20250520 STAND Newsletter – March success, thank you!!

Dear Friends,

Thank you. On Saturday, more than one hundred folks came together on Decatur square to STAND together and march for government transparency. We gathered, we chanted, we sang, we marched, and we continued to build up a growing movement with strong signs of life in defiance of cynicism and cruelty in governance. For an hour, we brought the spirit of joyous resistance to the heart of Decatur, and my friends, that is no small thing.

Governance seeking to wield division and marginalization as a means to wield power relies on fear as a tool of control. Fear is used to rally those in power against those that are powerless to consolidate support, and fear keeps those who know better from speaking out. I know that I’ve said it before in these notes to you all, but fear is also infectious. It feeds on silence and rumor, and when implemented effectively, it results in whole communities willing to self-censor and stay quiet to keep the peace.

But as I mentioned on Saturday, quiet is not the same thing as peace. Sometimes peace is loud, and as infectious as fear can be, so is fearlessness. By showing up in the streets to loudly proclaim our shared values, in the spirit of pursuing an enduring peace, we give license to those crippled by fear and anxiety about our world to come out from the shadows and find another path. By normalizing and modeling fearlessness in the face of adversity, we invite fearlessness in others. You did that on Saturday, not just those in the streets, but all of you. We are growing something that I think is worthy of our collective efforts, and I’m thrilled to tend it alongside you to watch it grow.

So let’s practice being fearless together! We have a number of things coming up all in rapid succession as the summer comes into full swing. I invite you to join your community where you can:

First, for the next two Saturdays, our members at Clairmont Oaks will be holding signs on the sidewalk in front of 441 Clairemont Ave from 12-12:20pm, bringing attention to attacks on social security, medicare, medicaid, and cuts to HUD. Dogs are welcome and encouraged – I'll be there with mine!

Second, we will be following up our letters to Representative Johnson mailed on our march with a visit to his town hall on May 28th at 6:30pm. YOU MUST REGISTER TO ATTEND BY TOMORROW, MAY 21st. If I can, I plan to speak on STAND’s behalf to highlight the work you all have done, and invite him to point us towards productive ways to collaborate getting the answers we need to hold the government accountable. The more of us that are there, the more powerful the statement.

Third, we will have a general STAND meeting on Saturday, May 31st from 3-5:30pm. Our agenda is still under construction, but come ready to get plugged into the next phase of the work!

Lastly, there is a major protest that will be held in Atlanta on June 14th, from 10am-12pm. We are planning to 1. Send pods to that protest, and 2. Hold our own protest here in Decatur that will be more accessible to those that can’t be in the crush downtown. Stay tuned for details on both of those events – we will have more details at our meeting on the 31st, and we will likely spend that time organizing.

That’s a lot, but I think it’s an exciting lot. I’m happy to be doing this alongside you all.

STANDing with you,

Matt