America won because we showed up. Here's my personal note.
During the Houston Peace & Justice Center Peacemaker Awards dinner many attended this weekend, our Senate win was called during the event as we honored warriors for the cause. On a personal note, ...
Yesterday I left the Houston Peace & Justice Center (HPJC) Peacemaker Award feeling like I was one of the awardees. We awarded the National HPJC Peacemaker Award to Dr. Reuben Jonathan Miller, a Sociology Professor at the University of Chicago, researching how racialized and poor people experience law, crime control, and social welfare policy. The local awards went to Dr. Peter Hotez and Dr. Maria Elena Bottazzi for their work in developing a public domain COVID vaccine, the Honorable Rep. Senfronia Thompson for her decades of service to Texas, and Lenore Walker for her work at Casa Juan Diego assisting immigrants. I was honored to have received one of those awards the same year our competent Judge Lina Hidalgo received it a few years back. I was honored to present the award to the Honorable Texas State Representative, Senfronia Thompson.
Here is why I felt like an awardee among these illustrious recipients. It is about the affirmation from an audience you always hope is there that is really there.
First, a short back story: I am not the type that goes out seeking any personal recognition. Anyone who works with me will tell you I believe activating us all as a collective, not the false individualism we have been indoctrinated into, is how we create a just society. It was my choice to give up my software development company to become a full-time political blogger/activist journalist. Even though I make many times less than I did developing software, my wife never complained, and in fact, for the last few years, she went back to work part-time, so we could have affordable health insurance.
16-hour-days/7-days-per-week can be taxing. Every now and then, the bad hormones in my body put these in my mind. Is it worth it? Should I go to back to the individualist capitalist mantra that puts business over humanity? Look, I have never given up on anything, so I always knew that feeling would pass.
Well, the last five days gave me enough of a high to last. The first gift I received was the confirmation that everything I thought about us as a collective was true. I have been sending out newsletters saying to ignore the polls. Like Michael Moore, talking to people on the Left and on the Right told a different story. Many folks I know who were on the take for some time would tell me quietly that they could have no more of the crazy turmoil. And you know what? They voted that way. Even with gerrymandered districts, except for New York, which shot itself in the foot and could cost Democrats the House, Democrats were in the hunt. Democracy got a reprieve. And what is the gift? Millennials and GenZs. were the ones who saved us. They are beginning to take the country into their hands, which is the biggest gift we could ask for now.
The second gift at the HPJC Peacemaker award dinner is a bit more personal. A young couple saw me and began speaking to me as if they had known me for a long time. They both listen to Politics Done Right and told me they love how we give everyone a place to land with dignity. At least two dozen people stopped me and either thanked me for being a mouthpiece of logic, civility, and humanity or for being a listener. The one that touched me the most was a woman who told me that after reading my book “It’s Worth It: How To Talk To Your Right-Wing Relatives, Friends, And Neighbors,” she was able to communicate with her Right Wing family with love and compassion. How can one not want to double down and keep working for the movement after knowing one is making a difference in some small way?
As I write this note, I received a call from Dr. Deborah Katz, a very kind supporter. She follows and reads our articles and newsletters. She told me she appreciated my work and that we are making a large difference. It’s clear Dr. Katz was elated with the outcome of the midterms. It is clear she read our last note that urged all to disregard the polls as we were certain that when the chips were down, our country would come through.
We have a lot of work left to do. We must mend and extend our democracy to cover our economic system. Only then can we live in the Utopia we are capable of becoming. I intend to do my part.
Worthwhile Reads
I am working on the new book below, released in series form, chapter by chapter, using Amazon’s Vella platform. Please check it out here.
My books allow us to keep telling the progressive narrative in a form the mainstream media cannot because they are funded by those they must somewhat appease. All of my books have AudioBook, Paperback, and Kindle versions.
Register: Ask Egberto Anything
Ask Egberto Anything: Meet with Egberto and other paid subscribers via Zoom at 11 AM Central on the first Saturday of every month. You can tell me anything, ask me anything, or give me suggestions for articles you want me to research. We can even discuss a topic you command for which you like us to interview you on our radio/video show Politics Done Right.
If you have thoughts or ideas on this issue/post, please click the “Leave a comment” button below and offer your opinion or information. Only subscribers can comment, so there won’t be any trolls or spammers.