Good god. Incredible and incredibly necessary piece. Thank you for sharing. I live in a liberal echo chamber out here in Seattle, but I grew up in a poor, rural area on the other side of the state and this post is exactly what I’ve always wished I had at the ready when I hear a comment disparaging rural communities. So appreciate these words 🙏
so bittersweet to know it resonates with rural folks all across the country! So grateful to be validated by the experience of others, and frustrated that we share this experience 🖤❤️ thank you for reading, and sharing your feedback!
Fellow Northern & “blue state” liberals & leftists stop being jerks to folks in the Appalachia, the South & red states generally. Let's take a good look at our values & actually live them! There's lots of amazing current & past mutual aid & organizing going on in various rural communities.
Thank you for sharing such a poignant and beautiful picture of Appalachia. It resonates with me as a resident of Nebraska, a very red, largely rural state that also receives comments like “thoughts and tariffs” and “have the day you voted for” in spite of having a more complex make up than the record would reflect. Your words caused me to check myself in my own frustration with the folks in my community who might be politically aligned differently from me, and reminded me that *I* was aligned differently not all that long ago.
The call to relationship and community building resonated deep in my soul. As a grass-roots community organizer around behavioral health systems development, I needed reminding that the work of dismantling is all interconnected.
I have goosebumps and tears, thank you for sharing this validating feedback. I am so grateful that the call to community and relationships resonated with you! We need each other 🖤❤️
Interesting piece. Reminded me of "The Long Southern Strategy" by Maxwell and Shields. We who live here (WNC) know the multitude of problems that we face and it seems the best we can hope for is incremental change. If even a 2nd Trump presidency isn't enough of a shock to the political system to force change throughout, I don't know what is or will do it. But we have to stay involved, even if it feels like nothing is moving in the right direction. The "player on the other side", if we're to take a metaphor from Huxley, isn't a benign force. It's malevolent and it makes mistakes. I think that the liberal/progressive/radical side should take that into account when countering their moves, even when it feels hopeless. That's their endgame - our feeling hopeless and giving up. One grain of sand can break the dam eventually. That should be our collective end goal - work towards change constantly. Build networks with like-minded people and eventually we will have the change we want. I'm reminded that civil rights is an on-going struggle, lasting over 150 years. But change has come, and for the better. I believe that positive change will come with environmental justice, gender equality, etc. but only if we continue towards those goals TOGETHER. As the late Judy Tenuta said, "It could happen."
Fellow Appalachian leftist here- thank you for passing along these incredible points. I have felt no stronger sense of mutual aid, community, and revolution than in these beautiful mountains we call home. Appalachia has been dogged on time and again, beaten down and buried, and people still wonder why we face the problems we do, and it goes so far beyond modern day politics. We are far more complicated than others in the country assume us to be
Good god. Incredible and incredibly necessary piece. Thank you for sharing. I live in a liberal echo chamber out here in Seattle, but I grew up in a poor, rural area on the other side of the state and this post is exactly what I’ve always wished I had at the ready when I hear a comment disparaging rural communities. So appreciate these words 🙏
so bittersweet to know it resonates with rural folks all across the country! So grateful to be validated by the experience of others, and frustrated that we share this experience 🖤❤️ thank you for reading, and sharing your feedback!
this is what i haven’t been quite patient enough to put into words but tried to touch on in a tiktok. incredible writing, thanks for sharing here!
thank you so much for taking the time to read it! I was nervous to put my writing out there like this so I am super grateful for the feedback!
Bitch, this had me in tears. Thank you, comrade! Well done!
Thank you so much!!! 😮💨 I was very nervous and over thought this piece a lot, so your feedback means more than you know!
Fellow Northern & “blue state” liberals & leftists stop being jerks to folks in the Appalachia, the South & red states generally. Let's take a good look at our values & actually live them! There's lots of amazing current & past mutual aid & organizing going on in various rural communities.
Thank you for sharing such a poignant and beautiful picture of Appalachia. It resonates with me as a resident of Nebraska, a very red, largely rural state that also receives comments like “thoughts and tariffs” and “have the day you voted for” in spite of having a more complex make up than the record would reflect. Your words caused me to check myself in my own frustration with the folks in my community who might be politically aligned differently from me, and reminded me that *I* was aligned differently not all that long ago.
The call to relationship and community building resonated deep in my soul. As a grass-roots community organizer around behavioral health systems development, I needed reminding that the work of dismantling is all interconnected.
Thank you so much.
I have goosebumps and tears, thank you for sharing this validating feedback. I am so grateful that the call to community and relationships resonated with you! We need each other 🖤❤️
yeah this is incredibly put
Thank you ❤️
Interesting piece. Reminded me of "The Long Southern Strategy" by Maxwell and Shields. We who live here (WNC) know the multitude of problems that we face and it seems the best we can hope for is incremental change. If even a 2nd Trump presidency isn't enough of a shock to the political system to force change throughout, I don't know what is or will do it. But we have to stay involved, even if it feels like nothing is moving in the right direction. The "player on the other side", if we're to take a metaphor from Huxley, isn't a benign force. It's malevolent and it makes mistakes. I think that the liberal/progressive/radical side should take that into account when countering their moves, even when it feels hopeless. That's their endgame - our feeling hopeless and giving up. One grain of sand can break the dam eventually. That should be our collective end goal - work towards change constantly. Build networks with like-minded people and eventually we will have the change we want. I'm reminded that civil rights is an on-going struggle, lasting over 150 years. But change has come, and for the better. I believe that positive change will come with environmental justice, gender equality, etc. but only if we continue towards those goals TOGETHER. As the late Judy Tenuta said, "It could happen."
Fellow Appalachian leftist here- thank you for passing along these incredible points. I have felt no stronger sense of mutual aid, community, and revolution than in these beautiful mountains we call home. Appalachia has been dogged on time and again, beaten down and buried, and people still wonder why we face the problems we do, and it goes so far beyond modern day politics. We are far more complicated than others in the country assume us to be
I am tired. We are all tired. Needed to read this comment today. Thank you for holding the line and for reclaiming our truth with me.