From singer-songwriter Dar Williams:
I am hoping that you can participate in Steps2021. When I saw that mob of people on the Capitol steps, I remembered the piece I had written about how people can demonstrate by singing on steps. WELL, because of the pandemic, the idea of singing (a no-no in groups...) on steps to counter the image of insurrecting on steps has devolved and evolved into STEPS 2021, complete with website and hashtags!
Also, could you share this with your friends and really encourage them into doing something, too?! We're going to have teenagers helping with social media. I'm just Paul Revere with a horse. I only know how to ride around like a maniac and shout to people I know and love to spread the word! If you could tell your congregation, folk buds, and family to "find their steps", we think we're going to hit a wonderful tipping point. If you could go online and say you're going to participate, that would be wonderful, too. Oy, I am not the queen of the elevator pitch. But I hope you can do this!
We're asking people to take a picture or video clip of themselves on their favorite and/or safest steps, any steps that they love and associate with the steps (or ramps) we take into places where we work collaboratively and constructively for the future. This is to counter the images of armed people who are expected to show up at state capitol buildings (don't go to capitol building steps).
To learn more about Steps2021, the website is www.Steps2021.org, BUT we're simply asking people to do one or both of these things:
1. BEFORE INAUGURATION DAY: Take a picture of yourselves, your families, pods, etc. on the steps of your choosing: place of worship, library, town hall, home, apartment stoop, along with whatever prop or nice outfit you choose... with a painting, a smile, or a peace sign, in a uniform or in a ball gown. OR...Take a video of yourselves singing, speaking, playing music.
---SEND IT TO MYSTEPS@STEPS2021.org along with a little caption of where you are and why these steps are important to you.
---Share it with your friends as a way to spread the word that we are going to be posting a wonderful stream of images and videos on Inauguration morning before Biden's inaugural march.
2. ON INAUGURATION MORNING: Take and/or post a picture of yourselves, your families, pods, etc. on the steps of your choosing: place of worship, library, town hall, home, apartment stoop, along with whatever prop or nice outfit you choose... with a painting, a smile, or a peace sign, in a uniform or in a ball gown. OR...Take a video of yourselves singing, speaking, playing music.
---SEND IT TO MYSTEPS@STEPS2021.org and our socials as well as your socials, along with hashtags and with a little caption of where you are and why these steps are important to you.
---Share it with your friends and with us at our website and on social media.
I registered for this event, and will be participating too. Check out the website; even if we can't sing (for pandemic reasons, as Dar said), there are plenty of ways to make our presence known. I'm sharing here because I'm not on social media but, for those of you who are, I am counting on you to pass on this message, as well as post your Steps on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc. As the old protest song goes: one and one and fifty make a million!
Here are two photos, the first of which (me with Colin) I've already e-mailed to MySteps@Steps2021.org with the following caption:
On the stairs of my South Florida condo, reading to my 2-1/2-year-old grandson Colin, my heart. Every STEP of political activism I take (voting Blue, fighting for climate change regulations, enacting standards for Justice and Equality, the right to Choose, etc.) is for him and his future! (Susan Moss, Pembroke Pines FL)
...and the second (just me) I will be e-mailing Inauguration Day morning (between 9:30 and 11:30 a.m.) with the caption below:
On the steps of my my 55+ condo community in South Florida, counting my blessings that I have adequate insurance coverage, can afford to eat nutritiously, have wide-open spaces to walk an hour a day, and enjoy good health such that I'm able to take the stairs 99% of the time. So excited for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris to return our country to positivity and forward motion! (Susan Moss, Pembroke Pines FL)
Thanks again to Dar for alerting me to this action. By the way, her elevator pitch was spot-on... :-)
P.S. Puttering around online, following Steps2021 links, and found this (go to the 1:14 mark). I had already chosen the title song for today's blog post hours ago and, synchronistically, wouldn't you know that's the tune Dar performs in this video segment! Thank you, Universe... 😍
#Steps2021
#TheFutureWeBuildTogether
#PeaceWithJustice
BOOK: The Front Steps Project: How Communities Found Connection During the COVID-19 Crisis by Kristen Collins, Cara Soulia
POEM: Strangers by Laszlo Slomovits
A man is running hard
to catch the bus that just left.
It’s picking up speed but he
pulls even and raps on its side,
and a woman by the window
yells to the driver, who stops
and opens the accordion door.
But the man does not get on—
he points back to an old woman
who has not run a step
in a very long time
shuffling towards the bus.
Nor does he leave until he’s
helped her up both steps
then walks back slowly
still breathing hard
toward us who are
waiting for a different bus.
What can a group of strangers
do at a time like this?
A time in its own tiny way like
when Bob Hayes roared by them all
to bring the relay home,
or when Billy Mills devoured
the last 50 of the 10,000 meters
or when Joan Benoit came striding
into the stadium alone—and all of us
strangers stood up and cheered.
QUOTE: "The vision must be followed by the venture. It is not enough to stare up the steps - we must step up the stairs." ~ Vance Havner
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