Protest gatherings called Election Monologues are scheduled around the country for inauguration day. The associated Asheville event will be held at The Block off Biltmore, January 20, 2017, at 6 p.m.
A $5 donation is suggested at the door.
Press release from event organizers:
On inauguration day in the United States, an event of resistance and unity will take place in 14 cities across the country, bringing together people of all ages; colors and political dispositions to share their personal stories about the 2016 election. The Election Monologues will take place in theaters and public spaces throughout America, where groups of 6-10 people will share monologues about how the election has affected them.
Led by Tanya Taylor Rubinstein and Kerri Lowe and produced with the help of dozens of volunteer coordinators and facilitators across the country, the work stems from Rubinstein’s StoryHealers Transformational Monologue process. Rubinstein has facilitated this process with hundreds of groups, including people who have experienced cancer, veterans, caregivers and hospice workers, LGBTQ youth and Israeli and Palestinian young women. After seeing so many of her adult solo performance students depressed and overwhelmed after the election, as well as experiencing a sense of paralyzing despair herself, Rubinstein decided that something needed to be done to heal people individually and collectively through the power of storytelling, writing and performance. Kerri Lowe, who regular works with Tanya, had the same impulse.
This is not dogma. It’s not a debate. It’s not propaganda. This event is an opportunity to hear different perspectives around what the election of Donald Trump means to many types of individuals on a personal level. The aim is to humanize one another and offer a safe space for people to process through their intense feelings around this election. Everyone, no matter their political affiliation, is invited to participate and attend. All stories will be respected in this safe environment.
We invite the media and the community to attend this once-in-a-lifetime event.
More information can be found at www.ElectionMonologues.com.
I am the facilitator of the Election Monologues. The time of the event at THE BLOCK is 6 to 8 pm on January 20th.
I have alerted city officials so they can take special precautions to protect the protesters against Republican hate crimes.
[12/30/2016; 10:49 AM]
“Resistance and Unity” ? Resistance to those fellow citizens who, for the most part, voted against an increasingly left, biased media and undemocratic and flagrant behavior of those who, citing past egregious offenses against their ancestors, themselves determine what is and is not good behavior. Unity of those who would have preferred a President who has no problem lying to the American people, who was “extremely careless” with sensitive national security information, who places herself above the rules that have sent others to prison, for considerably lesser offenses than she committed.
In 2008, many citizens were appalled and extremely fearful about the election of a President who had little or no administrative experience, who a majority voted for because of the tone of his skin, and what the future would hold for this country.
Those citizens, despite no less paralyzing fear and despair than those described above, rose above their emotions, decided to give this new and unknown President benefit of their doubt, and would not have even considered behaving in the manner of the seemingly self centered protesters described above.
Very few who voted for Trump did so because he was thought to be the best of all the Republican candidates. They did so to preserve the integrity of the nation itself. It was a vote against the creeping bias and division in this country that leads to such inane pronouncements as white males as a group believing they have some kind of privilege that others do not.
And the meaning of hypocrisy comes to mind, as I remind myself of friends and colleagues who would ask of me prior to the election, not even knowing who I might or might not vote for, if I would accept the outcome. Hillary, during the third debate, sharply questioned Trump if he and his supporters (of which I was not one) would accept the outcome, with the assured feeling of most that she would win the election. The main stream media followed suit, with daily articles and Op Ed’s in the Wash Post and NY Times concerning the possibility of Trumpers raising Cain after Hillary won. Hypocritical? Absolutely. Undeniably.
Where’s the “LIKE” button?
Very well-said, Richard, all of it. Yes, I was one of those who did not buy the slick and “hip” sales pitch of Obama in 2008. I could see that he was a smooth talking, empty suit but that many Americans regarded him like a Messiah. However, as with all new Presidents, I gave him a chance and the benefit of the doubt, as any reasonable, mature person would do.
Hope and change — not even close! No, in fact, we’ve had 8 years of extreme racial and class division, smug dismissal of anything that didn’t fit his worldview, horrendous foreign policy and, allegedly, over 90 million dollars worth of taxpayer funded vacations over 8 years. Seems America was his own little fiefdom. And, although not surprising to me, with his recent actions Obama is showing his full and true colors for all to see in his remaining days. He’s basically pouring gasoline around the White House and tossing a match as he walks out the door. He is a petty, vindictive guy with a huge chip on his shoulder.
Rather than stage a protest for an incoming President who hasn’t made any policy yet (gee, how bigoted and discriminatory is that?) let’s have a huge street party to celebrate the departure of a terrible President. I’m buying the drinks.