I’ve been thinking a lot about tomorrow’s women’s march, particularly the one in Asheville. I imagine a sea of people with smiles, excitement and signs — feeling inspired that others are “showing up”. Feeling proud of marching in the name of things they believe in or things they are against. And yet… I also have a hollow pit in my stomach when I think about it– what good is it? What have the people marching done in the year since they last marched to actively change the discrimination and violence that is happening in our own community? How are people changing their own lives, making sacrifices that make lives better for those who are most targeted — which are NOT white, cisgendered women?
Then I read the below statement from Tranzmission, a local group that I really respect. So much of Asheville’s institutional leadership is not bold, is not willing to take risks to stand up for what is morally and ethically right. And so many of Asheville’s people have not been willing to stand up to this leadership, to demand better, to push for what is morally and ethically right. We have to do better. And to do better, we have to actually DO THINGS — not just voice our outrage and find others to complain with.
If you’re going to tomorrow’s march, I’d love to hear what you are invested in doing this next month to be a part of change here in Asheville. I do not judge your choice to recharge and remotivate in a public way, I just plead that you don’t stop there and that the rush of energy you get from being engaged gets translated to a city council room, attending a board of commissions, putting pressure on the people you know who hold positions of influence in local government, at Mission, at the universities, in the school system, police or sheriff’s department, etc. Consider putting your AirBnb up for rent instead and accept section 8. Do something radical, take a chance in service to actually being a part of real change. I continue to believe that Asheville is capable of remarkable shifts… but it will take all of us being active much more than the majority of us currently are.
