Let's Make it a Landslide

I saw a meme this morning that said “I was ready for this day since Nov 9th, 2016 at 3am”.

We all have a story about “where we were” when we found out the results of the last election.

Diana was standing next to Cher in the Javits Center, and was told Hillary wouldn’t be taking the stage that night. Meanwhile I retreated to my living room floor to await the results after spending the night with a few friends at a bar in Brooklyn. I’ll never forget the way New York City felt the day after the election, it was like someone had died. 

And now here we are, four years later on the precipice of the most important election of our lifetimes. No one will ever forget 2020. From the Black Lives Matter movement to the global pandemic. All our lives have been changed forever. And they can just as easily be changed again.

I talk a lot about the power of dreaming and believing in yourself to change the world, but the truth is there is something each and everyone one of us can do right now to make a huge impact and that’s by voting.

This isn’t a normal election, and we shouldn’t be treating it as such. This is not a drill. It’s a chance to take back our country, reinstate democracy, science, finally condemn white supremacy. 

So I’m asking you today to tell me what your voting plan is, how you are getting to the polls, or if you’ve already voted.

Sal and I sent in our absentee ballot a few weeks ago. And while I was filling out my ballot to vote for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, a wave of urgency came over me. I always get emotional voting, thinking about women like my great great grandmother Christina Sutherland Olson (pictured above) who fought for the right for me to vote in 1920 as a white woman. However it took another 45 years, til 1965, for Black women to be able to vote.

Stories like this remind me not only of my privilege but the urgency that we need to keep fighting for equity for all our fellow Americans. Every voice and every vote matters, so get out there and use yours.

Sending you a warm ray of peaceful light to calm you during this uncertain week. 

Xx,

PS- thanks to my brother, Tyler Bagwell for doing the research and digging up these awesome family photos and news articles to share.

Written by Erin Bagwell
Copy edited by Diana Matthews