I Own Four Pussy Hats
And I'm ready to use them
I have four pussy hats sitting in my closet. I haven’t worn any of them since 2020, but I am ready to put them on at any time. And that time may be coming very soon.
One of the key weapons for autocrats to keep control of populations is fear. Fear of violence. Fear of jail. Fear of family separation. These fears are meant to intimidate and paralyze people from protesting and organizing. We have watched the Republican party practice terrorizing vote counters over the last twenty four years.
The first time was the so-called Brooks Brothers Riot in 2000 (see Wikipedia). Hundreds of paid Republican operatives stormed the election offices in Miami-Dade County, FL during the recount to demand they stop counting votes.
2000 was a trial run for the election in 2020. Fast forward to January 6, 2021, when 10,000 people stormed the Capitol.
These were both small groups of people (in regard to the total number of people who voted) intending to terrorize and paralyze the people who count and certify votes.
There is no doubt that they will try to do the same again this year.
Step one in Tim Snyder’s book, On Tyranny, is: “Do not obey in advance.” This means do not voluntarily give in to their narrative and wait for someone or something to save no. We have to say no right away. We will not willingly submit to non-democratic forces while they dismantle our norms and systems of government. Moreover, we will not allow them to falsely claim victory on Election night. They win when we acquiesce. We win when we march and protest because we represent the majority.
And that’s where my pussy hats come into play. Time is of the essence right after voting ends, when they will try to declare victory. And we can’t let that happen. We need to put our pussy hats on and get out into the streets straight away to ensure that all the votes are counted. If we legitimately lose the election, I will accept the results—and put my pussy hat away. However, I won’t sit by and let them declare victory. I will get out into the streets like these grandmas in Portland, OR, in 2020:
Now, let’s go and win this election! Here are the things you can do this week to help:
Vote early. You will be saving all of the campaigns a huge amount of time and money when you vote early and they don’t have to contact you. They can cross you off their lists and focus on getting other people out to vote.
Consider friendbanking. My friend, Micah Sifry, has written about apps that “friendbank” for getting out the vote. (See Micah’s article). These are efforts to match your contacts with swing-state voter registration rolls to remind your friends to vote. Here are two apps that you can use to text your friends: Reach and VoteRaiser.
Finally, dust off your pussy hats. The next phase after voting has the potential to be a fight for the future of our country. I’ll see you out there!
Vote, vote, vote!!!