Right now someone who thinks masks are tyranny and racism is a myth is putting together their campaign for your kid's school board, for your city council, for your state legislature. Across the country, people who participated in the Insurrection on the Capital on January 6, 2021, who don’t believe in our election integrity are running for office. And still, more locally, current elected officials in Oakland County, hiding behind their PAC,s are using racist dog whistles to galvanize their base for donations and ignite would-be office-holders. Like this guy. 👇
I am a Creative Director who lives in an affluent Detroit suburb. Never in my wildest dreams six years ago did I think I would be here—a single mom and an entrepreneur who started this foray into politics by becoming a political activist and helping first-time candidates. But our calls to protect Democracy come in many different forms. And never has the call to protect this country we call home been more urgent.
As parents, we drop our children off at school, worried about whether or not they’ll come home at the end of the day. As a community, we wonder how much more we can take from COVID. As women, we don’t know if our body autonomy will continue to be protected. As workers, we are tired and burned out, and ready for a change. As human beings, we are feeling the destruction that climate change is just starting to bring to our planet. We see and we must act.
We are not living in normal times, but right now we must collectively rise to the occasion and answer the call that President Obama laid down in his inaugural speech quoting Thomas Paine.
“’Let it be told to the future world...that in the depth of winter when nothing but hope and virtue could survive... that the city and the country, alarmed at one common danger, came forth to meet [it].’ America: In the face of our common dangers, in this winter of our hardship, let us remember these timeless words. With hope and virtue, let us brave once more the icy currents, and endure what storms may come. Let it be said by our children’s children that when we were tested we refused to let this journey end, that we did not turn back nor did we falter; and with eyes fixed on the horizon and God’s grace upon us, we carried forth that great gift of freedom and delivered it safely to future generations.”
It is not the time to “sit this one out.” Maybe you look over your shoulder to see if someone else will step up. But that someone is you. If you want to be part of the solution, it is more than just voting once in a while or donating here and there. It is more than just attending a march. You should run for office. And if you can’t run, then volunteer for someone who is. Do something. There is too much at stake.