What To Do
Last week I went to Deep Cuts in Medford to watch the election results. Medford had its first ever Proposition 2 ½ overrides on the ballot, to protect the jobs of teachers, fund our schools, fix our roads and sidewalks, and allow us to borrow enough money to do a massive upgrade to our main fire station (technically a debt exclusion but I am trying hard not to bore you). The overrides for the schools and roads passed, but not the debt exclusion for the fire house. That’s okay, we were really excited and happy that the voters had a chance to make their voices heard and that we don’t have to fire any teachers next year. Medford voters came through for their own, and that was something to celebrate on election night.
There wasn’t much else to celebrate, though.
It has taken me a long time to process the election. Another woman lost the presidency. Our rights are already hanging by a thread. Rights other people already fought for (!) are being stripped away, even as we speak, even with a Democratic president in office right now. The groundwork was laid a long time ago and sometimes it feels like there’s no use fighting.
So what do we do, those of us who were disappointed by the national election results? For me, the solution is to look at our local elections, our local battles and victories, and what comes next. Who needs us to fight for them right here?
The night after the election, there was a Medford Community Development Board meeting to discuss a proposed shelter for women and children, survivors of domestic violence, in a currently vacant former convent. The meeting was on Zoom, and I attended to hear about the plans and voice my support.
Many people also came on to voice their opposition to the proposed shelter. They said there isn’t enough parking. They said the children who would live there might be loud. They said the people who the women and children were fleeing could follow them to the shelter and commit further violence (This one really got me. What should we do instead? Where should they go, if not here?). The meeting lasted three hours and it was continued to a future meeting in December, so the board has time to review documentation.
Though I have been avoiding social media since the election, I did see on Facebook that there would be a neighborhood meeting about how to block the shelter from opening in the convent. I attended that meeting as well, though I was late because of a prior engagement. When I walked into the neighborhood meeting, somebody said “well here’s Emily.”
In 2013, I had three miscarriages in a row (stay with me). The second one was kind of a doozy. I wouldn’t stop bleeding and every time I thought it was over, the intense pain and bleeding would start again. I had to go to the hospital for a D&C, which is the same as a surgical abortion. Actually, all miscarriages are called spontaneous abortions, medically. Since the election, I keep thinking about how if I had been trying to have a baby this year, in, say, Texas, instead of 11 years ago in Massachusetts, I could have been denied that surgical abortion I needed. Maybe instead I would have bled out in my car in the hospital parking lot, like what keeps happening to those other women. And then I never would have had my two kids. I never would have run for office in my little city. I never would have watched Donald Trump become president and put anti-abortion activist judges on the Supreme Court.
I never would have worked at the Malden Warming Center and become passionate about helping people experiencing homelessness.
I never would have been told I’m condescending in a public forum.
But lucky me, my miscarriages happened in 2013 in Massachusetts. And I’m here to tell the tale and to keep up the fight and to explain to everyone in Medford that an appropriate application of the Dover Amendment is job training on site at a homeless shelter for women and children who are survivors of domestic violence.
We take our wins where we can get them. And when things seem too dark and pointless, I suggest we can look to the places where we can still help.
One such place is on Zoom on December 4th at 6:30pm. If you think that Medford should be part of the solution, hop on Zoom and voice your support. Materials can be viewed here. I’ll see you there.
the author on election night
