I'd been mulling this diary in my head for awhile now. Trying to come up with a general theme, or even just a central point. There were however so many barely connected thoughts running through my head, I just thought it best to mental vomit and see where the chips land.
Join me over the fold for my personal journey from an individual steaming at news articles, TV shows, etc and doing nothing...to a died in the wool activist physically joining in protests, actions, and participating in this great community that is Daily KOS.
So it was on a Thursday night back this last September, that I sat on my couch doing my typical nightly routine. The kid was in bed, the wife was in bed, and I sat watching MSNBC with my laptop open and reading KOS. During the commercial breaks for Maddow I spent those few minutes catching up on articles and diaries. One had caught my eye in particular, Occupy Wall Street.
Now I had heard about it minimally before that, but this member (memory is a loss as to who at this point) on KOS went on to diary about its spread to other cities across the nation. They made mention about the website OccupyTogether.org.
I immediately thought "Is there something in my town of South Bend, IN?" and a few clicks later I was rewarded with a meetup event planned in October.
One could say I had an epiphany, a spiritual moment but...and I'll steal from the great movie Shawshank Redemption
"Maybe it was the idea of his son growing up in a world worse off, maybe it was the idea that the world was off its rails, whatever it was...something lit a fire under that boys ass"
I decided that night that I was going. I decided that instead of posting strongly worded comments or posts on various websites, instead of talking a good game and keeping my mouth shut amongst my primarily conservative family, instead of beating my head against the wall from frustration at the direction my country was taking that I would instead take action. I would in the great words of Mario Savio, throw my body on the gears.
As mentioned in a previous diary, when I talked about this with my wife the next day she literally thought me insane. Now, she was supportive because well...as I've previously mentioned she's my strong warrior wife and stands by me no matter how dumb I act at times. That said however she thought I had broken mentally to some degree. Even still, she assisted me in designing signs and organizing items I would need for the big day in October. She was even responsible for designing a sign which made its way to Occupy Elkhart and ended up in the Elkhart newspaper.
Long story short, I got physically involved. I even signed up for facebook for the first time with the explicit purpose. I had purposely eschewed facebook for just personal reasons. I had read and heard enough regarding facebook drama that I was having none of it. However the organizing of our local Occupy group required one to be 'plugged' in, and plug in I did.
So here is where we transition to my, what I hope is main theme.
When I signed up for facebook I initially made friends with everyone in my occupy group. However in addition to that I made friends with everyone my wife is friends with. I made friends with my family as well. As previously mentioned, most of my family is conservative/libertarian leaning. And as previously mentioned my wife is what one could call a true conservative. Because of this, most of her friends are conservative.
Those familiar with facebook and how the social feeds work can already imagine the initial fire storm that caused.
Soooooo...yeah....that happened. I was alienated by many people (even to some degree by my family) who because I was not outspoken had initially thought that my wife's politics and views were my views. I had effectively thrown the proverbial progressive brick through the conservative window.
But progress was made. During one conversation on facebook with my VERY libertarian cousin we came to an agreement that money in politics is a major issue and needs to go. Viola! Consensus reached! And it was that conversation which sparked me to start diaries here on KOS.
I have been a very avid reader of KOS since...well hell forever it seems. I've always considered myself a progressive and have tried to stay up to date on progressive issues and websites. I stumbled on KOS from FARK, and have been a daily visitor since.
I've however been reluctant to post or diary because honestly KOS here has some, if you'll excuse the language, mother effing amazing voices. From people like Ministry of Truth, MeteorBlades, Bob Sloan, Laura Clawson, etc... the list goes on and on and on. The progressive voices here are strong, loud, and again excuse the language, mother effing proud to scream from the mountain tops the issues and items needing America...no scratch that... the worlds attention.
I thought to myself, how the hell could I match up to that? What the hell would my voice matter amongst that. I'll just stick to reccing items up, commenting on the good stuff, and spreading how great the website is, and what an amazing tool Markos started and helped to build is.
That sorta all changed when I became an occupier though. Occupy helped me....no reminded me that our voices are amplified when we sing in unison. It matters not if a hundred diaries are saying the same thing, what is important is that THERE IS A HUNDRED PEOPLE SAYING THE SAME THING! Sure they might say it slightly differently, they might use slightly different words or phrases, however ultimately they are singing in unison.
I gave a speech at one of our Occupy rallies in November. In it I used this....
"Some of us are still blessed with jobs, homes, and some marginal sense of security in despite troubling times. But even that small security is under attack"
And it was this recognition of that attack that spurred me to add my voice to the many other voices here on KOS. I am proud to contribute my voice amongst the many and varied talent here. I do not wish to take spotlights, but only wish to AMPLIFY their voices. I want our voices to amplify them enough so that maybe, just perhaps there is another person out there...sitting on their couch on a Thursday night...catching up on the news...reading KOS, and they have their fire under the ass moment.
Occupy has taught me that words are important. However, words are only one half of the equation. We must throw our bodies on the gears. We must make ourselves physically known, whether it being occupying a park in down town name your town or even writing a personal letter to a company asking them to pull their advertisers from a known racist misogynist radio host. We must stand in peoples faces and speak in unison.
Which brings me to my closing (tldr already I know).
Had I not been an avid reader of KOS. I would not have found out about Occupy South Bend before the initial rally start date. Had I not joined as an Occupier, I would not have joined facebook. Had I not joined facebook, many of my wife's conservative friends and my own family would not have been presented a progressive point of view and counter arguments. Had I not been inspired by that, I would have continued to lurk amongst the masses of just readers of KOS and not been inspired to contribute to this great an amazing website.
In short... we as progressives have such an amazing tool at our disposal here at Daily KOS it would be a travesty for ALL of you not to contribute something, even if its nothing more than a local story of success of progressive nature.
So this diary is for you, KOS reader sitting on your couch on this Thursday night. What's gonna light a fire under your ass?
Sun Mar 18, 2012 at 10:36 AM PT: Wow, spotlight.....Thank you everyone for reccing it up and commenting. Occupy has helped me find my voice, a voice I had kept quiet until now. Instead of screaming internally, I now find myself wanting to yell this voice on the streets.
Thank you KOS for helping me find that voice.