Maya is the founder of Suburban Women for Kamala Harris, a Facebook page that started the day after Harris was announced as VP, and now has 185,000 members (and counting!). Maya’s proudest role is that of housewife, but she’s worked as a property and restaurant manager, realtor and corrections officer.
As a kid, I used to get Martin Luther and Martin Luther King Jr.’s names mixed up. Actually, I imagined one was the other one’s father. That the “King” one was the Dad. Blame it on growing up Lutheran and the fact that both names shared substantial storylines in my six-year-old head. Ironically, and somewhat unintentionally, I spent some time with both Martins over the last two days — watching MLK videos and reading from “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” and visiting the awesome Morgan Library where they’ve got a great exhibit on the elder Luther, a priest who defied many of the teachings of the Catholic Church by pinning Ninety-Five Theses (his rebuttal) to church doors, jump-starting the Protestant reformation 500 years ago. Even though I’m not religious, it was a thrill to see one of the old documents in real life — it’s like a bit of social media pioneering before there was social media and one of the first uses of the printing press. For anyone who works with words, it’s a powerful piece …
There is so much happening inside of me as I question everything in the wake of this election’s results, myself and my work included. I’ve been letting the anger that comes fuel my productivity into asking those questions, researching answers and writing out an action plan. I’ve been using the grief that swallows me up to focus on taking care of myself as I process all I’m experiencing. There are so many unknowns ahead but what I do know is that I have my art, and I can use it in the service of others. I know I can use it as a way to keep speaking out, keep disrupting, keep connecting these issues to people in a way that pierces through their defenses. I have art. It has been what’s held me this week and steadied my resolve to keep fighting and standing up against hate. So I thought I’d share with you a list of the artists I personally follow and am inspired by on a daily basis. Their work challenges and informs …
My second grade teacher, the truculent Mrs. Dunham, masking-taped my mouth shut. She pulled the shrieking roll of tape all the way around my head thrice in front of the entire class. My crime? Announcing in the middle of math drills that the Bookmobile was circling and circling the parking lot because its regular spot was blocked and it had nowhere to park. My classmates’ faces silently told me they were on my side and that I had shared news they needed immediately. What would the driver do? Why was that truck in the Bookmobile spot? It was almost Bookmobile time, so time was of the essence! Someone needed to go do something before the Bookmobile drove away! Mrs. Dunham didn’t want to do anything except punish me for talking. Again. So while the Bookmobile looped like a man without a country, the class beheld the new spectacle of me called to the front of the class while Mrs. Dunham attempted censorship via brown tape. Around it went, sticking to my hair but not truly …
