I just wanted to share with you guys some of the highlights of my week. This is not so much to brag about myself but because I can sometimes get discouraged about whether little old me can really make a difference. In those times it helps me to read about small differences others have made. I have had a good week, and so maybe I can perform that service for someone else today.
I think that the most important thing for us activists to always remember and hold close is that the world does change through the actions of people like us. It’s not always easy, and it’s certainly not as fast as we’d like it to be. But people of strong will can make a difference – and do.
This is what my week was like.
On Sunday I attended a meeting for volunteers with Andrew Hurst’s Congressional Campaign. Andy is running in Virginia’s 11th CD against Tom Davis – a long shot race if there ever was one. But he’s very solid on the issues I care about, and committed to running a tough, grassroots campaign. At the party, I got to talk to Andy about some things going on with our county committee, and I signed up to host a gathering in my home for people to meet him, and to canvass.
Also on Sunday, I sent some more emails to Senators about the Alito nomination, and emailed some friends asking them to call their Senators.
On Monday, I made some phone calls to invite people to my State of the Union watch party the following evening.
On Tuesday, my housemates and I hosted the State of the Union watch party. The main reason I hosted the party was to recruit volunteers to help gather signatures for ballot petitions for our candidates this year. Four people attended, and in the course of making calls to invite people, I recruited ten additional volunteers for the petition project.
We played State of the Union bingo with cards printed from the DNC website, which got people laughing and focused on snarking rather than how much we all wished we weren’t listening to this President. That was really what made the party fun.
The other interesting thing that happened was that Andy Hurst’s primary opponent Ken Longmyer came by, with his campaign manager. We welcomed him and he watched the address with us, and talked to the guests about his campaign.
Oh, and I almost forgot – also on Tuesday, I jumped into a discussion about activism on Dailykos and encouraged people to join their county Democratic committees as part of a strategy for change, in addition to joining outside pressure groups. One user lamented that (s)he had no such group within a 3 hour drive. I didn’t think this was possible and followed up with a few questions, and another user was able to put the person in contact with their county chair. They will be joining their Democratic committee soon to bring yet another progressive voice to the table.
Wednesday was a long day: first work, then class, so I wasn’t home until bedtime. But work pays the bills, and this particular class – a survey of Latin American history – was very interesting and stimulating. I had a chance to do some thinking and get some insights about racism, and racial identification, and insiders and outsiders and their respective relationships to written history.
By Thursday I was really tired. After work, I babysat my housemates’ children, then rested and relaxed. Because we all gotta do that, sometimes.
Tonight, Friday, I’ll probably be going out with friends. We all need that, sometimes, too.
And tomorrow, Saturday, I am meeting with two women from my county Democratic committee, who have been involved with the Women’s Rights Committee. The previous chair has other obligations that require her to step down, so we’re going to talk about me taking over leadership of the Women’s Rights Committee. I’m very much looking forward to the talk, and the opportunity, if it happens.
Now, it’s your turn. Conversations about our actions and our successes can be so important to not feeling like we are working each alone in a vacuum. What have you done this week, or this past month? What worked well? What successes and victories have you had? What new opportunities have come your way?