It’s on us … no one is coming to save us
The summer is officially over. Today autumn officially begins. And, today we are six weeks from an important election. Many say that it is the most important election of our lifetime. We’ve had a rough summer. For me, the summer is anchored very profoundly by:
COVID19 deaths continually adding up with the response by the current Administration dramatically crumbling each day since the start of summer. I could say so much about this but nothing has gotten better and everything keeps getting worse so how much is there to say with America now over 200,000 deaths, still no national strategy, the CDC unreliable in its advice for public health, a POTUS who lies and is giving himself ratings of phenomenal … it’s just bad;
Summer starts with the death of Congressman John Lewis (which crushed me and literally brought me to tears as a Black person because of all he fought for in his life to make my life better) … how could we get through the rest of the 2020 campaign without this giant of so many movements, this giant of the Congress;
Then, the selection of Senator Kamala Harris as the Vice President nominee for the Democratic ticket by Joe Biden (joy came so sharply that as I was home alone, I actually jumped up from my desk and shouted “YES, YES, YES”) … now we can work like we’ve never worked before because we have an amazingly diverse ticket to the White House that recognizes and represents America. I could feel elation for our three daughters and our son and our granddaughter and grandson will see themselves in this election. I could see my mother and father hooping & hollering from heaven;
Then, the death of Chadwick Boseman hit like a brick upside my head. Who knew that I would feel that way about a 43 year-old actor who played Thurgood Marshall, Jackie Robinson, James Brown and King T’Challa? I went to see the Black Panther movie on its opening day and fell in love with the movie for all it did for Black people in America and on the continent of Africa. Of course I already knew of Chad, being a fellow alum from Howard University, but that movie was the most uplifting experience for me and everyone I know who saw it. We celebrated being kings and queens instead of slaves. We had forgotten that having come from slaves was a mid-point, before that we had come from kings and queens, from lands on the continent where we ruled and where we were loved. Chad made us feel that again;
The last anchor of the summer ends now with the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on a Friday night, Rosh Hashanah being observed, and my heart dips with the breaking news. As a woman who had a career in the work force for 34 years before I retired, I cherished the Notorious RBG and all she had done for equality for women, particularly. If not for her, my executive life in finance and human resources surely wouldn’t have been. I’ve owned cars in my own name, would not be if not for her. I owned a condo in my own name before marriage, would not be if not for her. I owe her so much. I had prayed that she could live until January 21, 2020 when Joe Biden is installed. I wanted her to live forever really. The devastating feeling was such a sinking feeling. But Republicans nastiness wouldn’t let me stay in that long. I had to mourn briefly and then get ready to fight like she taught us to do. I dissent.
Now, with these milestones, I am convinced more than ever that they have occurred to give us energy, to motivate us, to let us know that they prepared us well for what we must do in the next six weeks. We might have been complacent and looked at the polls and thought it was all in the bag. I am not discouraged. Nope. I am emboldened.
It’s now on us. Suit up. Mask up. Make calls, send texts, volunteer in every way you can. Donate.
All of our heroes have done their part and they are now counting on us. The baton has been passed, the torch is in our hands.
No one is coming to save us. We’ve got it now.
