Mass Ignition: Spectacular Possibilities Erupt That Can Push Back Peril
The Threats Remain Yet How We Fight Them Is Transforming Fast
The Moment
We are living through a stunning moment in history. There’s a saying that goes, “May you live in interesting times” that’s both a blessing and a curse — and here we are. It’s definitely “interesting.”
It’s going to be transformative.
I think we’re starting to see now more of a path for how we can get there. How we can survive it. How we can make it happen in ways that help the most people survive, thrive, prosper, and flourish. How we can get to a country and a future that is more equitable, resilient, and sustainable for all of us.
Light It Up
This past Sunday, President Biden announced that he would not run for re-election, and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris to be the Democratic Party’s presidential candidate.
What’s happened since is nothing short of spectacular.
There’s no summary that would even do it justice. Social media has exploded. Memes are everywhere. Video mash-ups of the Vice President giggling, saying awesome things, dancing, and otherwise being an amazing person are being made faster than they can be shared. The news is trying to keep up with this firestorm they helped create when they took part in pressuring President Biden to give up the candidacy. Money is rolling in at record-setting amounts. Zoom calls to support VP Harris are happening at turn-out levels that require Zoom leadership to expand the capacity almost daily. Communities of humans of all kinds are coming together to rally; businesses too.
It’s breathtaking.
It’s almost exactly like lighting fireworks off in the picture above — only it’s like lighting off fireworks above a tinder-dry forest on a grassy slope in high wind.
We Have Mass Ignition
In wildland fire behavior, the term for a wildfire that suddenly erupts spontaneously across the entire landscape at once is “mass ignition.”
We have mass ignition.
There is buzz and fuss and ruckus and activity all over the place.
It’s breaking through into zones where people don’t usually think or talk politics. And that’s just on Day 5.
How Do We Spread It?
So how are we going to spread this fire?
What can we possibly to do make that happen?
Lots of folks are already on it. Seriously. They’re spreading memes and making videos and talking up a storm in-real-life and online with the people they know.
Lots of other folks are already on the traditional political organizing work. They’re writing out postcards, working phone banks, working text banks, canvassing, doing voter registration, and prepping get-out-the-vote (GOTV) plans.
Yet we need more.
We need more commotion, we need it to sustain, and we need it to permeate even farther into social and media networks to reach, inspire, and motivate even more people so they freaking vote for VP Harris this November.
We need to get more people to vote than we’ve ever motivated to vote before. And we need them to vote for Democrats.
How?
We can drive voter turnout with ideas people and groups can use for activities to raise a ruckus, to influence the narrative, and to get voters fired up.
We can do a zillion things in a zillion places to elect good people and to make changes that create a more equitable, resilient, and sustainable democracy.
Shift the Country has a Make Shift Happen page all set up with a guide and with lists of ideas to get going.
It’s ideas like parties, flash mobs, themed art get-togethers, themed storytelling events that tell all the tales, problem-solving potlucks, weekly livingroom meetups, coffee klatches, group videos, group art projects or other highly visible events for media coverage, and so on.
It’s activity that gets people talking. It’s ruckus and visuals that create news coverage. It’s stuff that inspires and influences and convinces. It’s building relationships and community with humans in a time of great challenge. It’s a ton of stuff… which we can be all doing.
Shift the Country will do online briefings, training, and coaching to help make this shift happen for your groups and people. Just holler. Book an appointment to talk. Email team@shiftthecountry.com. Call (515) 375-9027.
Shift the Country does coaching, too — to help make all this shift happen. It’s time for some mass empowerment, y’all. More so than we’re even already doing together. So we can all help bring it.
Spectacular Possibilities
This week we have momentum for a movement where before we had frustration, fear, trepidation, and perhaps some straight-up terror.
Now we have something happening. Lots of things happening. People and businesses are lining up for Zoom calls and new alliances. Money is pouring in to the big campaign coffers. Pundits are yammering nonstop. People of all ages are fired up.
We can fan the flames of all of this kerfuffle.
We can nurture it and provide oxygen and grow the fires.
It’s a new moment. It’s completely transformed energy, and it’s a start.
It’s sparks and ideas for blazing paths forward for a country that can in fact dream big. That can do huge things. That can become more equitable, resilient, and sustainable.
Today VP Harris asked teachers at a union event “Do we believe in freedom? Do we believe in opportunity? Do we believe in the promise of America, and are we ready to fight for it?" She’s a fantastic messenger. We can be, too.
Also we need each other!
Part of how we sustain all of this is that we have to have connections with humans, and we have to be in communities and coalitions.
It’s basic stuff. We need it. It can help us with the strength, inspiration, motivation, creativity, and combined forces to do more huge things. It can help us with the day-to-day. It can help us to get and to remain engaged. A huge piece of fighting fascism and an authoritarian movement is to not get downtrodden and disempowered and disengaged.
We also need connection and community for the tough stuff that persists, that’s growing, and that’s already in place. Like legalized hate. Destroyed rights. Terrorism. Threats. Fear. Guns everywhere. Increasingly intense disasters from unchecked climate change. Stuff like that.
Countering Fear
We’ll need to work together to find our way through the tough bits of this, too, as it all unfolds and intensifies. There are signs that the Republican party and its alliances are circling the wagons after this latest breathtaking change, and that a renewed fight is coming soon and in nastier ways.
We have to be ready. We have to protect ourselves and the people around us.
For example, one of my online connections posted in joy this week about their amazing life. A person following my connection found that unacceptable and responded by calling in bomb threats to several businesses associated with my connection’s spouse. Police are involved and now it’s a whole thing involving dozens and dozens of people.
There will be more.
There will be more — especially as voting begins. There will be more — especially as people are empowered and show empowerment. There will be more — even as we smile and laugh and love and share joy.
We need to also share security, solidarity, community, and connection.
We may also need to include law enforcement in all of that as we plan our onslaught of activities. And we can.
In fact, we can do all kinds of risk management stuff. We have options. That’s stuff for a different post, but we have options for mitigating at least some risk; for countering some fear. It can help us be audacious.
We can’t mitigate it all, though. Security is an illusion. Hiding out is, too, though. If we don’t fight authoritarian threats now… the repercussions to our people and our progeny are unimaginable.
We can be courageous. We can be audacious. We can be loud.
And we don’t have to be reckless about it. Part of what we can do as we navigate all this with connection and community is to figure out the specifics of how we can be stronger together. Because we are.
Keep Your Wits About You
Okay that’s a wrap for today. Keep your wits about you. Find ways to stay grounded. Put some things in place to get through this long fight. Create the space to live and fight differently. Even though this is exciting, everything is changing and changing fast.
Keep the faith — in our humanity.
That humanity is going to help us win. Part of what VP Harris does that resonates is she embraces her humanity. All of it. The tough bits and the laughing, giggly bits and the serious, sober bits. We can too.
Hearts forward. Let’s went —
Vanessa Burnett is the Executive Director of Shift the Country, a unique nonprofit set up to drive voter turnout with ideas that people & groups can use for activities to raise a ruckus, to influence the narrative, & to get voters fired up. We can compel change that creates a more equitable, resilient, & sustainable democracy. Vanessa is a former homeland security professional with 25+ years experience in resilience-building, big disasters, wildland fire, emergency management, land management, continuity of operations, and disaster information sharing.
Nice post Vanessa! But it's Coffee Klatsches! :). Otherwise totally badass
Awesome message! I'm joining all kinds of focused groups on social media (usually not a joiner), sharing ideas and strategies, and posting self-generated memes to the Admins. One of mine just hit 750 Shares on FB. Keep up the chat, and the NOISE!