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Why I March

1/31/2017

On January 21st, I was proud to be a part of the Women's March in Washington DC. It was not the first national March on Washington that I've been a part of, but it was certainly one of the most passionate and timely.

As I was leading a support group today, I was asked, "So you march so the President sees you?" I thought for a moment and I said, "No. There are many people we were marching for, but he wasn't one."

Who then? Why do we march and what good does it do us? Here are my thoughts:

1) I march for myself and for people like me. These events are amazing at bringing us together, at energizing the base, at helping us to focus our message and for not feeling alone in the dark.

2) I march for the politicians who are on our side. Right now, that's most of the Democratic Senators and Congresspeople, but it's also Governors and Mayors around the country. They need to see that there are people counting on them to do the right thing, and a lot of them.

3) I march for the bureaucrats. There are people in federal, state and city government who are there as a career choice. These aren't political appointees, but people who need to weather the storm of changing administrations, and right now, they need to know that we are here for them as much as they are for us.

4) I march for the politicians on the other side: Congressmen, Senators, state and local officials need to see us in their districts, on their streets, and at their offices. If they love their districts as much as they love their jobs, they'll get the message that we're out here. My Congressman, Dan Donovan, was the DA on the Eric Garner case, so we know that #BlackLivesDontMatter to him, but we made sure to call him and remind him that his district has a huge Muslim population and that it's very vocal.

5) I march for people who WISH they could be at the march, but for some reason they can't be there. Maybe they live too far, maybe there are mobility issues, or maybe it's something darker: wives whose husbands wouldn't let them go. Teens who can't tell their family they're gay or transgender. People for whom financial and societal pressures are too much, because yes, it's a luxury to take off on a weekend and travel to DC to March. We often forget that: it's a privilege to be able to protest.

6) I march for people unlike me, people who may never meet me or another drag queen or another gay person or someone from New York City. I march so they may, if they wish, see that there is a bigger broader world than they know. It's not us New Yorkers, who live in the most diverse city in the world, with entire ranges of education, ethnic, cultural, sexual, gender and religious vistas before us who live in a bubble, it's the people who refuse to acknowledge that others worldviews are important and that whole is greater than the sum of its parts that need to see us marching.

Whether it's a march on the mall in Washington DC, a protest at JFK airport, or simply ordering from the Muslim-owned deli on one corner, rather than the bagel place with Fox News on the TV, you can make a difference. Honor each other, march with each other, and march FOR each other.

But keep marching, baby! Keep marching!

UPCOMING MARCHES

4/8 Immigrants' March

4/29 Climate March

6/11 LGBT March

TBA Scientists March

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Trump Doesn't Read Novels: But You Should!

1/27/2017

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I often get to call upon my history as a theatre major, but rarely do I get much opportunity to call on my double: I was also an English major. (Quel surprise, right?!) I thought I'd take this opportunity to delve into the treasure trove that is 20th Century Literature and give you a top ten list of books to read right now. You can read these in any order you'd like, but I'd suggest alternating from one list to the other to avoid burnout.

FIVE BOOKS TO UNDERSTAND OUR WORLD

1) "1984" by George Orwell. I know, we're all saying it, and there's a reason that it's at the top of Amazon's list right now. I recall reading it in 7th Grade and having one of the meanest most effective social experiments played on us by our teacher, Connie Cundiff. She taught us what fear and distrust meant in a week long lesson that still lives with me three decades later.

2) "A Clockwork Orange" by Anthony Burgess. We know the film better, but the ultraviolence in the novel is even grander when you consider that the character of Alex is only 15 years old. (Malcolm McDowell was 27 when it was filmed.) How does fear and the loss of power affect the mind of a working class man and his friends? With deadly consequences.

3) "The Four Gated City" by Doris Lessing is a book I need to go back and re-read. The title and its impact sticks with me more than the plot, but a quick google search comes back with, "The novel "takes on the medical profession", which it is suggested is "destroying [...] that part of humanity which is in fact most sensitive to evolution". It "criticizes the scientists who have created and perpetuate a climate in which "rationalism" has become a new God"; the novel further explores the possibilities of people having " 'extra-sensory perception', in varying degrees, but "have been brainwashed into suppressing it, and that is the name of our blindest contemporary prejudice."

4) "The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie" by Muriel Spark, where a cult of personality in a 1930's Scottish schoolroom parallels the rise of fascism.

5) "The Persecution and Assassination of Jean Paul Marat as peformed by the Inmates at the Asylum of Charenton Under the Direction of the Marquis de Sade," by Peter Weiss. Okay, so it's a play, not a novel, but this study of French extremism by a German ex-pat after World War II shines a spotlight onto the human condition and what it does with and to structures of power.

FIVE BOOKS TO HELP GET THROUGH IT

1) "A Prayer for Owen Meany" by John Irving, tells the story of John Wheelwright and his best friend Owen Meany growing up together in a small New Hampshire town during the 1950s and 1960s. According to John's narration, Owen is a remarkable boy in many ways; he believes himself to be God's instrument and sets out to fulfill the fate he has prophesied for himself. As a white man, I'm a fan of John Irving (yes, his world view is pretty limited to upper middle class white people in prep school, wrestlers and bears), but this novel will be among the top ten 20th Century novels when the canon is set in stone.

2) "The Color Purple" by Alice Walker. The story of Celie's struggles against the oppressive yoke of Mr. _______'s sexism and internalized racism resonates more and more every day. Strong female characters, self-determination, resiliency, fierceness and wisdom make this novel an absolute must read.

3) "The Handmaid's Tale" by Margaret Atwood. Never let the bastards grind you down. Here's a novel of resistance in a world where women capable of having children are prized among all others. Wait, did I say prized? I meant as in a prize sow or cow: kept for breeding purposes. Once again, the spirit of sisterhood and the connection between women shows a path forward.

4) "Watership Down," by Richard Adams, tells the story of rabbits Hazel, Fiver and Bigwig as they try to establish a safe, egalitarian community, free from the destructive force of man and the fascism of other warrens. It's a fantasy, to be sure, but one which prizes collaboration, creativity and community and celebrates freedom from want and fear. (And no, it's not free from criticism, particularly around gender.)

5) "The Lord of the Rings," by J. R. R. Tolkein. Okay, so yes, like Watership Down, it's got some issues with gender and race. But it's one hell of a fantasy novel that tracks a rag-tag band of individuals from a range of different communities collaborating together to take on a powerful fascist leader. Maybe it's just escapism, but there's a lot here too.

IF THOSE BOOKS DON'T HELP?

Go rewatch season three of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Watch her take on the Mayor.

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Why I March

Trump Doesn't Read Novels: But You Should!

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