I’m surrounded with reminders that I am living in dark times. Zoom visits and phone calls with friends are dominated by discussions of our gloomy states of mind.
My despair is fueled by the media voices of doom proclaiming COVID is surging, voting rights are dying, the Democrats are losing, our planet is imploding, and fascism is coming.
During one of my regular bouts of insomnia, I reached for my cellphone, and clicked on the New York Times headlines. The first story warned of the possibility of Russia moving nuclear weapons to the U.S. coastline. No more sleep for me that night!
The rise in mental illness in these times is publicized routinely, with no recognition given to the media’s role in perpetuating depression, anxiety and hopelessness. Homebound and helpless, it’s not surprising that so many people are crawling under the covers and turning off the news or obsessively feeding their fears with sustenance from CNN, social media and MSNBC. We binge on comfort food and Netflix, keep the preponderance of local pot shops in business and manage our fears with martinis and margaritas.
As Democrats, many of us have internalized the message repeated so often, that our fragmented party is no match for the devious Republicans, who never face the consequences of their high crimes and misdemeanors.
“Turn off the news,” my friend ordered on a recent phone call, after their, “How are you?” was met with my, “I’m feeling like we’re doomed.” Their partner chimed in, “We’ve decided to live in a bubble.” Then they ended the call so they could watch a movie.
Passivity is an untenable response. As an adult child of Holocaust survivors, my parents’ trauma is the family heirloom I have inherited, but my DNA also contains the resolve to act. Monday was set aside to honor Dr. Martin Luther King. I often find myself yearning for a hero who can deliver us from the tyrannical leaders at our doorstep. Then I remember that in spite of being arguably the greatest leader in history, like Moses, King never got us to the promised land of liberty and justice for all. Yet, he created a movement that demanded that people of African descent have the full rights of citizenship that are the purview of white Americans.
A movement, however, is dependent upon those who are willing to act. Without those who risked life and limb to occupy segregated lunch counters, register voters, and take their seat in the front of the bus, “whites only” signs might still frequent southern institutions. Had it not been for brave young people like Ruby Bridges, The Little Rock Nine, and Medgar Evers, who faced the threats of hateful mobs, the Brown decision may have been useless. If college students like John Lewis had let fear stop them from getting on buses headed to Mississippi during Freedom Summer, or if those who marched across the Edmund Pettus Bridge on Bloody Sunday had given in to fear, would Georgia have elected two Democratic senators in 2020? Would Black people have been justifiably credited with electing Joe Biden as president?
Until 1965 people of African descent did not live in a democracy. From the time they landed on our shores they were treated as less than human, yet in every generation they stood up to claim their rights as human beings, as Americans, even when it cost them their lives. They were joined by white people as well, who couldn’t turn a blind eye to injustice.
In 2022, we are again confronted with plagues that threaten our existence, keep us up at night and darken our spirits. On the phone on a recent night, my friend advised me to, “Think positive.” Thinking positive doesn’t change anybody’s situation when accompanied by passivity. Martin Luther King warned against, “ … our proneness to adjust to injustice.” Be sad. Be gloomy. Be scared. But don’t be paralyzed.
My parents spent years subjected to unconscionable brutality that haunted them until the day they died, yet the most powerful lesson my mother taught me was to stand strong against hate.
I have no illusions that my efforts will stop the forces of evil, but visioning a just world gets me out of bed when despair weighs me down.
People often say to me, “I’m not comfortable being an activist,” but activism takes many forms. Our corner of the country is ripe with social justice organizations that need you; like Indivisible, Racial Justice Rising, and Standing Up for Racial Justice. If you belong to a faith-based organization, join their social action committee. Log onto Paul Spector’s Friday Action Group and write postcards to influence down-ballot elections. Join Swing Left’s efforts, your community’s Democratic Committee, the League of Women Voters. Help fund grassroots voting rights groups in swing states, by donating to The Movement Voter Project and tell your friends to do the same. You can Google all of these organizations, but be mindful of the propensity to internet addiction.
And let this be your mantra: “Faith is taking the first step even when you don’t see the whole staircase.” — Martin Luther King
Sara Weinberger of Easthampton is a professor emerita of social work and writes a monthly column. She can be reached at columnists@gazettenet.com.