Optimism Interrupted
a·poc·a·lypse | əˈpäkəˌlips |
noun
1 the complete final destruction of the world, as described in the biblical book of Revelation: the bell's ringing is supposed to usher in the Apocalypse.
See also Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.
2 an event involving destruction or damage on an awesome or catastrophic scale.
God bless Ruth Bader Ginsburg, also known as the Notorious R.B.G., after rapper Biggie Smalls. May she rest in peace. Smalls, had a large physical presence in contrast to Ginsburg’s small stature, yet the comparison speaks to how much of an effective and productive powerhouse she was in the courts.
When I worked in 2001 with my colleagues Sylvia Harris (1953 - 2011),* Michael Hirschhorn and Lelia Taylor to design the American Civil Liberties Union’s (ACLU) first official branded identity, little did I know that Ginsburg founded the ACLU’s Women’s Rights Project in 1972 and was its first director and general counsel. Arguing many cases, six before the Supreme Court where she won five, she was strategic and argued that gender discrimination was unfair to everyone including men.
In listening to the many accounts of Ginsburg’s intelligence, bravery and fortitude, I have to ask where did the America go that produced such a mighty advocate for equal rights? And, when did it become out of fashion to be generous to the less privileged? Why is there such contempt for those that think differently than the conservative right and want to offer justice to those unfairly demonized?
Before this classy woman is even laid to rest, the Senate majority leader is plotting to tip the Supreme Court and thus the country so far to the right, it is going to fall over and not even recognize itself, or worse, not be able to find its way back to a respectable conscience that anyone–even some in his own party–can recognize.
In 2016, when then President Barak Obama wanted to confirm a nominee close to the presidential election, the republican argument was to: let the people decide. With even less time between now and then, what’s wrong with that reasoning now?
I fear for our country, and for the rest of the world that is under our influence. My optimism has been interrupted and I am standing up wanting to sound an alarm. This is serious. Maybe the Second Coming is not literally upon us, but in a way, perhaps that is an apt metaphor for the need for deliverance from our country’s current wave of injustice being led (yes, I will say it) by a white supremacist, psychopathic, narcissistic demigod.
Think about it. The first of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse as described in the book of Revelations, is on a white horse (White house), is given a crown (the presidency), is associated with pestilence and plagues (Covid19), or is the antichrist in some interpretations. Where are the voices of influence and power that are standing up for righteousness?
There are over 31 million cases of Covid19 worldwide, almost 1 million deaths, and over 200,000 deaths in the United States alone. Large swarms of locusts in record numbers have destroyed crops in East Africa and many other countries causing famine. Bees all over the world–an important part of our environmental ecosystem–are dying from a coronavirus-like disease. Hundreds of migrating birds have recently been reported falling out of the sky in the Southwest. Scientists are speculating that coral reefs, a part of healthy seas, will disappear in twenty years. Earthquakes, violent storms and floods are destroying property and displacing many of the world’s citizens. Fires are wiping out millions of acres of land due to climate change, and nobody seems to be getting along. End times? The earth is trying really hard to wake us up!
In our country, the coronavirus has laid bare inequities that have long gone ignored. Many of us go without proper healthcare. The supposedly “greatest country in the world” has systems of inequitable education and children go hungry. BIPOC folx continue to be murdered without consequential police reform, and die disproportionately due to the virus’s effects. Our LGBTQIA+ community including trans sisters and brothers are abused and murdered as a result of a lack of acceptance for their right to be. Our prisons are full of people that should not be there due to longstanding inequitable policies put in place by both parties, lack of proper education, resources and opportunity, while white collar crime is legally sanctioned. The system’s broken, although if we are being honest, we know it never really worked or was designed for all of us in the first place.
What can we do? Shall we work first with one of the recourses we have?
Yeah, Biden is not the best alternative and we must vow to never accept such inadequacy again and commit to redesigning our failed two-party system. But let’s agree: if we can get a critical mass to vote, we have a chance to be lifted out our suffering and allow the tenets of democracy and decency to prevail. We do not have to agree on everything, but we can listen and talk to each other and try to understand the other’s position without telling lies. The lies are killing us, as well as our silence. This is urgent. We, the people, must stand.
Everybody needs to be all in on this one. When you talk to your families and see your neighbors, will you ask them if they are registered to vote? Can you canvas your neighborhoods, encourage local universities and colleges to support voter registration for our young people? Would you volunteer to take give seniors a ride to the polls to vote safely early, and encourage those that don’t want to vote in person, to get their ballot to mail in or bring it to a local library? I have provided some resources below.
Our lives, the lives of our children, and our children’s children depend on what we do November 3. Our democracy, our very humanity and the planet is under threat. On November 4, 2020, I would like to breathe again and for this totalitarian nightmare to be over. We need overwhelming numbers to make whatever success we have stick.
What do you say we don’t wait for the apocalyptic bells to ring.
Let’s do our duty. Stand up with me!
Voting Resources
To get help with voter registration and other voter information go to: TurboVote.
Go here to view resources by state to:
look up your voter registration status
request a vote by mail ballot
visit your state election website
find your local election officials
**To educate yourself, donate to organizations walking the walk, or if you have the time to do more, you can reach out to local organizations in your area or connect with national ones like:
In Illinois
Online voter registration is open through October 18. In Chicago, and other jurisdictions in the state we have grace period registration on Election day. Find out if there is grace period registration at your polling place here.
*This writing is dedicated to Sylvia Harris (1953 - 2011), whose birthday is today.
**Voting resources collected by Design As Protest (DAP).
1. American English dictionary, Apple dictionary 2.3.0