Win the Day Volume 8

Posted October 29, 2018

When we started writing this blog eight weeks ago we thought we had a pretty straightforward purpose: to inoculate against dog-whistle politics. It seemed obvious that some politicians were going to race & gender code words to try to divide voters, to build their own careers. Then last week happened. Our hearts go out to families and communities in Pittsburgh. And Louisville. And New York, and D.C., and Florida, and California. The line from dog-whistles to hate-speech to right-wing political violence is unmistakable. And sadly predictable. Politicians have been warned. Studies have been published. Survivors have spoken out. Still, some politicians hide behind false equivalencies, whataboutism, and plausible deniability. To this we say: we see you. Your dog-whistle is disqualifying. Your anti-Semitic, anti-Muslim, anti-immigrant, anti-LGBTQ, anti-woman rhetoric is more than irresponsible; it is a contribution. It is participation. It is a building block of political violence. But while we are angry; we can’t act out of anger. We won’t demonize or name-call. We also won’t act out of fear (though we’ll admit we do feel that too). The people being targeted by right-wing hate are the very people who inspire us. People and communities who experience oppression, but still show up, still act together, they have something we want. That’s why we’re so invested in political healing. Developed by women of color, like Cara Page, it’s an active, deliberate response to the historic & everyday trauma that too many communities have lived through.