WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2004

Today's news reminds me of my old social work days. It was common knowledge that the families of alcoholics often ignored the drinking and abuse, and instead scapegoated an innocent member--often a child--as the "problem." Until the family was willing to see and deal with the REAL issues, the social worker could do little to help. Any attempts to bring up the drinking and/or abuse was seen as a threat and the family would band together--including the scapegoated member--and turn on the worker. Often they'd discontinue counseling at that point. It seemed as though no one but the worker could see the elephant sitting in the middle of the room. With many alcoholics and their families, things had to hit rock bottom before they would admit that they even HAD a problem.

The bottom line is, you can't help an individual, couple, family, group or nation until they're ready to be helped. As long as they are unwilling to see the problem in their midst, no change can come about. And those who SEE the problem and bring attention to it will be considered the enemy. The family/group/nation will pull together and present a united front to what they see as an unwarranted attack. "United we stand; divided we fall."

And so it appears that the majority of people in the United States have yet to see or want to deal with the elephant in the room. If the elections were fair--Who knows?--then those of us who have done our best to point out the "drinker/abuser" in our midst are now the enemy. And when this country hits rock bottom (and probably brings the rest of the world down with it), it will do little good to say, "I told you so."

But we did the best we could, and in the doing, we created strong bonds and built communities that will forge ahead whoever is in office.

I think of the Dutch Resistance during the Hitler years. The worse things got, the stronger and more courageous they became. So it will be with us. And we're going to do more than simply resist the decisions Bush and his people will make in the next four years; we'll be working to create the change we know must come for our planet to survive.

To bring up another in our historic annals of resisters, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. did so much more than simply stand up in nonviolent resistance to the racist oppression suffered by him and his people in this country. He built coalitions, forged community, was part of creating new ways of living and working together, and he dreamed. Dr. King never stopped dreaming of a future where all would live together as equal members of the human family. And those of us who came together to protect the voting rights of all in this election, manifested the fruits of his dream.

Think how Dr. King would have viewed our small efforts at that east side Detroit polling station yesterday. Black and white working together in mutual respect to make sure that each and every one of our sisters and brothers could cast their ballots without fear of intimidation or procedural abuses. And I'm proud to say that we succeeded. Detroit's massive turnout of voters helped bring the entire state of Michigan into Kerry's camp. As a side note, it was fun to overhear last night the final count in one of the precincts where I was helping out: Kerry=402, Bush=8. Believe me, the African-American community definitely sees that elephant in the room!

Yes, I feel sad today. I am disappointed in the American people. I wish they would open their eyes to what their president has done and is intending to do. But I'm not going to focus too much of my precious energy on them or their leader. Instead I'm going to continue working creatively and in community for the just and peaceful world we know is possible. It's time to move beyond resistance of the old to construction of the new. And I want to be part of the building crew.

Here's a watercolor painting I made today. I call it, "The Great Divide."