Election Day 2016 I was blown away by the crowds at my polling place, waiting for what seemed forever to vote. I ran from there up to the Javits Center - I scored tickets for that night - and again waited online for hours more, meeting excited, hopeful people from NYC and around the world, ready to celebrate.
Once inside, the mood shifted. Jack and I ditched, once we learned we’d be waiting at least another 4-5 hours to hear Hillary speak. That night I gave up at midnight and went to sleep, dreading what was seeming was inevitable at that point.
I woke up heartbroken, angry, scared, lost, frozen with no idea what to do.
One year later I’m a County Committee member, Secretary of AD66A to be exact. We’ve already reached out to party leadership about how things work and have opened a dialog to hopefully create transparency and make change happen going forward.
I joined the Village Independent Democrats and am going to run for their executive board in January. I designed primary and election literature for them, which actually were super helpful - I brought them with me to vote.
I work with United Thru Action: sending out their weekly newsletter and helping with their website.
I’m a member of Rise and Resist. I’m on their emergency response team, their comms working group, am working on their new website and online store, and have designed countless posters and postcards for them.
I’ve met politicians, phone banked, stood on corners getting signatures on petitions, attended debates, mc’ed a protest, and have attended/been a marshal at more actions than I can remember.
A year ago I had no idea these things even existed. In fact, not all of them did. I’m still angry and scared and frustrated. But I am also heartened and inspired by the remarkable people I’ve met and the work we’re collectively doing.
As people who’ve been doing this for the long haul keep telling me: this is a marathon, not a sprint. I’m getting that. I burn out regularly and sometimes hit a dark part I’m not sure how to get out of. But then I go out and fight.
Fighting back, however you choose to do it, can be a lifeline in all this.
