I wish we had our own form of ALEC (The American Legislative Exchange Council, the right wing billionaire funded group dedicated to influencing state and national policy), a collective of organizations whose efforts overlap in the fight to save democracy. It is great to have “too many” allies, but not if they are crippled by overlapping marches, competing agendas, etc. I have no idea how that could work, and probably in the absence of a godfather with billions to give out (which would destroy its purpose). So, we will probably all simply have to dole out our support to them all, or pick one or two…? Some are regional, some are specific to a particular effort.
My daughter, Becky, is flooded with responsibilities to a half dozen regional causes that she can’t resist. They include anti-fracking, alternative banking, and now a collective one called The Four Freedoms Campaign. They have gathered many agencies and citizens to join together to support each other as crises develop. They are sponsoring a citizen training day where they will offer workshops on a variety of ways to respond to the current crisis. This work is mostly in western Massachusetts, centering in Pittsfield but also spills over to NY state.
Then! I just got off the phone with Harry Boyte, with who I share the Bridging Differences blog on Education Week. We got into a heated argument and resolved it about whether the metaphor of war used in political battles, especially when real power is at stake, is counter-productive. There was a moment there where it sounded more like war between us than two old friends trying to figure out each other’s position. It turned out we were using different language to say more or less the same thing.
It is true that even in education battles over phonics vs whole language, or new and old math, that involve more than language differences, can, within a few minutes sound like what is at stake is civilization itself and the other and their viewpoint are the enemy. Is it unreasonable to believe there is another way to organize? To persuade? To influence? Even within one’s family?
On a more personal note, while I was teaching, it was easier to survive with cheer because for seven hours a day I was part of a community based on the hopes of children. And for much of that time I was also a member of a family that all lived together. It is nice to see that while we have not lived together for nearly 40 years we are still community, and one that extends to cousins and cousins-once-removed! I spent January on the west coast speaking and visiting with my California son, and my west coast cousins, and some dear friends in Santa Cruz and Oakland. My son Nick then came east in February to help Fred and I out, and to go with me to the North Dakota Study Group. Meanwhile my more nearby daughter Becky comes over regularly to straighten out this and that. And last weekend my granddaughter Sarah and her husband Luis picked me up to drive me to see their spectacular new apartment in East Hampton (Massachusetts) The next day we went to Lowell to see my other granddaughter, Lilli, in her charming two-room apartment in Lowell, and were joined there by son Roger and his wife Tricia. Lilli is teaching 9th graders in Lawrence, Mass. and Sarah has landed a city planning job in nearby Holyoke. And to complete the picture the two grandsons are doing fine, Daniel enjoys his job in the wine business and Ezra will be married in Ann Arbor in August.
However, in the past week I have gotten Macular Degeneration in my remain “good eye” (having lost sight in my other eye a year ago), so after all those books I am just finishing my reading and writing will be rather limited (that is I am currently relying on text-to-speech and speech-to-text features which I suddenly need to learn to use) at least in the short term depending on whether better sight can be restored.
-Deb
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Deborah Meier on Education 