Letters

It was a stunningly beautiful day for our community to gather for the worldwide rally declaring “No Kings” in America.

The sun reflected on my phone where my speech notes were housed, rendering my mapped-out speech a circuitous chopping block of ideas. Here are the points I made, inarticulately at best, and I hope we, everyone together, can keep marching in the right direction, deepening our roots of belonging on the East End.

I have lived in Springs for 25 years (still not a “local”), and my organization is The Neo-Political Cowgirls, a devising theater arts collective utilizing the arts as engine for amplifying the human voice, creating shared spaces of belonging where dialogue and curiosity spur creative empowerment and societal change.

We have six little free food pantries scattered across our towns here. I hope you will give to them and receive from them frequently, as we de-stigmatize the word “need” and support the great work of our local food banks. Find our pantry locations on our website, npcowgirls.org

I want to leave you with three bullet points for consideration, unpacking and activation:

The organizational model called mutual aid is where voluntary, collaborative exchanges of resources and services for common benefit take place among community members to overcome social, economic and political barriers to meeting common needs. This is of the utmost importance in these days for our community.

Two: Voices and ears. Each of us must engage our voice to speak up on behalf of each other, especially those most targeted, which at any moment could be you if it’s not already. And for every bit of speaking we do, do twice as much listening, leading with curiosity, putting judgment aside.

Three: People often say “I don’t trust the government.” Understood. What we must remember is that the government is made of people. And people have built these broken systems that we do not and should not trust when they harm people and planet, and misuse our money and hard work.

So at every single government level, know who you are voting for, why, and where they stand on issues that strengthen our roots. Don’t be tantalized by the bright and shiny decorations that politicians present; look at what they are feeding the roots of our community. We need to always inspect the roots, follow the money, and demand transparency, fairness, and open forum discussions.

Every one of us are connective threads that create our world. Please ponder your part. Please ponder these points. Mutual aid. Voices and ears. The roots of trust-building.

And let’s meet again soon to activate next steps. Happy, courageous “No Kings, No Fascists Day.”

Kate Mueth

Founder and Artistic Director

The Neo-Political Cowgirls