20250610 STAND Newsletter – Last call for NO KINGS
Dear Friends,
Important – If you are traveling with us downtown on Saturday, please read to the bottom!
With our NO KINGS, Just Pops! Event coming up on the 14th (this Saturday!), I wanted to reflect briefly on the role that joy plays in effective protest. In a time defined by fear and legitimate anger around the treatment of ourselves and our neighbors, it’s exceedingly rare to find joy at the center of political discourse. When those discussions hit the streets, emotions are often raw and protest becomes a display of defiance; sometimes even a means of intimidation through (hopefully) non-violent mobilization. This kind of action can produce results quickly in the face of injustice, but there is also great risk. Reliance on anger can mobilize those who similarly relate to our grievances, and with enough bodies they can force change, but they are rarely effective in building allies and persuading unconvinced people to engage. In fact, they tend to alienate those who are on the fence as they put their heads down just to try to dodge conflict.
As we enter Pride Month, we can take a lesson from our queer siblings in building allies through the injection of joy and hope and into dark spaces. I have always been amazed by the resilience of a community that, despite being routinely pushed to society’s edges, has managed to wield positive messaging consistently enough, and for long enough, to build a broad base of support capable of changing hearts and minds. I’m inspired by the courage it takes to smile in the face of dangerous opposition and sing under threat of physical harm. The civil rights movement knew this as well, routinely using nonviolent demonstration and song to highlight the anger, fear, and violence driving their opposition in order to recruit allies across the nation.
As STAND gathers on the 14th, let’s remember the path paved before us by communities that have met extreme resistance with resolve, commitment to disciplined non-violence, and even sometimes even joy. And as we celebrate Pride Month and express solidarity with our LGBTQ+ members, let’s remind each other of MLK’s powerful observation that injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are not whole until we are all lifted and valued in our homes, in our communities, and in our government.
I’m looking forward to seeing you all on Saturday! Please help us get the word out by liking and sharing our facebook event, and get flyers out to those you know! The event we have planned should be joyful, impactful, family-friendly, and full of popsicles.
Lastly, if you are traveling with us downtown, I have made an egregious error in that my google form was collecting responses but not email addresses. Please email me directly if you are planning to travel with us downtown – we meet at Avondale MARTA at 8:45am. I'm sorry to make you double register, but I want to make sure that I have everybody covered.
STANDing with you,
Matt
