Firefighters in the Year of Arson: An Incomplete List of 2017 Heroes & Heroines
December 2016 should have been pleasure: holidays and the Clinton transition. Even if you didn’t support Hillary Clinton, you could have least be secure in the knowledge that the President-elect wouldn’t tweet us into nuclear war. Instead, that dreadful December featured a ring-kisser parade through Trump Tower and an Electoral College that refused us our Hail Mary.
One year later, Donald J. Trump has inflicted so many harms, to people, to norms. And they should be read aloud, to understand the scale of the damage. Go to Amy Siskind’s site The Weekly List to keep track. Today, I write this to honor heroes and heroines who made life better for me, for us, in 2017. It’s an incomplete list. Yet the folks here give me hope. By their example I know we have the power to fight back. We may not win every fight. But we won’t lose them all either.
1. ADAPT Activists
My absolute top heroes of 2017, without peer, were the disability rights activists who committed acts of civil disobedience to save Medicaid and Obamacare. Every time I saw them protest on the Hill, or in their local electeds’ offices, I was in awe of their bravery and sacrifice as Capitol Hill police pushed them out of hearing rooms, even pulled some activists out of wheelchairs. You couldn’t watch them and not ask more of yourself. I’m grateful to The Rachel Maddow Show for spotlighting ADAPT’s history and present action.
2. INDIVISIBLE Activists Nationwide
My goodness! The proliferation of citizen activist groups nationwide after ex-Congressional aides Ezra Levin and Leah Greenberg put together a PDF of activist practices they felt best influenced lawmakers. I never joined a group but I kept up with their actions nationwide via Twitter — and, again, via The Rachel Maddow Show, who faithfully shared coverage of town halls and protests where Indivisible groups made their voices heard. As far as the practices go, it’s now Gospel among us #resisters that calling and physical letters are better than online contact, but showing up is gold. This is widespread knowledge because INDIVISIBLE made it so. Because of their guidance — and early guidance from Michael Moore on MSNBC, right after the election — I began calling and writing my electeds and vowing to get in front of their faces when possible. I never did this prior to 2017.
3. So Many Mighty Protestors
I saw you — and not just online! The Women’s March, the anti-Muslim Ban airport protests, pro-DACA actions, the Show Us Your Taxes March, the Science March, showing up for Puerto Rico, and against Paul Ryan, and against the military Transgender ban, too. I saw you taking your knees. I saw you raising your fists.I saw your clever signs and your mighty numbers, and sometimes your medium numbers — but you were getting your message out all the same. If I didn’t see you in person or online I saw you on…The Rachel Maddow Show, because she made sure of it. I especially appreciated this first person take on the Jacksonville Women’s March experience by Dr. Holly Masturzo. We are the wave and we have power.
4. The Judges and the Lawyers
Block, block, and more blocks against the Muslim bans and the transgender military bans. Obamacare contraception coverage rules — upheld. And on offense: CREW’s suit against Trump for violating the US Constitution’s emoluments clause. While the legal eagles have not been able to block Trump at every turn (a judge just dismissed the emoluments case), the pressure has been powerful. Which gets us to….
5. Robert Mueller
Cue the Rick James sample used by MC Hammer: “Do, do do do, do do Mueller Time.” Or, just post a meme in Miller Time font: Mueller Time. This must be what old time religion feels like! I know I put a ridiculous amount of hope and faith in this man’s investigation. And jeez louise Trump swings his sledgehammer at both the Mueller Investigation and the FBI, hoping he can destroy their reps just enough to somehow escape consequences. While I know our justice system is deeply flawed, I never underestimate the power of smart, powerful people focused on uncovering the truth. There are days I just wish Mueller would start a GoFundMe so I could donate every day. Robert Mueller and his team KEEPS HOPE ALIVE. (Cut to a stadium full of candles on iPhones).
6. Rachel, Lawrence, Joy, Chris, Ari (& Keith)
If you follow me on Twitter, you know I have my critiques of MSNBC, but there are some folks who have given us so much important news, insights, and plain old comfort over the years we feel like we’re on a first name basis with them: Rachel (Maddow), Lawrence (O’Donnell), Joy (Reid), Chris (Hayes), Ari (Melber) and yes, fired-but-not-forgotten Keith (Olbermann). My family and I watch at least one of these shows daily (if not more — and if it’s an election night we’re talking 6+ hours). And if we’re not watching, we’re listening on Sirius/XM. I honor Rachel for every ultra value-added hour she gives us. As my mother says: “I always learn something when I watch her.” I honor Lawrence for his fierceness. The steely way he gives Trump everything he deserves with words like boxing blows. I honor Joy for her brilliance, for the vital variety of segments she features each weekend, all necessary. I honor Chris for his fairness and heart (and A COLONY IN A NATION). I honor Ari for his great legal mind, and the smooth way he cross-examines Trump supporters. And I’ll always honor Keith for his fire — he is missed on prime-time. Though you can find him here.
7. #RESISTANCE Twitter
Russian bots and American bullies get a lot of attention when we talk about social media. Even President Obama recently warned of social media’s power to polarize. But I’d like to honor the legions of people with reaches large and small who share information, articles, and righteous rage on this fast and furious exchange. I may spend too much time on Twitter, but with it I’m informed on the latest Trump assaults, and calls for action and organization. Crucial accounts are too numerous to mention — it’s truly a rushing river of information. And some folks — especially journalists, won’t necessarily take up the #Resistance flag, but what they offer is critical. Here are a sampling of folks you should follow: Sarah Kendzior, Lawrence Tribe, Paul Begala, Ragnarak Lobster, Proud Resister, Eric Boehlert, Shannon Watts, Mona Altahawy, Julio Ricardo Varela, Caroline O., Propane Jane, Brian Krassenstein, Alexander Chee, Eric Garland, Charlotte Clymer, Tanya Domi, Girls Really Rule., Mikel Jollett, Michael Skolnik, and M. Brock Moorer.
8. Black Twitter
Black Twitter: The original #Resistance Twitter. And hilarious Twitter. And tell it to you straight Twitter. Spend time in Black Twitterland and you’ll be inspired. Again, way too many folks that I shouldn’t even single out anyone. But if you need some good places to start (and many of these folks could be listed with #Resistance Twitter, #Political Twitter, #Lit or #Arts Twitter): Ava DuVernay, Roxane Gay, April, Jamil Smith, Rebecca Theodore-Vachon, Wikipedia Brown (Eve Ewing), Chanda Prescod-Weinstein, Ricky Davila, Black Aziz Anansi, Reagan Gomez, Goldie Taylor, Morgan Parker, Saeed Jones, Feminista Jones, Mr. Blue, Robin McClary, Oliver Willis, Backstorymom1, Morgan Jerkins, Glenda Grace, and King Geezy!
9. The Black Lives Matter Example
While Black Lives Matter activists have not been in the streets in 2017 as they were in years prior, they remain relevant as we continue the struggle for liberty and equal justice for all. I think of what the author Jacinda Townsend said when I interviewed her in 2016 about the Black Lives Matter movement: “When we all become Black Lives Matter, this movement will be impossible to stop.” This idea, that we must all step up, and step out, is what will make us too powerful for Presidents to target and cut down. The diffuse organization of BLM is an example to follow — one that gives me hope for the future.
10. Neighbors Helping Neighbors — and Writers Telling the Stories
I still see the picture used as a Maddow broadcast backdrop: the T.C. Jester exit off of I-10 in Inner Loop Houston after Hurricane Harvey. A freeway-turned-river, right at my exit, right where I used to live. I ached for friends and family, some in dry homes like islands, others flooded out. But in true Houston fashion, neighbors helped neighbors. Facebook posts and local news tweets showed us the extent people helped each other. I especially appreciated the work of Writers in the Schools sending writers to work with children in shelters. True healing work. I saw this generosity of spirit when I lived in Houston during and after Hurricane Katrina, so I wasn’t surprised. Systems may have failed, but individuals shone bright in crisis — including those who recorded the stories. I appreciated how my friend and writer Lacy M. Johnson took care to spotlight this cspirit — but to also call out the administration that threatened scarier damage to the social fabric. In other places hit by natural and man-made disaster, writers took care to spotlight the pain and the hope. Novelist Tiphanie Yanique wrote profoundly on the US Virgin Islands. Professor Yarimar Bonilla has been a powerful voice for Puerto Rico.
*The Home Team*
I got through 2017, truly, because of my family, my friends, and my school community in NYC. Without these beautiful people, nothing is possible for me. Let me finish with a loving shout out to Manhattan Country School for creating an environment of respect, love, tolerance, and resistance in the best sense. See you at the Martin Luther King Day March!
