Turn Rage into Action (3/26/23)
The news can seem mostly grim these days if you care about women’s reproductive health, voting rights, access to books, the LGBTQ+ community, stopping gun violence, and so much more. Many of us hoped to breathe a sigh of relief after Donald Trump was defeated in 2020 and yet in 2023, the MAGA agenda feels like it is advancing in states around the country, the U.S. Supreme Court, and the U.S. House of Representatives. Trump’s warnings of “death & destruction” this week and his attacks on our democratically elected Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg have been especially chilling.
One of the most potent weapons of the MAGA minority is getting inside the minds of their opponents. Our friend Simon Rosenberg observed how Republicans (real or bots) tended to swarm his positive posts about Democrats with negative replies in the run-up to the midterms. This is not a coincidence but part of a concerted effort to psych us out. We need to get them out of our heads and turn our rage into action. As they continue to flood the airwaves and social media with propaganda, it’s time to get louder than they are. As Simon Rosenberg says, now is the moment to turn up the messaging that “with Democrats, things get better”. While today’s mood feels like a giant weight on your shoulders, know you are not alone. Know also that we cannot change what has gone before, but we can continue to fight for a fair and just country.
As activists, the only thing we have control over is to keep working. Postcarding, texting, phone banking, and amplifying is the difference we can make. Melissa Walker always reminds us that “you fight and you lose and you fight and you lose and you fight and you win”. In moments that feel dark, you must hold onto that thread as she does. Or, as Jessica Craven reminded us last week: "We don’t need to wait to feel hopeful to take action. We take action in order to feel hopeful. When we act, we gain hope. That’s the way it works. It’s a formula that never fails. Better yet, in so doing we show others—those who are mired in fear or depression—that they, too, can find relief through getting up and doing something. This is how we create momentum. It’s how we create progress. It’s how we create strength. Ultimately, it’s how we create victory." Let’s finish strong for Wisconsin. We have two more days to write postcards. Look in Slack #postcarding-zooms for pop-up extended postcarding sessions. Then turn your attention to our #textbanking-phonebanking-canvassing-and-ballot-curing channel for opportunities after Tuesday.
President Obama said “Progress will come in fits and starts. It’s not always a straight line. It’s not always a smooth path.” Let’s stay busy and get noisy as we forge our path to victory together!