Activism Works Best…
There’s a popular slogan going around “Activism is the antidote to despair.” We prefer, “Activism is the antidote to tyranny.” While the former may address our sense of hopelessness, the latter acknowledges the very real crisis we are in. With the federal government shutdown; our president posting AI-enhanced racist videos; people losing healthcare benefits at an alarming rate; and masked ICE agents grabbing people, including children, from their homes and workplaces, we have to overcome our despair, harness our outrage and engage in activism to fight the tyranny that is engulfing us.
History proves that activism works. We need only look back to the civil rights movement, the women’s liberation movement, Black Lives Matter, and the LGBTQ rights movement to see the power of activism.
Our activism can take many forms: advocacy, such as writing to legislators near and far; protest, such as attending marches and rallies; volunteering, such as giving our time to organizations that serve marginalized communities or working on political campaigns; and donating, both to candidates running in our areas or in other parts of the country.
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But change will depend not only on what the electorate does. If the Democratic Party hopes to flip the House and the Senate - in order to re-establish the independence of our three branches of government and the rights of all Americans - it better give us candidates worth voting for.
Case in point. Former North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper was on a Zoom call with national donors. He is running for the Senate as a Democrat in what will be a very tight race. Governor Cooper was a big disappointment. Another old white man with no charisma who couldn’t even read his own script well. People watching had paid to see him and were ready to make more donations to his campaign. Instead, many left the call before he finished.
They should have stuck around, though, because North Carolina Attorney General Jeff Jackson followed Cooper as his surrogate. Jackson is young, bright, the very essence of charisma. A JAG military lawyer, he is also an expert on the effective use of social media. He said the top issues of concern to voters - government corruption, the economy, and the cost of living are at the very top of the list - will determine who wins. None of the other issues will matter.
If the Democrats hope to flip the House and Senate, they better give us more Jacksons and fewer Coopers. (Think Graham Platner running in Maine, for example.) Otherwise, the republic will remain in grave danger. Activism alone won’t solve the problems.
Therese (she/her/hers)
Judy (she/her/hers)
Didi (she/her/hers)
Leading Ladies Executive Team
Leadingladiesvote.org
ladies@leadingladiesvote.org