My heart is broken. Probably yours is too.
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is a hero to many of us.
Especially to me, as a woman. A woman who had an entire life before she married at 28. A woman who has no idea what it would be like to not have her own bank account, or credit card, or apartment lease, or ability to make her own medical decisions. I have all of that privilege because of Justice Ginsburg.
When she died I was, and still am, beyond heartbroken.
And then when the Republicans started in on filling her seat, not even 12 hours after her death, I got mad. I mean really mad. Madder than you have seen me ever. Up to this point, I’d felt heartbroken. Distraught. Aimless. Attacked. Betrayed. Minimized.
Now I am FURIOUS. And legitimately scared for the future of my country. I need to speak up. To speak out. To take action. And then I was paralyzed a bit by my anxiety. Writing this blog, for example. Am I going to offend someone? What will it mean for my business if I mix my “personal politics” with my business and brand? And then I realized that my “personal politics” IS my brand. Who I am as a coach is who I am as a person. Fiercely committed to equality in gender, sexual preference, marriage, and sport. Fighting for a radical level of acceptance of all people in all bodies. My business actually depends on my speaking up, speaking out, taking action. I took a big breath. I remembered an activist friend's recommendation and clicked over to ---> https://5calls.org/
Super organized and useful. Make 5 calls every day to your representatives about whatever issues are most important to you. They provide scripts and the phone numbers. It’s straightforward and easy, if you like the phone. But I hate the phone and talking to strangers. It turns my anxiety up to 11. While watching the Princess Bride table read the host mentioned “text banking” right along with phone banking. Hmmmm. Getting the word out without having to talk to people on the phone? Without having to bother someone who may be in the middle of something? Without getting yelled at? I had found my thing. I immediately started researching. For years I’ve been a fan of ResistBot. You text, it does the work. Magic. ---> https://resist.bot/ I started there. And then found ---> https://votesaveamerica.com/ From there I pivoted to ---> https://events.democrats.org/?country=US&is_virtual=true Which uses the Mobilize platform. ---> https://www.mobilize.us/ Mobilize is a platform used by many organizations. They provide trainings and events for all kinds of volunteering. I filtered by text banking and found events that worked for me that were sponsored by all kinds of organizations, not just the DNC. Then someone posted on Facebook about Vote Forward ---> https://votefwd.org/ You send mail, real mail!, to voters. They’ve done the research about the right timing. They provide the language and addresses. You add in some of your own words, if you want. Print them out, stuff envelopes, apply stamps, and drop off at the post office. No phone calls! Anxiety free! I also put my money where my mouth is. (I know not everyone can do this, and I can. Use your privilege for good.) Get Mitch or Die Tryin’ ---> https://secure.actblue.com/donate/getmitch After George Floyd’s murder I looked for the local Community Bail Bond Fund. “Brevard community bail bond fund” and found ---> https://communitybailfund.org/ (Not exactly related to my most recent rage, and it’s important. You can find your local one too. Google “your-county community bail bond fund”) My goal is to spend a focused hour each day sending out and replying to texts and to mail 250 letters with Vote Forward. My anger still exists. Oh yes. And now I can confidently say that I DID SOMETHING. I didn’t sit quietly. I spoke up. I spoke out. I took action. May her memory be a revolution.