Wednesday, April 18, 2018

Postcards from Peninsula



We here are mostly un-young; have a life time of experience to check back on. I think each of us can remember incidents where lives bumped, enthusiasms meshed, some mutual interest was addressed and something happened. We helped at school, mentored kids, organized a group. We marched. We protested.

The shooting deaths of students at Stoneman Douglass High School in Parkland, Florida pushed me past mute acceptance. I have a large bag of protest tricks. The old lady and two good friends resolved to meet the challenge of the Stoneman Douglass survivors, and stand on our corner in honor of their murdered classmates.

A good protest involves having everyone on your side, or neutralizing potential detractors. It’s what my mother called “Killing them with Kindness”. I engaged the police. I engaged local elected officials. I arranged parking for anyone who would come. I involved the press, all the newspapers. I played the event over and over on media pages. One more citizen stepped up and made the posters I hung. We waited.

On a bitterly cold day a month ago, nearly forty of us stood on a busy intersection in Peninsula, in recognition and honor of the students. Drivers of passing traffic honked, occupants waved, and we stood in silence, honoring those students.

Then it was done. We did it. We could do it again. The new member wondered if we could do something in support of Issue One on the May ballot in Ohio; confirmation of the state legislature’s end to gerrymandering in this state. Well, closing in on the end. She wondered if we could muster up enough people to write postcards to registered voters in the village and the township, in support of the issue.

We asked the library for a room. We asked for post cards. We asked for pens and stamps. We asked for snacks. We told the newspaper. We hung posters. Tomorrow we have the first Postcards from Peninsula event.



26 comments:

  1. Hari OM
    Joanne, you had to retire in order to do this!!! It's an acorn. Acorns grow... YAM xx

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  2. We just went through that in PA due to the ridiculous and unfair districting that has put our state in the hands of one party when there are many more registered voters on the other side. We won and when the other party appealed, we won with the Supreme Court. It takes work, but it can be done if enough people care. Good luck, Joanne. This country needs more of people like you.

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  3. Quite often I think people really do wish to help but dont know just how to go about it, so well done to you all.

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    1. So right, Pat. It's that first bit of momentum. I think of it as Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney: "Let's put on a show!"

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  4. There are those who mutter, complain, and do nothing, and then there are people like you. God bless you.

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  5. The world needs more of people like you.

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  6. You are a true dynamo. And yes, the world needs a lot more just like you.

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  7. You go girl...we need more un-young folks like you.

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  8. Good luck with the Postcards from Peninsula! Great work you and others are doing.

    betty

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  9. I'm a little vague on gerrymandering, I think it is when votes from certain areas don't count for some reason? It's a terribly, terribly unfair thing to have happen, when you are encouraging more people to vote and they all say why bother because our votes won't count.
    Good luck with the postcards, I hope you get a lot of volunteers.

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    1. It's a method of putting the majority into the minority.

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  10. Was the original gerrymanderer called Gerry Mander?

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  11. This is terrific. Carry on.

    I have seen some of the mas, and they're ridiculous.

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  12. So glad that there are still people who care ... Well done !

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  13. you are a force of nature Joanne. when you're done transforming Ohio, come down here and work on Texas.

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  14. I'm so glad to hear you are continuing to expand your reach and base. Along the lines of Weaver's comment that people want to help but don't know how to go about it, I would add that many people will follow but not many can lead. You are a leader.

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  15. I support you in spirit. You and your group are doing good things.

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