I wrote in my last post about my amazing trip to Portland Oregon. One of the highlights for me was seeing Harvey Milk’s name on a street sign. My heart lifted and it felt as if sunlight was piercing through dark clouds, the dark clouds we wake up to every day as small-minded, evil people try to crush our spirits, dishonor our heroes, and erase our history.
One of the people they have sought to erase is Harvey Milk. Harvey Milk was one of the first openly gay people to run for office (in San Francisco). Unfortunately, his political career was cut short when he was assassinated.
I was a child living in California when Milk was killed, and I have a dim memory of seeing the headline about his assassination. At the time, I knew very little about politics and nothing about homosexuality, but I remember seeing a photo of a man with a kind smile and wondering why anyone would want to hurt him. You can read more about Harvey Milk here.
As I grew older and learned more about him, he became for me the embodiment of the kind of person we should all strive to be, kind, funny, strong, compassionate, beloved, and brave.
I am a passionate person. I feel things quickly and deeply. It is both a blessing and a curse. I have a lot of capacity for joy but am also quick to anger. Some of the things that anger me the most are injustice and cruelty. That’s been challenging lately because injustice and cruelty are everywhere these days.
When Harvey Milk’s name was removed from the USNS Harvey Milk I felt deeply angry. White hot angry. Scary angry.
He was everything that his detractors are not and I’m sure their failure to measure up to him as a person and a leader has more to do with their antipathy towards him than their blatant homophobia.
That street sign in Portland was a powerful reminder that Milk’s name and legacy will never be erased. Neither will the names and legacies of the many other heroes we owe so much to. John Lewis, Harriet Tubman, Cesar Chavez, Dolores Huerta, Martin Luther King….
I truly believe the evil currently at work will be defeated and relegated to the shameful dustbin of history. There are more good people in the world and in the United States than there are bad people and goodness has a long track record of success.
It’s going to take a lot of work for all of us to survive this dark time and emerge victoriously. We must mobilize, vote, boycott and speak out at every opportunity.
I take comfort in finding little ways to proclaim my values and my admiration for our heroes past and present. I never leave the house without a purse, so I use my purses as a message board. I have a Ukrainian flag pin on one purse, a quote from MLK on another purse, one of my favorite purses is a rainbow themed. I bought it to celebrate Pride month, and I continue to celebrate all year long.
We might not be able to stop petty, insecure people from changing names and altering documents and websites, but we can plaster the world with those names, stories, and symbols and we can have fun and feel joyful while doing it. Never underestimate the power of joy.
Stay strong, be happy, and thanks for reading.
Eileen Blake
