During the election season it was really heartening to see so many of my friends from college, high school, and other long ago connections become politically active. I know many of my friends, both organizing friends and "past life" friends, have been feeling awful since Wednesday morning.
I have lots of feelings too, but here is what I want everyone to know.
I work daily with an amazing team of dedicated organizers. We spend 5 hours a day, 5 days a week, year round, regardless of the weather or anything else, knocking on doors and engaging people on a variety of progressive issues. Here in Michigan, we've fought for renewable energy, against oil pipelines, against the bottling and selling of our water, for access to clean, safe drinking water for all, the list goes on and on. Other groups in my network fight for all kinds of issues, from ending sexual assault to banning fracking. In Michigan, we spent the last 6 weeks working 7 days a week on the election. So, it was really hard to get out of bed on Wednesday,
But we did. And my team got right back to it. Just in the last two days, just in Ann Arbor, we've talked to 750 people about shutting down Line 5 in the Mackinac Straits. Last night I talked to 23 people who got involved. And this is happening in all of our offices, all over the country. My team is out there every day.
We're connecting with folks from all walks of life to start building the bridges we'll need in the coming months, and we're empowering those folks who feel beat down after this election to stand up and fight for these issues that were always important, and are now even more so. I've never felt prouder of my staff and my co-workers around the country, and working with an amazing network of people has made these last few days a whole lot better.
So, friends, channel that anger and sadness into investment in groups like ours that are making change and will continue making change in the face of the opposition that is coming. Help us out if we knock on your door, volunteer your time with similar groups, read up on our work, write letters to lawmakers, donate, help start conversations with friends and neighbors about local issues. We're here, and we're fighting, and we want you on board.
