If any of you were lucky enough to watch the movie “ Sliding Doors” you know the impact of making choices in our lives. Yesterday, I made the choice, along with a dozen or more club members to attend a WATCH PARTY at Holiday’s lovely home. We all made the choice to sit and listen to a host of singers ,actors and activists who shared their stories about how vital it is to stand up and announce how our First Amendment is being challenged and our rights to assembly and free speech are under attack. Choice to cower to this administration or show that there is power in numbers and we should always be on the side of what’s fair and right for a society.
We stand on the backs of those that fought to keep our democracy intact and we are eternally grateful for the sacrifices and choices they made. So I stand in the knowledge and strength that we all experienced on that marvelous “Rise Up, Sing Out” event on Sunday. A WISE CHOICE!
Rise Up Success
Sunday, Diana and I went to Holiday and JT’s who hosted a potluck and Jane Fonda’s “Rise Up and Sing Out” concert watch. We were out on the back deck and yard, lots of food with some spicy hot sausage. (I’m just now getting over the heartburn.) The weather was great and the company was awesome.
Jane Fonda resurrected The Committee for the First Amendment who hosted the event. It was a star-studded event with lots of speeches and songs by icons like Bette Midler, Patti Smith, Rufus Wainwright. Newcomers like Sasha Allen sang inspirational songs, choirs, with not so flattering lines about Trump.
One of our members, Corn, told us his brother writes lyrics for Bette Midler. During her song, “All You Fascists Bound to Lose”, there was a rather seedy line and Corn turned and said, “I know my brother wrote that line.” Mila was sitting slightly in front of me, (what a classy lady she is). She was trying to remember all the catch phrases, trying to video it on her phone and singing out the songs, (even when she didn’t know the words). Just watching her take in the show was very entertaining.
Julia Roberts read a moving poem for Renee Good by Nobel laureate Amanda Gorman, though the best line was by Roberts, “Renee Nicole Good is not a symbol. She is an American woman, a queer woman who was doing the very best she could do to be good in an unjust world.”
Wilson Cruz spoke on how Gov. Abbott “clicked his little boot spurs” and erased all the rainbow crosswalks in Texas. So, they rose up and painted rainbows on sidewalks instead. Co-Founder of Black Voters Matters, La Tosha Brown, gave such an emotional speech one in our group yelled out “I want to go to her church!”
My hero stole the show. Robert De Niro has become a strong outspoken thorn in Trump’s (!). He opened with, “And welcome to all of you who couldn’t get tickets to the White House cage fight.” Someone yelled out, “You go Bobby!” when he said, “I hate to say it, but loving our country is starting to sound like an abused spouse saying they love their abuser.” He shocked us when he said, “When I hear Trump say, ‘I don’t think about Americans’ financial situation, not even a little bit,’ I say, ‘Shut the f* up.'” He then led us on a litany of Trump’s lines and we all responded loudly with “Shut the f* up.” (I hope the neighbors weren’t listening.)
My favorite part was right at the crescendo of the last song to end the concert. The song built then we heard a loud beep and a popup that said “Battery Low”. After walking Lake Gergory, protesting with the Mountain Bears across from Goodwins and the concert, my battery was running low too.
Thanks go to Holiday, TJ and Alan for hosting. I needed an evening like that.
By Terry Masl – Proud Member of the Mountain Bears Democratic Club
Edited by Diana Cosand, (the member who puts up with Terry on a daily basis).
