Make Five Calls | Roadmap to Reconstruction
Friends,
I am totally off-kilter! I had Monday's post all set to go, all I had to hit was "publish". And on Tuesday evening I saw that I had not hit publish! And, you know, without thought sent the newsletter late Tuesday night. Most of you saw it on Wednesday.
And that made it seem silly to send the next one on Thursday, so here it is, Friday morning.
That said, if any of you care what day you get these, let me know! I had slightly higher readership on Wednesday than the regular Monday newsletter gets. Who knows?
-Liz
Do we have to protest?
A friend didn't go to the protest on Saturday. She doesn't do protests.
Is she wrong?
In addition to feeling judgy of her, I was feeling judgy of me. I didn't go to a No Kings protest either. And I do do protests. But I had a contract to teach a course (in Denver!) and felt I had to meet my obligation. My angst comes from wondering how bad things have to be before I'll decide to go even though I have another commitment? And of course angst that I'm judging my "don't do protests" friend.
Is protesting the most important form of resistance? Is it the only thing to do?
The answer to the second question is clearly no. And, I'm going to argue, protesting is not the most important thing. Important, yes. We need many people to choose protesting, yes. But there isn't one most important thing.
I heard of a church full of non-protestors that discovered they were on the likely walking route from the parking to the protest. They care about the issues but didn't have anyone who could handle the crowds, the noise, the walking. So an organizer among them arranged to gather sign-writing materials, got a cool-slogan-writer, and found someone to bring tape, a staple gun, and sticks. The whole group got together the morning of the event and made signs and then stood on the church's front lawn handing out signs. So people who could handle the crowds, the noise, the walking got great signs to carry.
What a great ministry!
Do you make all the phone calls as directed by five calls? I have a friend who just about every days calls someone to complain, advise, or compliment a politician. She gives complaints and reprimands. She calls local leaders, national leaders, all her representatives. She calls businesses that have caved, and schools that stood strong. One call a day.
Some people have chosen to run for office. From library board and school committee to the Senate and House, we need people in running for political office. We need people training to run. People supporting their campaigns. Whether we are in a blue or red area, we should be planning ahead for a future when we will need more candidates that want to care for their neighbors.
It's especially important to reach out to more conservative politicians. Find out issues that might be something they will stand up for. Certainly the liberals with conservative representatives should be asked to be listened to. At the same time more moderate people might be able to find the issue that will turn one vote.
Marjorie Taylor Greene is defending Obama care subsidies. Ten republicans are co-sponsors the Dignity Act (HR4393) which gives immigrants here without paperwork but working a chance for permanent status. We should be pressuring these leaders to stand up for what they have already said they believe in.
I've told the story of a church in Vermont creating an apartment to be a Sanctuary Church. But we should not miss the importance of the fact that there was a plumber who helped make the apartment. A builder who hired the immigrants that needed work. Other churches providing translation services, food, who helped furnish the apartment. Many different people are helping in many different ways.
I heard that a white woman was pulled over for having a Mexican flag sticker. I'm thinking about getting Guatemalan and Guyanese flags for my car. I've traveled to both places. I don't know how much of a risk it is to carry the flags, but I think the best thing that could happen right now is filling our prisons with a lot of white old ladies who can quite honestly say they just want due process.
We can and should be supporting immigrant organizations, but also eating out at restaurants owned by immigrants, and shopping at their stores. As more and more immigrants try to avoid ICE, these businesses need the support from those of us at low risk of arrest.
Instead of judging what others are doing, we each should find the thing that we can do. And do it.
What are you doing other than protest? I'd love to hear, you can reply to this email.
Five Calls dot Org is a website that gives you the contact information for your representatives, and ideas of what to say when you call them. Their idea is that it isn't hard to make five phone calls.
“Winning does not require a general strike or a disciplined nationwide resistance. Winning requires changing hearts and minds, which can be achieved with small but dramatically effective acts of protest that go viral and convince Americans that [these leaders] are burning down our Constitution and stealing our country.”
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