Credit: L.A. Kurth.
Recently, I had an experience of solidarity so precious it stands out as a significant moment of my life. And it wasn’t associated with victory. On the contrary, it was accompanied by virtually nothing but defeat. At a recent Working Class Studies conference, I heard from and sang with members of the Wisconsin Solidarity Singalong, an overlapping and unofficial group who have sung historic and updated protest songs in the Wisconsin State Capitol every weekday noon (so as not to disrupt official business) for over 600 days. Let me pause and ask: What would it take for you to protest every weekday noon for 600 working days – without ever being successful? How about if you were ticketed hundreds of times (the “conductor” of the singers had personally received 140 tickets), harassed, punched in the face, sent to trial? This is in the context of spectators being “tossed from the chambers for things like taking a picture, displaying a sign, reading a newspaper or wearing a hat.”
What happens to freedom of speech when you can’t put tape over your mouth to express protest at not being allowed to sing? What happens to you as a result of this commitment? I think the answer is your life changes – and the world around you changes, on an almost invisible yet vitally important scale.
Who are some of these singers? One was an oncology nurse. Being so close to death on the job made her especially mindful of living a meaningful life and protesting in a peaceful way. Another was a labor lawyer who mentioned that prosecutors were trying to invoke the RICO Conspiracy act to stop the “terrorizing” caused by the singing. One was the husband of a school teacher who felt he could not stand by while his wife’s work life was under attack. One was a municipal worker who cleaned the streets and did activism around issues of homelessness. Whenever she told other singers about a homeless person needing a sleeping bag, food, or other supply, she could count on their help, she said. She had an official union, a good one, she said, but her fellow singers “were her real union.” Some were musicians. Several were retired people. I even met a woman who said she had been thinking about where to retire, and when she saw the protests on TV, she moved to Madison. One was a Ph.D. candidate in sociology.
Credit: L.A. Kurth.
The personal bonds between them were warm and visible, but their continuing work also depended on the support and donated labor of many lawyers and citizens. On the surface, the Wisconsin protests have diminished, but a movement remains that cannot be extirpated because it comes from people’s hearts and values. As Pablo Neruda said, “You can pick the flowers but you can’t stop the spring.”
Their singing was robust and radiant, and a group like ours could not help but stand and sing with them, fists raised, tears in our eyes. We were singing not just in the face of the lurch toward fascism that’s happening in Wisconsin (and extends far beyond public workers), but about the long history of courage and connection that is solidarity. And on the musical level, we were continuing the surprisingly long (and reviving) tradition of Labor Choruses. (See DC, Baltimore, Twin Cities, Seattle, New York, San Francisco.)
One unexpected result of the Wisconsin Spring/Occupy the Capitol movement was a huge step forward in addressing homelessness. There are now two homeless people on the Housing Board in Madison where formerly the board did not even consider homelessness to be under its purview. But the biggest result has been a living, on-the-ground democracy, the continued participation and caring of people who had never before in their lives carried a picket sign or signed a petition.
Credit: L.A. Kurth.
Remember those long, long, Reagan-Bush years? For me, one toxic byproduct of that time was a continual sense of rage and despair. My pattern at the time was this: flash of outrage, flurry of activity, desperate waiting, defeat, despair. Repeat until burnout. Many of my political conversations were about how terrible the opposition was. Since then, I’ve thought long and hard about sustainable activism that’s less of a fireworks and more of a Novena candle, an activism that continues past fury – true solidarity with the power to inspire and sustain over the long haul.
Because it’s always a long haul. Unlike Marx, I don’t believe in either the dictatorship of the proletariat (dictatorship? What were you thinking, Karl?) or “the withering away of the state” (now a Republican mantra). But solidarity exists, and we are all capable of it. Even more, in our increasingly isolated society, our well-being depends on it.
Oh, and one more benefit of the Solidarity Singalong? All of them said their singing voices had improved like crazy.
Univeristy of Wisconsin, Madison campus. Credit: L.A. Kurth.
A perfect example of spiritual activism! I’m thinking over how to create the same thing here in San Francisco.
Thank you so much for the comment. I am sure there are pockets of such commitment tucked away all over San Francisco (think how long the SF Mime Troupe has been around!). It seems to help if the activity keeps people in the moment. I wonder if there is a “chapter” of the Overpass Light Brigade in the Bay Area. That seems promising.http://overpasslightbrigade.org/ If it were in San Jose, I’d like to get involved!
Oh, thank you, for this antidote to despair. It does my heart good to see this struggle through your eyes.
Thank you, Lita. You’ve articulated my thoughts (as well as my own pattern from Reagan-Bush) from that gathering so well! What amazing resistance. I’m eager to go back.
But more than that, I’m eager to find a way to carry on that same hopeful style of resistance here.
For a copy of the latest 52-song songbook click here: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/1940227/52%20songs.pdf
Visit the SSA on Facebook here: https://www.facebook.com/SolidaritySingAlong
thanks, thanks, thanks!
Thank you for this wonderful article. I am the teacher’s husband you mentioned. The total is now around 700 Sing Alongs! What a great feeling knowing that we had such a positive influence on the conference-goers, and I really love the phrase “Sustainable Solidarity”.
Just a slight correction. The total number of citations given out is about 140, but they were not all given to one person. I think the most given to one person is about 25. Rumor is they are going to hand out more soon, but we’re not going away!
Thank you so much for the corrections! I’m so delighted that some of the singers actually got to read this!
Thanks so much for this wonderful article. Bob Bergman from WI posted it on my FB timeline. I had the joy also of singing with the this group a number of times when I was in WI two years ago. I went every day I was there that the singers were there. Starting solidarity singing groups all over the country is a great idea. I just wrote a post to a friend in WI grieving her husband’s death about my still grieving, a year and a half later, my brother’s death, too young.He loved singing, was a great singer, and was in many choruses and also an activist. So now I am thinking of starting such a group here in Boston and in his memory, in the memory of all who we have lost, tears running down my cheeks. Thanks again.
It was wonderful when members of Moral Monday joined us on Friday. We all felt better knowing how connected we are.
Just wanted to send a message of solidarity today–knowing that 22 of you got arrested–and now the tickets/fines are $200? Isn’t that higher than before?
Please know that many many people from coast to coast are thinking of you. As my friend, Kari, said, “It’s time to sing that song ‘How Can I Keep From Singing?'” Warm thoughts to all of you.
Really? Wow! how cool! I agree; that connection helps us continue through these long hard times
A central issue that continues to be over-looked: Unrelieved poverty. This generation wiped out poverty relief, and then media/liberals rushed in the establish the Middle Class Only theme that has only been divisive. It appears that we dare not consider reality: Not everyone can work, due to health or circumstances, and there simply aren’t jobs for all who desperately need one. This is why modern societies require a legitimate welfare system. Today, millions of us are a single job loss from losing absolutely everything. How do you then get a job without a home address, phone, bus fare? Donations/food drives help, but reach only a fraction of those in need, and such aid is very sporadic at best. Welfare WAS the rungs on the ladder out of poverty for over 80% of recipients. If we won’t stand with fellow citizens in need, then we aren’t worth much as a people, a nation.
thank you for weighing in regarding these immense obstacles, DHFabian. I absolutely agree with you. It’s so hard not to feel hopeless and isolated when even these minimal needs cannot be met