Busy Weekend with Sunrise
It’s the Monday before the campaign launch, and I’m sitting here on my lunch break wishing I had more iced coffee because the weekend was non-stop. Saturday I went to a 9am-7pm End the Oligarchy training with Sunrise Chicago. If they have another one soon: I cannot recommend it enough! I learned so much about organizing and the nuts and bolts of activism, but it was also just nice to be in a room with so many people who were motivated to actually do something about all the horrible things going on right now. It can all be so overwhelming, it’s easy to feel powerless and demotivated, but nothing fights those feelings like being part of a community dedicated to making a difference.
I felt so energized afterwards that despite having gotten up early and spending all day at a training, I went out dancing afterwards at a local club that was having a Recession Pop night. The girl I met in line is going to have a crazy story to tell when she realizes I was serious about running for Congress (I guess you could say it was bananas…B-A-N-A-N-A-S). I didn’t see her again after we got inside though, so I hope she had a good time. I certainly did, dancing to Ke$ha songs with one of my best friends and using the photo booth even though it was overpriced because “come on, it’s my birthday!”
Oh yeah, did I mention I’m announcing my campaign on my birthday? When I was looking at the timeline and things seemed to be lining up for a late July launch, one date in particular seemed like the obvious choice.
Sunday, that very same best friend and I went to the Make Polluters Pay Rally on the UChicago campus. We held banners, listened to some phenomenal speakers, and sang songs in support of Illinois passing Climate Superfund Legislation (the same kind that I want to introduce at the federal level, yes Sunrise is exactly where I stole this idea from). And a photo of me at the event even made it into the article in the Chicago Tribune! I talked to some people afterwards about the campaign, asking some of the photographers there if they’d mind sending photos that I could post on the campaign socials once we launch, getting advice, and pitching myself as a candidate. And through it all I felt so deeply guilty for doing so.
At both Sunrise events I attended over the weekend, I was open about my intentions to run for this seat. I tried not to be overbearing about it, tried not to make these events About Me™, and really tried to learn and show my support genuinely. Because I know I was there genuinely. I wanted to learn. I wanted to support the message. I wanted to make real friendships with people who care about the same things I do. I know I was there for all the “right reasons” but at the same time knowing I also did want something from them felt gross.
I want Sunrise Chicago’s endorsement for this campaign. I want volunteers to help me with it. I want people to vote for me if they live in my district. Can I be genuine if I’m strategic? Did they think I was some slimy politician just there for what I could get?
After the rally, I went to pay one of the speakers a compliment, and my friend started to say something that I thought was leading towards her telling him about my campaign. I practically tackled her to stop her because by that point I felt so awful about campaigning at the event that I was desperate not to have him think the compliment was fake, only in pursuit of support.
Her and I went to dinner afterwards, and I confessed my feelings around all of this, why I’d stopped her in that moment. That I felt guilty for all the work she’s done for this campaign. I’m lucky I have the kind of friends that will check me when I get too in my head about things. Her answer was that my friends have the same values I do, that they’re not just doing it to help me, but because they want to help people too. I just have to do my best to keep that in mind. My goal is to help people, to make this world a better place, asking others to help with that goal feels a lot easier than asking them to help get me elected.
I don’t know if I’ll ever get to the point where I don’t feel at least a little weird talking to people about the campaign, but maybe that’s a good thing.