voting

A Postcard Primer

/ nagneberg48 / 6 Comments

June 11, 2024

Stephen Carter in his book, Civility: Manners, Morals, and the Etiquette of Democracy offers a list of rules of civility. For example:

Civility has two parts: generosity, even when it is costly, and trust, even when there is risk.
Civility requires a commitment to live a common moral life.
Civility requires that we express ourselves in ways that demonstrate our respect for others.
Teaching civility by work and example is an obligation of the family.
Religions do their greatest service to civility when they preach not only love of neighbor but resistance to wrong.

As I prepare to work on another postcard campaign to encourage voting, I think about the simple ways we can promote civility–and how much that is needed. Making sure that every eligible voter is able to vote, feels comfortable voting, knows how and when to vote without impediment, and does not take this right for granted seems to me to be signs of a civil society.

In my April 9, 2024 post https://wordpress.com/post/livingonlifeslabyrinth.com/3340 I shared my practice of working on postcard campaigns. That is certainly not the only way to become involved during this crucial campaign year, but it is one thing I can do. Yes, it does take time, and there is a financial cost, for postcard stamps are not cheap (.53 each) and you need to buy postcards as well. I like to buy my postcards on Etsy, for not only are they attractive and colorful, but I also support working artists that way. A double win. https://www.etsy.com/search?q=etsy+postcards+for+voters&ref=search_bar

I have signed up to write postcards for the following organizations and invite you to check out their websites.

  1. Postcards to Voters: https://postcardstovoters.org
  2. Activate America: https://www.activateamerica.vote/postcard

You can choose campaigns that fit your time frame and also the campaigns that specifically interest you. And you can decide how many addresses you want to receive. I usually sign-up for 50 names/addresses, but sometimes a last-minute request comes to send a smaller amount, 5 or 10, and I try to do those, too. That means having supplies on hand–postcards and stamps; both can be ordered online, of course.

Both organizations give you specific instructions that include the deadline for mailing, the specific script to write on each postcard, along with the name and address of the recipient. You sign the postcard with only your first name.

I work on postcards while watching a movie or waiting for the pasta water to boil or sometimes after my morning meditation, which includes a prayer for our country, I write a few postcards. It all adds up.

I also recommend Jessica Craven’s website, Chop Wood, Carry Water, https://chopwoodcarrywaterdailyactions.substack.com/p/chop-wood-carry-water-67-eef and encourage you to subscribe to it, for at the end of each post she gives very specific actions, including scripts for phone calls and letter writing and postcard campaigns.

The newsletters written by Robert Hubbell and Heather Cox Richardson comment on current issues, along with judicial and historical references, giving you motivation as well as factual back-up for working to save our democracy.https://roberthubbell.substack.com/p/november-5th-will-be-our-d-day https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/june-7-2024-36d

Here’s a thought: gather friends for a postcard party. You can supply the postcards and stamps. Request the names and addresses ahead of time and give each guest a script and a certain number of names/addresses. Drinks and snacks are, of course, a must! Voila–you’ve got a stack of postcards to mail, and you’ve made a difference.

I am getting ready to work on two campaigns. One is for voters in Milwaukee, WI, encouraging them to vote. The other is for Sherrod Brown, running for re-election as senator from Ohio. This is a tight and critical race, but the words of Martin Luther King, Jr inspire me. “I have a dream…” and “Let Freedom ring.”

An Invitation

Feel free to share this post and/or the links included in the post with others who might be wondering what they can do during this scary and stressful time. We each can make a difference.

Turn Anger into Action

/ nagneberg48 / 12 Comments

June 28, 2022

When my husband and I were first married, and he was in medical school, I taught high school English at a large and diverse public high school in Webster Groves, Missouri. That job supported us during those years, but that was in 1971 and my income didn’t make a difference when I applied for a credit card. Only my husband’s income counted, but he didn’t have an income.

In his last year of medical school I was pregnant. Our first child was due in August, which meant I would be able to teach through the end of the school year, and then we would move back to Minnesota where Bruce would be a resident in family practice. He would have an income.

What I didn’t know those first months of my pregnancy was that the superintendent of schools and the principal (both white men) conferred to decide if I would be allowed to continue teaching. Apparently, school board members were consulted as well. You see, I was the first female teacher in the school district who didn’t lose my job because of pregnancy.

There is another piece to this story. There were a number of students, who were also pregnant, and during the lunch hour we gathered in my classroom to talk about how we were feeling and what we saw in our futures. I was the only one who had a bright future; a future that included a husband with a good job; a future that included good medical care; a future that welcomed this new life I was growing.

I know some faculty members felt those young women should not have been allowed to continue attending classes, and I also recall some of my colleagues who were uncomfortable working with a pregnant teacher and expressed that discomfort, making off-color remarks.

I have often thought about those young women sitting uncomfortably in my classroom on chairs not made for pregnant women. What has happened to them and to their babies? And what do they think about the recent Supreme Court decision.

I tell these stories because they are examples of women not being viewed as full human beings, as people deserving of all the rights assumed by men, especially white men.

Others decided what I and other women were allowed to do and how to move forward in our lives.

The next decades saw lots of changes. Thank you feminists of both sexes for working to make these changes. Not all was perfect. Not everything changed, and the fight for equality for all has continued, but now, just like the children’s game, Simon Says, the Supreme Court has dictated, “Take a giant step backwards.” The writer Glennon Doyle calls this time “The Great Backslide.”

I am angry and I am sad. And I am scared about the future.

Earlier in the week I sat in my “Paris” garden and addressed and wrote messages on postcards to be sent to registered Democratic voters in Florida. The message was a simple reminder to request mail-in ballots for the upcoming election. I supplied the postcards, the stamps, and the time, and Postcards to Voters sent me the instructions and a mailing list. The morning’s task felt like prayer.

Be angry. Be sad, and acknowledge your fear, but at the same time lift your voice in the way that truly makes a difference: VOTE.

Vote and remind others to vote. Are there young people in your lives who are eligible to vote? Ask them if they have registered? If they haven’t, let them know what they need to do and help them do that, if necessary. Share stories and experiences with them about what it means to live without the right to live authentically and fully. Tell them to celebrate your birthday or the 4th of July by requesting a mail-in ballot.

It is good to march and protest and certainly to support worthy candidates and causes financially, but ultimately, what each of us can do and needs to do is vote. Vote for candidates who are willing to support the rights of all people.

An Invitation

How are you? I would love to know.

Note:

For information about sending postcards: https://postcardstovoters.mypostcard.com/blogs/ptv-faq/how-to-get-addresses