde yesterday, I recognized myself. I’ve been doing my best to snap out of it.

My action this week is small, but multiplied by the folks reading, I think it has the potential to be something close to mighty. Let’s phone our friends. Let’s check in on our own progress with this checklist at the same time that we check in with the folks we love. “Have you filled out the census? Checked in on your voter registration? Have you made a plan to vote or sent any postcards? Have you familiarized with down-ballot candidates?

And at Sarah Sophie’s urging, I’ve also signed up for more concrete actions by joining The Demo Crew. Join us?