Let's Make a Cloud! And Other Community Organizing Tips

 

When I was 7, my family moved from one county Kentucky to another. That's pretty huge for people in Kentucky. There are 120 counties in the state. Which I know because I had to memorize all of their names and their county seats and place them correctly on a map in 7th grade. Which I did.

If you ask a Kentucky where s/he's from, and s/he's not from a town that someone may have actually heard of like Lexington or Louisville, then you'll get a county as an answer. I mean, Kentucky counties also have Judge-Executives, which are like mayors of the county.

All of which is to say that counties are really important and moving from one to another is a big deal.

So when my family moved counties, I was in a different school and in first grade and didn't really know anyone and didn't really realize that that should probably matter, because to me it didn't.

Because it was recess and the sun was shining and it was September and the sky was blue and I had on a new dress, and I wanted to make a cloud.

I really wanted to make a cloud.

At recess in this county, the whole school went outside to take recess at the same time. So in addition to the first graders being outside on the giant asphalt playground with the chemical plants blinking off in the bakcground. In addition to all of that, there were also second, third, fourth, fifth and sixth graders. And I still wanted to make a cloud.

So I did what any new kid surrounded by like 150 other kids would do. I put on my big girl voice and I somehow convinced every single person on that giant playground to hold hands in a giant circle.

I somehow sweet-talked every one of those kids into making a cloud.

It was so awesome. Right up until someone looked up at me and goes, "now what?"

Um. I dunno, idiot. We made a cloud. You should be happy.

Anyway. Last week, I had the opportunity to do the grown-up version of that when I helped to organize the first meeting of the Roslindale for Elizabeth Warren group.

It was amazing. We had 50 people come out on a Thursday night in February to talk about how much they wanted to elect Elizabeth Warren to office. And out of that meeting, we worked and organized and got delegates committed to Elizabeth Warren, elected in several Ward Committee caucuses on Saturday.

It was fantastic.

And almost kinda better than making a cloud.

Almost.