One Day at a Time, 1,439 days to go

Countdown 1,439

 

One day at a time.

One hour at a time.

One second at a time.

The chaos president has unleashed his funder

to break the government.

A German pastor who initially

supported Hitler confessed after WWII

to his responsibility in not protesting Nazi acts.

Are we protesting the chaos president’s

executive orders sufficiently?

Or are we waiting until those EOs come for us?

I carry his thoughts into our current situation

as a warning.

First, they came for theimmigrants,

but I was not an immigrant

so I did not speak up.

Then they came for the trans men and women,

but I was not trans

so I did not speak up.

Then they came for the FBI and CIA,

but I did not trust the FBI and CIA

so I did not speak up.

Then they came for other government workers,

but I was not a government worker

so I did not speak up.

Then they came for me,

and there was no one left to speak for me.

One day at a time.

Still time to speak up.

SOLSC5: Black Lives Matter on the Street Corner

From June into November 2020 in my upper Manhattan neighborhood of Morningside Heights, there was a daily demonstration, prompted by the killing of George Floyd, to support Black lives. Anywhere from 12 to 25 people were at the corners of 111th and Broadway, with handmade or custom designed signs — “HONK IF YOU SUPPORT BLACK LIVES,” “RACISM IS A PANDEMIC TOO,” etc. — and so many appreciative honks from passing cars, trucks, and buses that some with small children needing to be put to sleep in buildings overlooking our corner complained.

            After the election, on the day Biden was declared the winner, there was a spontaneous gathering of a couple hundred people at the intersection where we had stood. But the daily demonstrators dissipated. However, a few of us knew the issue of Black lives and police accountability persisted, so we have continued to stand at our corner, for 15 minutes every Saturday, for the past almost year and a half. That’s where I was today, with three other women — there’ve been as many as nine, as few as two. The wind felt arctic, though the air temperature was over 40.

            We get honks, and sometimes disparaging comments from passersby. The latter are why we have to be out there.

-------------------------------------

I’m participating in the 15th annual Slice of Life Challenge over at Two Writing Teachers. This is day 5 of the 31-day challenge.  It’s not too late to make space for daily writing in a community that is encouraging, enthusiastic, and eager to read what you have to slice about.  Join in!

 

 

SOLSC 21: More Political Action

            My cross-the-hall neighbor invited me to join her today at a protest against the Medicaid block grants part of the “repeal and replace Obamacare” bill. I met her downtown at the Federal Office Building, where we joined around 150 people with some of the following signs.

 

            It was a pleasant day, sunny, not too cold – it’s the second day of spring, after all. After about  40 minutes, the demonstration was over. My neighbor and I met a friend of hers for lunch at a quite nice Italian restaurant with this peculiar sign on the door.

“[G]ently... pull... hard”? We did have to pull very hard on the door to get it open, but “gently”? Don’t know how to do that.

            On the way home, I couldn’t resist this shot of the snow still piled along the curb on Broadway.

The snow is slowly shrinking, but we’re getting a cold snap in the next few days, so what remains is going to freeze hard. O Spring, when will you arrive to stay?

SOLSC 7: Protest Time

            A construction company called Graniterock, in Watsonville, where I am visiting, is considering a bid on building Trump’s wall. This afternoon I went with Heidi, my host, to join a protest against the company, hoping to persuade them that building a wall is not the best way to use their resources.

            In the morning we brainstormed what her sign should read. Heidi wanted to use a word or two from the company’s statement to local newspapers, that it remained neutral in terms of politics, as well as what projects would be better for the company to be working on. “Infrastructure” came readily to mind, but that’s just too long for a sign and doesn’t work as a catchy slogan.

            “Neutral” was also an important word. How about “A wall is not neutral.” Perfect. Adding “It’s mean” added a bit of an edge. Heidi’s daughter suggested, “It’s un-American,” as a better ending.

            Heidi found black poster board, a backing board to stiffen the sign, and double-sided tape to fuse the two together. Then she outlined the words to make sure everything would fit, and filled in the colors with acrylic paint. Here’s what the final result looked like, held by a neighbor's child.

            Then we got a ride to the company’s office, in an area of warehouses. Maybe 40 people were there when we arrived, but the sidewalk eventually filled with at least 200. More than half the passing drivers honked in support. A few of the organizers tried to meet with company officials, but were told they had to make an appointment, and there was no one there to make an appintment with at that time. So we continued holding up our signs for another hour, until the sun set. Here are some of the signs others brought.

----------------------------------------