Fall 2020
Turn It All Around
Dear Readers,
The problems of our damaged world are endless. All is international, all is national, all is personal, and everything is happening at once. A perfect storm.
Over 27 million people worldwide have contracted the coronavirus; more than 889,000 have died. The United States has more cases than any other country. And I, healthy but bored silly in lockdown since March, worry most about my grandson who just started high school, but may not meet his teachers or his new classmates.
Climate change is bringing explosive weather, economic devastation, and forced migration everywhere. I focus on my beloved California, which is burning up – even the redwoods! Still, I cannot help being relieved that my mother, who lived in Santa Cruz where family and friends have had to evacuate, did not have to struggle through flames and ashes.
Racial injustice, police violence, deadly results at protests from India to Australia, from South Africa to Venezuela, resound as the Black Lives Matter movement continues. The police are making a mockery of the First Amendment. Police funding needs to be repurposed. Reparations are essential. But what obsesses me? Kenosha, Wisconsin, where my son-in-law was born and raised.
Everything in this perfect storm is funneling into November when the presidential election will occur. We all know just how crucial this election is – that everyone in your neighborhood, your city, your state, and your country will be affected by the outcome.
So, do it: VOTE!
As Gloria Steinem says, “Voting isn’t the most you can do, but it is the least.” What else can you do? Send for your absentee ballot and use it. Get ten friends to vote. Does this sound naïve to you? Step it up: Work with and contribute to groups already working to safeguard the votes that are cast, making sure people get to the polls, that their mail is delivered, that their ballots are counted. Lobby Congress to fund and protect the USPS. If you can, go to the polls and volunteer to make sure no one intimidates voters as they enter polling places.
This issue spans the weeks before and after November 3, so we have included both pre- and post-election reminders. Meanwhile, our advice:
Protest.
Support.
Keep your actions righteous and urgent.
“No Justice, No Peace.”
“Keep Hope Alive.”
Move forward with grace and dignity.
Support.
Keep your actions righteous and urgent.
“No Justice, No Peace.”
“Keep Hope Alive.”
Move forward with grace and dignity.
AND VOTE AS IF YOUR LIFE DEPENDS ON IT. IT DOES.
Sue Leonard
I thought the statement on Ruth Bader Ginsburg was perfect.
Thank you, Anne. It was a painful labor of grief and love.
Just fabulous!!!! Love the activism of this magazine!!!! Perfect timing!!!!!