Finding My Light in Dark Times

Image by Joe from Pixabay

 I can look my darling granddaughters in the eyes and say to them that I am doing all I can to ensure that their precious lights will continue to shine brightly 

Our middle granddaughter was born four years ago on the Winter Solstice.  One of our closest friends remarked, “she brings forth the light,”  and that she does, at least according to her grandparents, as do all three of our granddaughters.  

We provide childcare for our Solstice youngster and her baby sister every Thursday.  And – other than needing to get up at 5:30 am - our day is full of laughter and light. Here’s an example.   My wife, Jennie just fed our infant granddaughter and said that “we need to keep her awake for another hour.  How are we going to do that?”  To tease our four year old granddaughter I remarked to her “what do you think sweetie, I can toss your sister to you and you can catch her and toss her back to me and we can keep her awake by flying her through the air.”  Our four year old was incensed at the idea and stomped over to stand right in front of me – and with her right hand on her hip (as I’m sure she sees her mother do) she exclaimed in a stern four year old voice, “We don’t throw babies, Pop Pop!”  With that, it seemed to me the world was set in place.  The younger will always have her older sister to protect her.  No doubt.

But the world is not so simple these days.  We just witnessed yet another school shooting – this time at a Madison, WI Christian school.  A troubled teen killed another teen and a teacher and wounded several others before taking her own life.  While this is terrible enough on its own – what is equally troubling is that a second grade child from the school was the first to call 911 about the shooting.  Stop and reflect on that for a minute.  A seven year old child was taught to call the police if there is a shooter in the school.  A seven year old should be thinking of Christmas, and presents, and snow in December in Wisconsin and not whether there will be a shooter at school.

Our Wisconsin children have been traumatized with 26 school shootings over the past three years, more than the combined number of school shootings since 1970.  This year – sadly – was the deadliest year on record for our state and for our kids when it comes to school shootings.

Our oldest granddaughter is in third grade and has already received “active shooter training” as part of her education.  I am heart sick to think that our younger granddaughters will go through shooter drills when they begin school, as well.  As it is, our own daughter is a middle school teacher in a public school and we give thanks every day to hear her voice as she calls us on her way home from work.

We must acknowledge that gun violence is in the very DNA of our country.  Here is another take on our propensity for violence.  White Supremacists have been a part of our political culture for a very long time.  In her article providing historical background on the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, Heather Cox-Richardson reports that in the fall of 1962, white supremacists, “…under cover of darkness fired on reporters and federal marshals…(killing) two men and wounded many others” on the campus of Mississippi University.  The federal marshals were there to ensure that a one Black American veteran could register at “Ole Miss” for classes.

I am so tired of writing about mass shootings.  I’m fatigued over the idea that Christian Nationalists and White Supremacists have become so visible and so powerful.  I am frightened over the idea that our country elected as president a man who is a known felon, who is a proven liar, who was convicted of sexual assault, who was convicted of fraud, who espoused how he would use the levers of government to punish his enemies.  This is a man who wants to use the military to round up 11 million immigrants in our country to put them in camps and eventually deport them.

After the November election, I stopped reading or watching the news.  I was in shock.  I was grieving.  I was in disbelief that the tens of millions of people could elect Donald Trump – knowing full well who he is and what he proposes to do.
I had a difficult time finding the light in these situations.  I am a trained community organizer and as such know that there is always a way to organize against injustice.  But the light in me wasn’t there for a bit.

Stopping gun violence requires national legislation.  Halting the sweep of Christian Nationalists & White Supremacists needs a nation-wide movement.  Beating back the worst tendencies of the incoming Trump administration requires Washington officials to mount a new coalition against multi-pronged attacks on democracy. 

But quite frankly – I don’t have the energy for such efforts.  I prayed – often – about this and my leading is based on the old saying that “all politics are local.”  Here is what I’m going to do.

First, I’m going to honor my grieving process.  I’m going to let it run its course, knowing that I will be stronger in the end.

Next, I’m going to use whatever light and energy I have to engage in one or a few LOCAL issues where I think my action and my dollars will make a difference.  There are three issues that keep coming back to me and they are:  1) Reducing gun violence; 2) Opposing immigration detention camps and mass deportation, and 3) Maintaining a liberal block on the Wisconsin Supreme Court.

It seems that the Supreme Court issue is the most critical, as the election for a new judge occurs this spring, on April 1st. and a liberal court can stem the damage on a broad number of issues – like gun violence.  At the same time, no one is sure when and how extensive will be the immigrant round up Trump threatens.  I reached out to an immigration attorney friend of mine who counseled me to connect with Voces de La Frontera, as she suspects them to be at the forefront of any anti-immigrant round up actions.
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So now I have a game plan, which is helping me to heal through my grieving process.  I no longer feel powerless in the face of such a seismic shift in national politics, as I know there are ways I can be involved locally.   And most importantly – I can look my darling granddaughters in the eyes and say to them that I am doing all I can to ensure that their precious lights will continue to shine brightly in this sometimes dark and cold world.