Spread the message.
I got an e-mail from my Sister and her Husband tonight, and you know what? It inspired me. Take this message, and pass it along. Do what you can to further it. Share the e-mail with everyone you know, because the message is what we should be focusing on.
The day after the election I watched so many of my fellow Kerry supporters hanging their heads in sorrow. I 'm sure I looked no different. I felt hungover when I got up, though I didn't touch a drink, this unshakable feeling that something unseemly had happend the night before. I tried to put it out of my mind, but the moment I started to forget my cell phone would vibrate,
"Hey, did you hear, man?"
"Yeah..." I'd say.
"I'm sorry man." A voice from a friend or family member would reply.
"No its okay really, it's fine, I have to go though, thanks for calling."
People were calling and paying me their respect all day long. A procession of fellow mourners connecting through waves of digital sound. Something had died, you would have to be blind not to see it on all those Kerry supporter's faces. Hell, My father wouldn't even get on the phone with me he was so depressed (He claims to have voted for Reagan!)
At a youth summit today in St. Paul I was chosen to lead a discussion of violence in schools with a small group. After talking for a half hour about positive conflict resolution methods, I realized how hopeless I felt about another four years under the Bush Administration. It was so hard to talk about peace knowing that Americans had just embraced a president who lead us blindly into an unjust war. I felt powerless, like every ideal I had ever cherished as an American had been wiped away in one night. The worst part was that he lost to people who seem to legitimately want him as their president. Wild, right? He didn't even have to steal it this time, a majority of Americans actually voted for him. The first thought that came to me was that I was out of touch. The second was that I must be dreaming. The third was that I wasn't alone in feeling this.
We live in Uptown Minneapolis, an area that voted, oh probably 99% in favor of Kerry. Needless to say, everyone is super, super, bummed. When I got home from the summit I jokingly said to her that we should walk around the city, six hours after Kerry conceded, with signs that said "HOPE" on them, just to cheer everyone up.
She said, "Good idea, let's go."
So we did. We went to the Walgreens across the street and bought two large poster boards and a big thick black marker. Caryn wrote HOPE in the most perfect, visible block letters and we went a walkin' and a holdin' the signs high above our heads for oncoming/going traffic to see.
This is not out of context for residents of the Twin Cities. For the past month our street corners have been filled with campaign volunteers and their signs. Last night it reached it reached a fever pitch, Kerry supporters on every corner, every third car honking. People shouting
"Four more hours!!" Everyone seemed so sure. People embracing while standing in the rain.
Tonight the silence was kind of creepy.
There was a lot of confusion when people first saw us. Straining their eyes to see the new propaganda. So much bipartisan advertising in this city for the past year, it made sense that people didn't know how to think of us, how to trust us. Hell I barely trusted us. Beyond the confusion was something more profound, something that flow from the artery of what it meant to be an American November 3, 2004.
Such a simple word like "HOPE." It meant so many different things to so many different kinds of people.
There were black kids driving by in Suburbans with subwoofers that rattled the artsy shop windows honking, waving, or my personal favorite, raising their hand an inch off the steering wheel and making a quick fist,
"Yesss,"
nodding in our direction.
There was one man who saw us from a bus. As he was passing he pulled the cord to tell the bus to stop and walked to the door. When he got off I could see that he was wearing a Kerry/Edwards button and the closer he came to me, the stronger I could smell the Wild Turkey on his breath. He was sad, you could see it in his eyes. He kept mumbling why over and over, than I turned around, finally making eye contact with him.
"I don't know how to say this," he said as I looked back. "Thank you, thank you, thank you." He started crying and I gave him a big hug. I don't even hug my relatives, I'm from Michigan, we are a stoic breed, but this, on this night, right here next to this terribly ironic Gap with a sign that said hope in my right hand, I understood. I started proselytizing about everyday being as important as believing in Kerry or hating Bush. That we need to take this passion and not give up. All right maybe I was getting full of myself, but it made him smile. He thanked Caryn and walked on.
There were Bush supporters, yelling "God made the right choice, Huh!" and one gentleman baited me into a small argument about supporting the president by saying, "Still won't give in huh!" I was good. I just told him I loved him and said we all need hope not just Democrats. Of course there were the careless drunk crowds coming out of bars laughing at us, saying all was hopeless. Another girl couldn't believe we were doing this on our own:
"Is this for Bush or Kerry?" She said.
"It is for all of us, what ever you want it to be." I responded, as Zen as I could.
"Oh, so your for Kerry, that is good." she said, than walked away smiling.
One kid with a rainbow button on his backpack telling me thanks for doing this but he didn't have any hope. I didn't know what to say so I said,
"Just love each other, we'll be alright,"
It seemed okay, he smiled and nodded. It would have to do at least. A couple of people thought we were anti-abortion. By and large, however, there was nothing but love and understanding about what we were doing from most of the passer bys. People actually took some hope home with them, I know because they told us. People honking giving us the thumbs up, saying thank you from their cars. Kids yelling from back seats, Kerry Stickers or Bush.
Generally people understood and in the end the message we learned was a distinctly partisan one. Hope is something we all need right now and we will (yes literally even) look to signs to find it. It is that simple.
Our pitch is this: We plan on doing this as often as possible, we are not sure how long this sentiment will last. I want it to keep going, to keep the passion fires burning, but I know it may fade, there may be a story in that too, how long will it last, idealism rising like a pheonix from the ashes of defeat, who knows, that is for you guys to frame. I do wonder though, did we just tap into one emotional night or a new void, a hunger if you will that will now be missing from people's lives. This campaign made complacent people passionate and passionate people crazy. People will, on the losing side mostly, feel hopeless. Yes, this is corny, but we, of course, as dreamers, as Idealists with the capital I are thinking big. We would love for this to catch on. We have already contacted some friends and implored them to do the same thing in other cities. Try it yourself or just be okay knowing that people still care, people are not ready to give up. It made us feel better.
This is my challenge to you all. Make a sign. Walk on the street for a little while. I've got a cafe press shop going up right now that's got simple merchandise with a simple message. I aimed to get things in the shop that were in expensive, but cafe press isn't.. well, the cheapest. But its what I could find. Any suggestions on where to move this to would be welcome. There is a slight (a quarter on some things, fifty cents on others) markup on the items, so that the money made can be used to purchase buttons to hand out free on the streets.
Hope. Is that not enough? Pass the link around, guys. Pass the story around. Take your energy and do something productive. It doesn't matter if you support Bush or if you support Kerry. Hope is one thing that crosses party lines. Hope for a better America. Hope for a better future. We all have it.
Another thing you can do, easily, is sit down with Microsoft word for a moment, and you can get 8 size 72 font 'hope's written, double spaced so that you can cut them out, and make cards. Just simple, small cards that say hope. Print off maybe 10 pages of it, and you've got 80 cards. Walk around your neighborhood, put them on telephone polls. If you're in college, put them on the bulliten boards that are everywhere. Hand them out to people you see walking down the street that look sad for any reason. encourage people you know to do the same. That, my friends, is something simple we ALL can do.
Also, if anyone wants to help with this idea- send me an e-mail at kesolei at gmail dot com. New Graphic ideas are more than welcome; this is just my first round. If you'd like to just make a donation of money towards purchasing stickers and buttons to hand out- drop me a line there too and let me know.
Please.. please, please. Pass this along.
(cross posted to sos_usa, probably a few more if things work out right)
The day after the election I watched so many of my fellow Kerry supporters hanging their heads in sorrow. I 'm sure I looked no different. I felt hungover when I got up, though I didn't touch a drink, this unshakable feeling that something unseemly had happend the night before. I tried to put it out of my mind, but the moment I started to forget my cell phone would vibrate,
"Hey, did you hear, man?"
"Yeah..." I'd say.
"I'm sorry man." A voice from a friend or family member would reply.
"No its okay really, it's fine, I have to go though, thanks for calling."
People were calling and paying me their respect all day long. A procession of fellow mourners connecting through waves of digital sound. Something had died, you would have to be blind not to see it on all those Kerry supporter's faces. Hell, My father wouldn't even get on the phone with me he was so depressed (He claims to have voted for Reagan!)
At a youth summit today in St. Paul I was chosen to lead a discussion of violence in schools with a small group. After talking for a half hour about positive conflict resolution methods, I realized how hopeless I felt about another four years under the Bush Administration. It was so hard to talk about peace knowing that Americans had just embraced a president who lead us blindly into an unjust war. I felt powerless, like every ideal I had ever cherished as an American had been wiped away in one night. The worst part was that he lost to people who seem to legitimately want him as their president. Wild, right? He didn't even have to steal it this time, a majority of Americans actually voted for him. The first thought that came to me was that I was out of touch. The second was that I must be dreaming. The third was that I wasn't alone in feeling this.
We live in Uptown Minneapolis, an area that voted, oh probably 99% in favor of Kerry. Needless to say, everyone is super, super, bummed. When I got home from the summit I jokingly said to her that we should walk around the city, six hours after Kerry conceded, with signs that said "HOPE" on them, just to cheer everyone up.
She said, "Good idea, let's go."
So we did. We went to the Walgreens across the street and bought two large poster boards and a big thick black marker. Caryn wrote HOPE in the most perfect, visible block letters and we went a walkin' and a holdin' the signs high above our heads for oncoming/going traffic to see.
This is not out of context for residents of the Twin Cities. For the past month our street corners have been filled with campaign volunteers and their signs. Last night it reached it reached a fever pitch, Kerry supporters on every corner, every third car honking. People shouting
"Four more hours!!" Everyone seemed so sure. People embracing while standing in the rain.
Tonight the silence was kind of creepy.
There was a lot of confusion when people first saw us. Straining their eyes to see the new propaganda. So much bipartisan advertising in this city for the past year, it made sense that people didn't know how to think of us, how to trust us. Hell I barely trusted us. Beyond the confusion was something more profound, something that flow from the artery of what it meant to be an American November 3, 2004.
Such a simple word like "HOPE." It meant so many different things to so many different kinds of people.
There were black kids driving by in Suburbans with subwoofers that rattled the artsy shop windows honking, waving, or my personal favorite, raising their hand an inch off the steering wheel and making a quick fist,
"Yesss,"
nodding in our direction.
There was one man who saw us from a bus. As he was passing he pulled the cord to tell the bus to stop and walked to the door. When he got off I could see that he was wearing a Kerry/Edwards button and the closer he came to me, the stronger I could smell the Wild Turkey on his breath. He was sad, you could see it in his eyes. He kept mumbling why over and over, than I turned around, finally making eye contact with him.
"I don't know how to say this," he said as I looked back. "Thank you, thank you, thank you." He started crying and I gave him a big hug. I don't even hug my relatives, I'm from Michigan, we are a stoic breed, but this, on this night, right here next to this terribly ironic Gap with a sign that said hope in my right hand, I understood. I started proselytizing about everyday being as important as believing in Kerry or hating Bush. That we need to take this passion and not give up. All right maybe I was getting full of myself, but it made him smile. He thanked Caryn and walked on.
There were Bush supporters, yelling "God made the right choice, Huh!" and one gentleman baited me into a small argument about supporting the president by saying, "Still won't give in huh!" I was good. I just told him I loved him and said we all need hope not just Democrats. Of course there were the careless drunk crowds coming out of bars laughing at us, saying all was hopeless. Another girl couldn't believe we were doing this on our own:
"Is this for Bush or Kerry?" She said.
"It is for all of us, what ever you want it to be." I responded, as Zen as I could.
"Oh, so your for Kerry, that is good." she said, than walked away smiling.
One kid with a rainbow button on his backpack telling me thanks for doing this but he didn't have any hope. I didn't know what to say so I said,
"Just love each other, we'll be alright,"
It seemed okay, he smiled and nodded. It would have to do at least. A couple of people thought we were anti-abortion. By and large, however, there was nothing but love and understanding about what we were doing from most of the passer bys. People actually took some hope home with them, I know because they told us. People honking giving us the thumbs up, saying thank you from their cars. Kids yelling from back seats, Kerry Stickers or Bush.
Generally people understood and in the end the message we learned was a distinctly partisan one. Hope is something we all need right now and we will (yes literally even) look to signs to find it. It is that simple.
Our pitch is this: We plan on doing this as often as possible, we are not sure how long this sentiment will last. I want it to keep going, to keep the passion fires burning, but I know it may fade, there may be a story in that too, how long will it last, idealism rising like a pheonix from the ashes of defeat, who knows, that is for you guys to frame. I do wonder though, did we just tap into one emotional night or a new void, a hunger if you will that will now be missing from people's lives. This campaign made complacent people passionate and passionate people crazy. People will, on the losing side mostly, feel hopeless. Yes, this is corny, but we, of course, as dreamers, as Idealists with the capital I are thinking big. We would love for this to catch on. We have already contacted some friends and implored them to do the same thing in other cities. Try it yourself or just be okay knowing that people still care, people are not ready to give up. It made us feel better.
This is my challenge to you all. Make a sign. Walk on the street for a little while. I've got a cafe press shop going up right now that's got simple merchandise with a simple message. I aimed to get things in the shop that were in expensive, but cafe press isn't.. well, the cheapest. But its what I could find. Any suggestions on where to move this to would be welcome. There is a slight (a quarter on some things, fifty cents on others) markup on the items, so that the money made can be used to purchase buttons to hand out free on the streets.
Hope. Is that not enough? Pass the link around, guys. Pass the story around. Take your energy and do something productive. It doesn't matter if you support Bush or if you support Kerry. Hope is one thing that crosses party lines. Hope for a better America. Hope for a better future. We all have it.
Another thing you can do, easily, is sit down with Microsoft word for a moment, and you can get 8 size 72 font 'hope's written, double spaced so that you can cut them out, and make cards. Just simple, small cards that say hope. Print off maybe 10 pages of it, and you've got 80 cards. Walk around your neighborhood, put them on telephone polls. If you're in college, put them on the bulliten boards that are everywhere. Hand them out to people you see walking down the street that look sad for any reason. encourage people you know to do the same. That, my friends, is something simple we ALL can do.
Also, if anyone wants to help with this idea- send me an e-mail at kesolei at gmail dot com. New Graphic ideas are more than welcome; this is just my first round. If you'd like to just make a donation of money towards purchasing stickers and buttons to hand out- drop me a line there too and let me know.
Please.. please, please. Pass this along.
(cross posted to sos_usa, probably a few more if things work out right)