I have been volunteering to textbank with Moveon.org for the last week (link here if you want to sign up). I like how they are approaching volunteering this year, texting is not the only activity available, but for those of us, like me, who can no longer spend all day on their feet walking to canvas, and don’t want to go to another location to phone-bank, this works well!
I am able to work on my own time for as little or as much as I like, when I like, and rest when I like (I’m not myself, still) so volunteering is fitting well into my current routine. What’s different about volunteering this time, is how mean and evil Trump supporters are being. It can be upsetting, and most frustrating, trying to not respond or react to provocation.
I’ve had a stressful day, today, doing my bit: apparently there are a LOT of Trump trolls in the Democratic databases. They are especially nasty, cruel, vicious this year.
So, tonight, I was GLAD when I finished my shift in time to catch the latest episode of Dr. Who. I was looking forward to relaxing; what I wasn’t expecting was to come away from the end of the episode feeling impassioned, inspired, in tears — Ready to Resist (Thanks, MoveOn) .
This third episode of Doctor Who tackled the question, “How significant an impact would there be on the course of time and the universe itself, if Rosa Parks had NOT remained in her seat on the bus, December 1, 1955?”
I didn’t know what to expect of tonight’s episode (I almost didn’t watch it), and I confess, I was a little nervous at how this oh-so-important history was going to be handled. I needn’t have worried.
This wasn’t a matter of an episode exploring the road not taken by Ms. Parks, but rather, addressing the need to prevent a deliberate act of sabotage to stop Ms. Parks’ act of protest — trying to explore a small change in circumstance can lead to significant impacts for earth and the larger universe (paraphrasing both the Doctor and the antagonist). “Screenrant” published a story on the episode that sets it up like this:
We know the names Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks, and what they stood for. Doctor Who showrunner Chris Chibnall made a brave, bold choice to set an episode in Montgomery, Alabama, in 1955, with the Doctor and her friends not trying to alter the course of history, but rather, letting it all play out exactly as intended.
The showrunner and episode co-author Chris Chibnall could have forced the other co-author, Malorie Blackman, to take the story full-on fictional-syfy, fill it full of alien battles in the midst of the Jim Crow South and right on into lala land, but he didn’t. Ms. Rosa Park’s story was told with its stark ugliness in tact; it highlighted its beautiful, defiant protest, its small moments, the pervasive fear and determination in the African American community — and kept it right up in the viewers faces.
No veils or rose-colored glasses applied to pretty up reality, this time. I believe it’s a must-see for all of us activists and progressives; go below the fold to learn why.