election checklist, week eight.

September 14, 2020

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?

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5 Comments

  • Reply Sara September 14, 2020 at 2:11 pm

    Thankful to take a deep breath and attempt ti continuum to synthesis all of this destruction. From ashes new growth, right?

    Googled Demo Crew, but what came up surely isn’t related to voting. Can you please share more on it? The google doc links properly but I’m hesitant to sign up for anything (Even if my source is a trusted one, you) that I haven’t learned more about on my own.

    Thank you! And I hope you have found joy and peace in settling in to your new place.

    • Reply ERIN BOYLE September 14, 2020 at 2:25 pm

      Hey Sara: I signed up on the urging of Sarah Sophie and am generally confident that she tends to direct folks to thoughtful and considered actions, but I’m waiting to learn more directly from the crew themselves!

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    • Reply Sarah September 17, 2020 at 11:09 am

      Found this on Sarah Sophie’s instagram describing the Demo Crew: https://www.instagram.com/tv/CE-AoQrhcHS/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

  • Reply Sara September 14, 2020 at 2:11 pm

    Whoops typos!

  • Reply Erin September 14, 2020 at 10:26 pm

    I have this written by my desk to help relieve some of the despair… “Do not be daunted by the enormity of the world’s grief. Do justly now, love mercy now, walk humbly now. You are not obligated to complete the work, but neither are you free to abandon it.”

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