Most images I choose for this blog post are meant to depict the theme. This week’s image actually inspired it. I was trying to find a picture of a domino run with a hand blocking falling dominoes. It was to represent the question, “If you could prioritize any issue that, if properly addressed, would prevent other issues from escalating, what would it be?” It has been a great conversation starter. (For the record, my “single issue” right now would be mental health.) I had planned to go further into why this has been a helpful analogy for me, when the above picture caught my eye.
Maybe it’s the color contrast…a single figure in bright red against a line of figures in drab grey. Eye catching. Or perhaps it was the fact that the red figure is facing a different direction and that simple act of defiance appears to be stopping the domino effect from happening. Or is it the similarity between folks in this moment refusing to “fall” to dominant narratives of powerlessness or status quo? I honestly don’t know. What I do know is that I feel like that character in red. I want to be that character in red.
When Micah Beckwith, Republican candidate for Lt. Gov., called Democratic women at the top of our ticket as having a “Jezebel Spirit”, many around me laughed, rolled their eyes or audibly groaned. A few rightfully took offense while the majority responded with an appropriate “What the…?”. For me, it hit a little differently. I grew up in religious spaces that spoke in terms like that. For way too many women, that term was intended to silence. To communicate, “you’ve crossed a line, go back where you belong.” Well, we’re not going back.
Many folks more eloquent than me can speak about this blurring of separation of church and state (school vouchers anyone?), but I want to talk about what it means to be a Christian woman running for political office where my faith has been weaponized against me and the very people I am trying to represent. The number of voters (and fellow candidates) who also identify as Christian and Democrat and are being vilified right now is not only alarming, it is deeply grieving. There is a public shunning that is happening in the shadows. And for those who have been traumatized by authoritarian spaces, it can trigger fight, flight, freeze and fawn responses. Those “Stepford Wives” we see on Fox News? Fawn responses. Watch a Trump rally. There.Is.So.Much.Fawning. And there is so much pain.
When national, state, and especially local policies ignore very real needs around hunger, housing, healthcare, and ultimately human dignity, we are left with deep-seated hurt and anger that, left unchecked, can be radicalized. Since Trump entered the scene, he has been able to do two things very, very well. First, he tapped into the Evangelical single-issue, anti-abortion voter that has been cultivated since the Reagan era. (This group previously were single-issue pro-segregation voters.) Second, he was able to effectively say, “THEY won’t help you…but I will.” It doesn’t really matter who the “they” are. Once Trump became a trusted voice, he could define the “they” into whomever he wished. Once Trump became a trusted voice, groupthink set in.
When I saw this image of the red figure choosing to reorient themselves differently and put themselves in a position to stabilize others so as to prevent them from toppling over, I felt like I was seeing our moment in time. Our collective decisions to refuse division, refuse hatred, and to redetermine, no matter who wins these races, to hold our electeds accountable are not only necessary, but they can also be transformative.
Yes, I’m running for State Representative for House District 60. And that district is part of Indiana, which is part of the USA. As such, I am one small part, one figure, who has decided to stand firmly for a vision of Indiana that remembers the best of humanity from our collective past and longs for what we can achieve together when we truly commit to a united vision for our future. And if Indiana turns purple or outright blue on Nov. 5, it will indicate we have a LOT of folks ready to do more than just stand. What a state we will become when we all start moving together with a united vision that wants ALL Hoosiers to thrive.
Let’s Do This Together!!
My name is Michelle Higgs, and I am running to represent House District 60. If you want a different voice in the Statehouse, someone who champions people over profiteers or partisan politics, please consider me your next State Representative. I would be honored to receive your support and, most importantly, your vote this election.
https://voteformichellehiggs.com
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[Continue reading this issue of Mondays with Michelle]
