Today I signed up for Lean Left Vermont‘s email list. The organizational structure of the anti-Trump movement is trying to catch up with (and channel appropriately) all the righteous anger that’s out there. At this point I’m not sure which groups are going to become effective and which will not, so I’m signing up with multiple ones. It means more emails in my inbox, but that’s way down on my list of concerns these days.
At yesterday’s May Day rally, I stopped by Montpelier Strong Indivisible’s table. And today I signed on to their email list so I’ll be informed of local opportunities to make a difference.
Yeah, I think Thursday’s May Day rally on the Statehouse lawn went a little better than Wednesday’s pro-Trump “honk and wave” in Barre. I’d say the attendance was about a hundred times better, anyway. My guesstimate is that the crowd hit four figures with some room to spare. (It was impossible to capture the entire crowd in a single photo because they were so spread out.) Pretty good for a weekday afternoon.
The rally wasn’t specifically targeted at the authoritarian Trump regime as has been the case for other recent protests. Since it was May Day, the focus was on organized labor. At first I was a bit disappointed, but as the event went on, it was kind of nice not to hear the same familiar litany of terrible things our government is doing under the orange usurper.
Also, the labor movement is accustomed to fighting through setbacks and playing the long game. I mean, one speaker brought up the Haymarket affair, which occurred 139 years ago. In the context of labor’s long struggle, a few years under Trump takes on a fresh bit of perspective.
There was also a piece of well-timed good news on offer.
Continue readingToday I signed up to attend the Thursday 50501 rally at the Statehouse in Montpelier. Will probably bring along my mediocre “No-ligarchs” sign.
Today we sent a donation to PFLAG. As with the Pride Center of Vermont, I’m sure they are far busier than they were before January 20 and are in need of the help. And we have personal connections to the LGBTQ+ community, so these issues are especially important to us.
I’m trying to vary my actions, and not concentrate too much on donations. But sometimes things just line up in certain ways.
Today I wrote an email to Vermont Attorney General Charity Clark urging her to take all possible steps against illegal detentions by ICE and the Border Patrol. Indivisible Blue State Defiance has set up a simple way to send an email to your attorney general. (It also put me on BSD’s mailing list, I’m sure.) The process begins with a form email, but you can customize it to your liking before it’s sent. I did a pretty thorough rework of the opening paragraph to make it more pertinent to Vermont.
Had a bit of a busy day and almost let this slip by. But no! Today I made a donation to the Pride Center of Vermont, which I’m sure is busy as all getout what with Shitler’s war on trans folk and all.
In honor of the fascist overreach hitting close to home, I made a donation to the ACLU of Vermont. They seem to be pretty busy these days.
Another simple one today. I signed up to Third Act’s email list. Third Act — well, literally they call themselves Th!rd Act — is an activist organization centered on climate change for people of a certain age. Given that I crossed the AARP Rubicon about two decades ago, it seems like my people.
I hate to further clutter my inbox, but the anti-Trump “movement” is still pretty dispersed. A whole lot of energy, and scrappy bits of organization trying to channel it effectively. So I’m trying to cast my net a bit wider to stay informed about what’s going on and how I might participate.
Update. I also signed up for Third Act Vermont‘s email list.
Back to putting one foot forward every day. Today I wrote a note of encouragement to state Sen. Becca White, who accompanied her constituent Mohsen Mahdawi to his “citizenship meeting,” which turned out (as she suspected) to be a trap. She then bore witness to his detention by masked federal agents in unmarked vehicles — nothing suspicious there — and has since been his leading advocate. She deserves credit for stepping into the breach. A lesser politician (*cough*PhilScott*cough*) would have taken a safer course.
It’s important to be in touch with elected officials on critical issues. It’s also important to encourage them when they do the right thing.
The Vermont Political Observer. 