One
week and counting to the anti-inaugural and Women’s March on Washington,
friends. And the prez-elect’s antics continue.
Got hope?
He’s
hired his wheeler-dealer son-in-law as his chief advisor. On what? How to make the
most hay out while the sun shines on the Trump White House? He spends his time
tweeting like a twit about Schwarzenegger’s performance as host of The
Apprentice. Presidential much? I can’t
help but think of Trevor Noah’s Trump the Toddler routine, balling-up his little
baby fists and stamping his feet to demand attention. Even mild-mannered Biden said on a PBS
NewsHour interview last week, “Grow up, you’re President now.”
To
add salt to the wounds, we all watched Obama’s farewell speech Tuesday night with
a box of tissues handy. Or we didn’t watch because we couldn’t face saying
goodbye to that guy and his lovely wife and all the loveliness that surrounds
them. But if you did watch, as did I, shedding a few tears along with Podus, you
had to catch his main message.
It’s
time to…
“Hitch
our trailers to something bigger than ourselves.”
Take-on with aplomb “the most important office
in democracy: citizen.”
“Lace-up
[our] shoes and do some organizing…and if you don’t like who’s in there, grab a
clipboard, get some signatures, and run for office yourself.”
This
is great, I’m thinking, as I’m scribbling furiously in my notebook. Obama as
coach. And as a citizen himself very soon, he assured, he is “staying in the fight.”
Okay,
dear Obama, si se puede, yes we can,
and yes we are.
And
yes we did. Please indulge me as I take
a veer down memory lane…back to this time in 2009 when I was knee-deep in
preparations for the Samba-O-Bamba Inaugural Ball. Was that a hoot, driving through
the streets of MtP with my friend Gigi, dressed in our ball gowns, 11 frigging
degrees out and we’re freezing because we have our new black President in the
back seat, a larger than life cutout so big we have to roll down the back
windows of the Toyota so he head can poke-out. It was a Bacchanalian
celebration of democracy with a Brazilian twist, samba music and dancing and a piñata
bashing of W’s head to top-off the evening.
This
year things are going to be a little different. I’m leveraging my organizing
power and facilitation skills for What NOW? An evening of drinks, dialogue and
dissent! Not so much dancing, but it’s going to be a ball, transforming anger
and dismay into action –taking active part in “the joyous task we’ve been given
– to continue to try to improve our country.”
So
please come out, friends. Move past Denial and Resistance and into Exploration.
Come fueled with march energy. Come tired. Come with
rage and joy and hope and hopelessness. Come with ideas, even if they are messy and muddled. Come open to the possibilities.
My
colleague and I, as your facilitators, will come with the questions, the power
of questions, to help you clarify the ideas and make connections. And once those flip charts come out, you’ll
know we're ready to make shit happen.
As
Obama said in his farewell, “The constitution is just a piece of parchment …We the
people give it meaning – with our participation.”
Start now. Post a comment, reserve your space, let your voice be heard. For tix: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/what-now-post-march-evening-of-drinks-dialogue-dissent-tickets-30892613639
