Meetings
via Susan Kaufman (@skaufman4050) on Twitter
Guys. I’ve been going to meetings. With people.
That is just so far outside my comfort zone.
The first one was a virtual town hall with Niki Tsongas. Virtual meaning it took place over the phone. So technically, I wasn’t physically in the same room with people. And I was muted. But still.
Her recommendations to her constituents: Stay informed, participate on social media, have those difficult conversations, and make those phones calls. Phone calls and record turnouts are making a difference. The only thing that is not helpful is staying home and saying nothing. (As I get to know Warren, Markey, and Tsongas better, I’m liking them more and more.)
I then met with a small group of women. In person this time. In a church.
That’s right. Me, in a church.
This is the group that organized a busload of us into Boston for the Women’s March. Oh, right, I went to that meeting too. Right now, I’m providing some tech support to that group. I am keeper of the master email list. Looks like this group will be heading back into Boston for the March on Science.
Then I went to a Black Lives Matter meeting. In another church!
I felt a little bad for the presenter. He was a young, black man talking to a bunch of white-haired liberals in a quintessential New England town. He did a great job. He was unapologetically honest in his message to the audience while listening carefully to their questions and responding to them with insightful answers. One of the points that he made was that racism did not start with Trump. It was here, in our systems, before Trump showed up. And it will be here after Trump goes away unless we start taking on those systems.
My favorite question – or comment really – came from one of the few people-of-color in the audience. She said the people in her town sometimes treat her as “the poor Mexican.” This enrages her, but she keeps quiet, which enrages her even more. She sounded more angry with herself than she did with anyone else. She told the presenter and the audience that she would no longer be quiet.
I also attended an Indivisible meeting. Guess where? In a church!
The energy in the crowded room was quite palpable, and this group is chomping at the bit to take action. A number of them will be attending a meeting with Niki Tsongas this weekend. (I’ll be in D.C. visiting Meagan. Yeah! Though who knows what kind of trouble I’ll get into there. However, since it’s the weekend, I’m sure he will be at Mar-A-Lago.)
Then I met with two strangers. Not in a church this time, but in my house. They are a very nice couple from town, and she has decided to run for town office. I’m helping her with her web page.
Think I can keep this meeting thing up?
It may be a church, but it’s a UU church. It hardly counts as a church, and I can say that because I’m a member. Perhaps it counts as something beyond the typical vision of what a church is and can be. I love UU Groton, perhaps first and foremost because it is specifically out as a welcoming congregation. And that means anyone, even atheists. You don’t have to believe in God to be welcome there.
I didn’t know you were at the Black Lives Matter talk- I was there also. I agree with everything you wrote about it as spot on accurate. I learned a lot that evening.
You may be an introvert, but I’ve never been politically active before. I’m an artist, yogi and writer who organizes art exhibits and works in a library for a living. I don’t like Marches and didn’t want to go to the Women’s March in Boston. I don’t like crowds, they make me twitchy. I don’t even particularly enjoy organizing things, I would much prefer to be in my studio with ink and paper. But as Niki said, I’m a reasoned soul, and these are not reasonable times.
We do what we have to do to save Democracy as we have known it. I’m thrilled and honored to be working with you.
Oh, come on! Can’t I take credit for being in a church? 🙂 I’m happy to be working with you as well.