JAMES MALPHRUS: Some words from an NK3 organizer

James Malphrus

I’m one of the organizers of Dougherty LOVES Democracy’s No Kings 3 Picnic & Rally that took place on March 28 in Tift Park. I won’t bore you with details, but for us it was a resounding success.

Instead, I want to use this moment to shed some light on what I’m about and the hope I carry for this movement that is taking place in communities across our country. You can consider this everything that I want to say to all the people who are fighting over the two bases in a box canyon that is national politics

I’m not here to blindly support Democrats, and I’m not here to blindly bash Republicans. I’m here to build a community that can speak to the halls of power that govern our lives. This modern age has lulled us into silence with its relative safety, but as that safety evaporates, we cannot stay silent.

If we want our governments to be responsive to us, then we must be responsible for them. Responsibility starts as awareness, but it follows through with action. This is what action looks like: Using your voice to assert your beliefs. Standing up in the face of opposition and complacency. Building community and solidarity.

For many of us, the last 15 months have been a horror show, but if we learn anything from it, let it be that our communities need our action. They need us to stand in the face of those who wield wealth and power to tilt decisions in their favor, and in the face of those making decisions on their behalf. They need us to engage with civic policy and remind elected officials who they work for.

And they need us to build bulwarks of resilience to hold up those who get left behind. All that starts right here, with our feet on the ground in hometowns across this country. But to build a coalition of support that can overcome our current tribalism will take work. It will take leaving the safety of the narrow social groups that have insulated us and molded our worldviews.

We have let these discrete groups partition our lives, and we have become too rigid in our isolation from one another, too red versus blue.

Too often, I watch people parrot talking points and opinions built on the backs of pundits. I urge you to consider that the people you mock and heckle are reasonable members of our community. They are neighbors, co-workers, and family members, and I have no doubt that you interact with dozens of them on any given day.

But the animosity? It’s always loudest online. That’s baked into the design; these algorithms, they train us on friction and insular safety. That pundit who tells you people like me are trying to destroy our country will never meet me to find out he’s wrong, but you meet people like me every day. Sometimes to buy a coke, sometimes to break bread, and sometimes with just a smile and a nod in passing. 

We’ve become laser-focused on that national stage. It’s our gravest mistake. Our city and county governments have direct roles in our day-to-day lives, and our state government is our best vehicle of influence on the national stage. While national leadership riles and razzes you, local leadership operates in near total obscurity.

Bring your focus back here. Let’s forget about national politics for a moment. Let’s set aside the litany of anxieties and grievances that this administration, this congress, and their talking heads have laid at our feet. Let’s talk about the ground that we stand on.

Albany’s history is filled with mistakes and mismanagement, but despite the blight and
the economic struggle, people are working to build this city up. They’re running community gardens, restoring historic buildings, and curating art spaces. They’re building community support for students, parents and teachers. They’re reviving recreational and cultural spaces that our government let fall through the cracks.

They are working, and they need your help. They need your labor. They need your
love. They need your vision. Together we can make this community a better place for everyone.

While many people stay home, sitting up in their broadband towers letting a screen tell them who to hate, I’m going to seek out people who want to build stronger communities. Those efforts will build a stronger America — and I’m going to give them a hand. I may not always agree with them, but I can listen to their ideas, seek out the commonalities that we share, collaborate, compromise, and build things together.