I talked with my friend Susan Grabel about an organization entitled \u201cStaten Island Action Coalition\u201d that seeks to disseminate information about government actions. <\/p>\n
You\u2019re rolling your eyes\u2026\u201dHere he goes again!\u201d Many people are feeling hopeless and directionless right now. Here\u2019s some place to direct your energies.<\/p>\n
The coalition began about six months ago as a result of the ongoing attacks by the government on anybody who isn\u2019t them. It was proposed at a meeting by Laura McCarthy. It\u2019s comprised of a group of about 15 core people. Their mission is to activate and educate.<\/p>\n
They are now part of a larger group \u201cStaten Island 4 The People\u201d and have been recognized by the larger umbrella group Indivisible. One of their actions is to gather outside the office of Rep. Nicole Malliotakis every Monday and spotlight key issues that she seems to want to avoid speaking about. They were instrumental in organizing the No Kings march, which some readers felt deeply offended by.<\/p>\n
The government is currently in the process of scrubbing records on their official websites from any mention of women or people of color. No unemployment statistics have been released since October. The CDC is not reporting information about the recent measles outbreak.<\/a><\/p>\n Recently, the President has stated he wants to end sign language interpretation for his speeches as the signers are \u201ctoo distracting.\u201d<\/p>\n This is not the way to make a country great. That way involves having a populace that is kept up to date on events that directly affect it, like changes in climate, disease outbreaks, possible wars with foreign countries and economic status. The current government seems either unable or unwilling to share pertinent information with its citizenry.<\/p>\n This can lead to only two suppositions: one, these guys are really, really bad at their jobs or two, they are working very hard to bring these organizations and institutions down. If you promote a TV salesman to a position of authority regarding healthcare, or a guy whose ideas include drinking raw milk, if your Homeland Security advisor is a scary looking dude with a grudge against immigrants and a woman who killed her dog is his chief, if your director of the FBI has stated he wants to shut down his own organization and doesn\u2019t seem to know anything about cases under his jurisdiction, and your Secretary of Defense changes the name of his department to The Department Of War and rants and raves like a middle schooler on amphetamines, Buddy, you have got the wrong people doing the wrong things at the wrong time and it\u2019s not gonna take long for the whole thing to come crashing down like a Jenga tower.<\/p>\n What do we do till then? Activate and educate. When someone tells us we\u2019re full of manure, that we don\u2019t know what we\u2019re talking about, that all this is fake news and media manipulation, point them in the right direction. Show them the evidence. Chances are good they\u2019ll dig in their heels even harder and shake their heads back and forth like a toddler told he has to go to bed. But, at least, you have gotten the information out there because, and I\u2019ve experienced this with several friends, they\u2019ll never hear it anywhere else. Both sides are wrapped in their own bubble so tightly, nothing can leak out. It is possible for anybody to be wrong about anything. And it never hurts to consider the fact that you might be wrong. But to blindly insist you\u2019re right when faced with tons of evidence that this is not the case is totally self-destructive behavior. We need to move past this. We need to accept the fact that any one of us could be wrong or right about something. We need to see a way clear through the trees.<\/p>\n Because insisting you\u2019re right when you know you\u2019re not is just being intractable. One does not become weaker from admitting a mistake. One grows stronger because it means you\u2019re capable of changing your mind when new information presents itself.<\/p>\n President Obama did it about same sex marriage, Thomas Jefferson about the Louisiana purchase. Our current President stopped railing against NATO when he saw its worth, but then moved on to calling reporters \u201cpiggy\u201d. It is possible for men in power to come to an understanding that their opinion on matters will have world-wide implications and that they must then modulate their responses for the greater good.<\/p>\n I asked Susan if the current administration disappeared tomorrow, what would become of the Staten Island Action Coalition. Her answer was immediate: \u201cWe would keep going.\u201d Because their mission is not only to educate and activate there public, but to convince our elected representatives that there are matters they must weigh in on and address, no matter how uncomfortable. <\/p>\n If you\u2019re interested in finding out more about this organization:<\/p>\n Facebook: https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/siactioncoalition<\/a><\/p>\n Instagram: https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/si_action_coalition\/?hl=en<\/a><\/p>\n And, if you\u2019d like to receive a weekly newsletter, letting you know about events in your area and other ways to get involved, contact them at siactioncoalition@gmail.com<\/a>. \u201cAny action matters,\u201d Susan reminded me, because, cumulatively, they can cause change.<\/p>\n I was also reminded of a quote from John Philpot Curran: \u201cThe price of freedom is eternal vigilance.\u201d<\/p>\n Know your rights. Fight the good fight. Shine a light!<\/p>\n And hold those magnificent grey heads high!<\/p>\n Comments may be submitted to \u201cTalk To The Old Guy\u201d on Facebook.<\/p>\n