We go out, into town, and consciously seek out gatherings to strike up conversations, only to find that it's actually possible to open a few minds and, at the same time, advance our message, in this rural county where quite a few of the residents are so conservative that they would just as soon shoot us as to listen to a thing that sounds even vaguely liberal. (And I've got bullet holes in our windows to prove that claim!)
Watching the barrel competition from the bleachers at our county fair yesterday, we had a healthy joust with another couple sitting right below us who didn't seem to appreciate our cheers when one of the racers managed to snag a blue ribbon. That husband turns around and notices the "Immigrants Rights" button that my man was sporting and immediately begins loudly proclaiming that some "horses" shouldn't be allowed to compete in this event. To make a long story short, the asshole's wife ended up reminding him that her own sister-in-law wasn't born here, but all of their nieces and nephews were...and she told him that right before she told him to shut-the-fuck up. There's a woman with possibilities, not to be written off so easily...that's how I'll consider her in the future. It's what we have to do, here in the sticks where the blue is so clearly threatened, even tho everyone either knows everyone else or we know of them, yet the county sometimes hovers into purple during each major election and since redistricting, has shown up decidedly red during minor ones. The work to be done is clearly laid out before us, if we care, at all.
The vicious folderol that occurred over the course of the past couple of years around this place was disheartening, to put it mildly. And tho I didn't participate then, purely for the sake of this virtual community, truthfully, sometimes when I witness some of the kerap that goes down, it simply strikes me as shameful, knowing how difficult actual organizing can be.
The clincher to my anecdotal encounter during our day at the fair is that the horse in question was being handled by an obviously young Latina American girl.
I thank you for yet another insightful thread!
Peace
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