We had different posts planned to release this weekend, and those will still come out but we're changing up our schedule a little bit.
Last night, the world received the devastating news that Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the second woman ever to be on our Supreme Court, had passed on from this life. The shock and misery were immediate. Our phones were blowing up with condolences from women to women, as we all mourned this legend and weeped for the fear of what a future without her would look like.
And on her death bed, she was thinking of us. She wasn't resting; it seems that she never rested. She spent her life dedicating herself to the forward progress of this country and the best way that we can remember her and honor her, and show our daughters how to be like her, is to dig our heels in and get to work.
Here's what we need to do now:
1: Register to vote, and make a plan to have your ballot counted. If you're voting absentee, you need to request your ballot yesterday! If at all possible, when your ballot comes, plan to drive it to your nearest elections office. All of this information can be found at your state's board of elections office. For North Carolina, here is the link. Vote.org is another great place to start for anyone from any state.
2: Make sure all of your family, friends, aquaintances, neighbors, people you pass on the street, are all registered and have the correct election information. Everyone needs to have the information, have a plan, and vote! The importance of a huge turnout for this election cannot be overstated.
3: Figure out how you can best serve your city, state, and/or country. Maybe you can text bank or phone bank. I've done these things and if you sign up to do so, there is NO guessing involved. Someone is there to help you every step of the way. If you know of people running in your area, head to their websites. I promise you that they've made it very easy to get involved. You'll also find it very easy to donate, either one time or weekly, until the election. Grassroots funding like this is the type of power we want to amass because it shows that donations of $5, $10, and $20 or whatever each of us can contribute are more powerful than corporations and PACs that are able to donate millions to keep their interests from being in danger. Vote Save America is a great resource to start if you're looking to get involved and don't know where you would be of the best use.
4: Sign up to be a poll worker. If you'll be older than 17 by election day, you can sign up to work the polls! I just did this morning, and it was a very quick process. There's a training and some time committments involved, but since so many things are remote these days anyway it seems like the best time for those of us under retirement age to dive in. During these Covid times, it's more dangerous for senior citizens to be out and about in crowds, and they're the group that most often is working the polls. So sign up 1) so that they don't have to, and 2) so that you can help protect democracy. I signed up over at Power the Polls, and I highly recommend you do too!
Listen, this part is to the moms: I know you. I get you. I AM you. It's so hard to fit another thing in, especially when we're parenting in the middle of a pandemic. It's not fair that our government has politicized this, it's not fair that hypocrisy rules the game, and it's not fair that there is so much on our shoulders. But we have to do more. I am so sorry to us for all that we're shouldering right now and I hope that one day soon we can see some relief. But we can't if we don't all dig in and keep fighting, even though we don't have the time.
For the non-moms: there is so much going on. So much anxiety, so much stress, and a lot less socializing (for the most part) to release it all. There's job insecurity, there's lowered wages, and every day there's a new tragedy on our door steps. We can't let this be the end of our story. The origins of the next chapter in American history are being written right now and we can be a part of it or we can sit aside and watch it happen. I urge you to do whatever you can, no matter how big or small. We all have a part to play in this.
After the election, we need to talk about some things. Like lifelong appointments and the fact that Puerto Rico isn't a state. (Plus a zillion other things.) But first let's get the right people in place. Not the perfect people, but the best that we have from what we're given. Then, we keep going. And we go and go and we continue to fight because that's what RBG did and that's what we owe to our sisters and the generations that come after us.
As Shania Twain said:
Let's go girls.
