I will treasure this experience always.
Like so many of us, since the US election last November, I haven’t felt great. In no small part because I was looking at my phone and engaging with social media way too much. I felt like the world was going to hell on my phone, and all I could do was watch.
Then, Monday, it hit me: social media, incrementally and then seemingly all at once, screwed up the world.
So why do I keep going to it? Why do I keep contributing to it? Why do I keep subjecting myself to its seductive algorithms? It’s literally mind control.
So I posted a quick announcement that I was getting the hell off, and then got the hell off.
Later, after lunch, instead of doomscrolling, I spent my afternoon break in my backyard with a novel and a crossword puzzle.
Then, I heard honking. My house is not overly close to the main drag of the small California town where I live, but it’s close enough that I could tell that LOTS of cars were honking. Like nonstop.
I thought, “That’s weird.” And it kept happening.
Next, a couple of birds in my orange trees got extra loud, and the neighbors’ dogs started to bark, and it felt pretty clear the Universe was telling me to get off my butt and figure out what the honking was all about.
So I ducked inside, took a quick peek at my phone, and discovered that a demonstration in support of immigrants was going on – and it was walking distance from my house! So I threw my sneakers on and was there in five minutes.
This is what I found:
I wished so much that I had brought a sign. Still, felt so good to be a part of this crowd. These folks were standing up for the families in fear of being separated and the countless other neighbors of mine who no longer feel safe leaving the house.
So many people honked and cheered as they drove by. I was not ashamed to openly cry. They were tears of both sadness – for the necessity of the demonstration – and joy, for the overwhelming sense of solidarity and hope.
The turnout was amazing. I have attended demonstrations in Los Angeles that weren’t as big as this. And my town is small!
Here are some more pictures I took.
I learned some important stuff Monday.
If I hadn’t made the decision to remove my attention from the apps on my phone, I would not have heard the honking, and I would have spend another day feeling lonely, anxious, and ineffective. Instead, I got to see, in three dimensions, people who organized and followed through on their plan to peacefully demonstrate.
These demonstrators showed me that while individually, we might feel disempowered, together, we have agency.
It wasn’t until the next day that I learned that demonstrations like this one took place all over California and Texas on Monday.
In conclusion, let’s put our phones down and let’s look for real world, local opportunities to support immigrants, LGTBQIA+ folks, women’s reproductive rights, and any other vulnerable community or vital cause that is under fire right now.
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ADDENDUM: After reading and responding to the comments below, I wanted to add that I know we will still have our phones, and will still use them to connect and learn. But my point is that I want to do that more mindfully, and that in general social media won’t be a part of that mindfulness.
As one possible exception (there may be more like this), I was thinking about how Facebook groups can be a useful thing for communities to share information, whether local or worldwide.
I also wanted to mention that I love getting my news from AllSides.com because it brings together headlines from news sources all over the web from left, right, and center so I won’t stay in any one bubble of information, and so I can get an idea of what various communities are thinking and believing.
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Let me know your thoughts – are you going to get off of social media too, or maybe just take a break from it?
And I have a request: if you have any resources for real world activism, please share them in the comments below.
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Great article! There are demonstrations all over the world at the moment. People are standing for something, not just standing by. It’s important to have an opinion and to sway other people or be swayed to another perspective.
Thank you, Shauna! Yes, it’s wonderful to see.
Tess, we have NO voice in the red states, but y’all who have dem leadership should tell them to get in the fascist leaders’ faces like this:
https://www.alternet.org/chu-moore-johnson-musk/
The rest of you do-nothing-dems take note: THIS. NOW!
We’re WAY past the point of polite decorum and spin. Stand up for the nation and the people or lie down with dogs. As the sportsman’s friend, Harold Ensley, might be misquoted as saying, “It’s gettin’ later than ya think, old buddy. Time to get in their faces.”
Did ya hear about the pacifist who crossed the road? Me neither.
Ron, are there no protests over there? I heard about the Texas ones Monday. But point taken – I can only imagine red states are a whole different vibe.
This was to be in response to your other post about real-world actions. But, yes, protests happen in Kansas and those who are able attend. I covered these extensively as a documentarian during the 45 era and don’t walk as well now so standing around with a sign or camera isn’t an option for everyone. Marches are a young person’s game. My point is that it is pointless to talk at maga politicians who are toadies to 47. If you have a democrat rep or senator, do that. We’re losing by playing nice. This is a full-out coup attempt and the military will be loosed upon us as we write letters to assholes. New world, new tactics. AND if one actually BELIEVES in magick, then put it all into that as well. Do both. That is all.
I love this. Thank you for sharing this inspiring, hopeful, beautiful story!
Susan, thank you for reading and connecting. ❤️