Month: March 2025

https://thehydeparkcreativeconnector.org/event/open-mic-at-the-switch-2/

Find out what’s going on in Hyde Park, MA

The Hyde Park Creative Connector captures the essence of what makes Hyde Park an extraordinary place to live, work, and play. Our website highlights Hyde Park’s ongoing visual, performing, and arts education events in the neighborhood . Our comprehensive calendar provides a guide to events, cultural activities, performances, classes, festivals and more! By building awareness of the rich tapestry of activities audiences will increase, our creative economy will grow and people of all ages will benefit from opportunities to learn and participate in the creative culture of Hyde Park.

Hey, friends.

The recent events in the news are unsettling. I hope you’re all finding ways to gather strength and comfort as we witness clear wrongdoing unfold.

It’s becoming painfully clear that there is little room left to understand the differences in American opinions. In a community, we strive to build bridges — but our nation is not a community. We have become a collection of tribes, and too many have abandoned the idea of a greater good.

I once believed that talking, listening, and understanding were the way forward. That we could forge a path together. But today, I no longer believe that’s enough. Instead, it is better to oppose, boycott, and speak out against hate, deception, and oppression.

A few weeks ago, I was traveling, speaking with a driver who, without humor or irony, told me he was listening to “lefty radio to find out what Soros was up to with all them judges.”

The students I was chaperoning went silent. Maybe, for the first time, they were witnessing a real-life, brainwashed Republican.

Two weeks ago, I was in a different mindset. Sitting next to this aged veteran, still working to survive in a tough economy, struggling with his health, yet still smiling, still helpful — he was someone I would try to reach. And, like Charlie Brown running for the football, I foolishly tried. I nodded and then gently pointed out how the rich are not looking out for us, how Trump and Fox are enriching themselves at the expense of veterans like him. And that Trump was a draft dodger who mocks veterans.

His response? “Oh, I’ll have to look into that.”

Yes, friends, I am that fool. I want to believe that these voters — the supporters and perpetuators of hate and injustice — are not bad people.

But today, I see it differently. It’s not Trump I’m most angered with.

“In a democracy, the people get the government they deserve.”

So, I woke this morning, and the first thought I had was of that driver from Tennessee. I pity him in some ways, but I am no longer tolerant of his ignorance. He, and others like him, who choose to support this government — they are the problem. Pro-republican businesses are the problem. Any pizza shop with Fox news on TV is the problem.

The billionaires and tech leaders who profit from their ignorance are the problem. The corporations kneeling to anti-DEI pressure, the whitewashing of our news, the entities that are not for us are the problem. They are against us.

And I am against them.

Our family is discontinuing support for businesses that enable this system. We will not fund companies that turn a blind eye to oppression. Shopping locally is only the start. We need to cut off the source of power to these groups.

I tend to agree with those who seem alarmist: we are in a dangerous moment in history.

Boycotts, divestiture, and financial pressure have worked before. The Montgomery Bus Boycott and economic strain it caused forced equal treatment in public transit and helped dismantle segregation. It turns out the work isn’t over. We have to turn up the heat.

There is a great tradition of fighting for justice. Not all fights are fought in anger and violence, even when we are angry.

So, that’s where I’m at today. And what’s getting me through this: there is work to be done, and I intend to do it.

Would love to connect or hear your thoughts — what’s getting you through the day?

Dave

Bonus: Some quotes that keep me going:

“If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor.” — Desmond Tutu

“Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.” — Martin Luther King Jr.

“There may be times when we are powerless to prevent injustice, but there must never be a time when we fail to protest.” — Elie Wiesel

“The function of freedom is to free someone else.” — Toni Morrison