Emailing from a coconut tree
 July 23, 2024 Dear Meteor readers, Well, folks, he did it. President Biden has hopped off the campaign trail and is holding the door open for someone else. Did you call it? (We did not.) In today’s newsletter, we’re bringing a little bit of optimism to your inbox as we get accustomed to Vice President Kamala Harris’ new role. Plus a little Olympic news, and a life update from Brittney Griner. Existing in the context of all in which we live, Samhita and Shannon  WHAT’S GOING ONThe politics of optimism: It’s been [checks watch] 52 hours since President Biden announced he was withdrawing from the presidential race, subsequently throwing his support behind Vice President Kamala Harris. And during those two-plus days, something remarkable and strangely unfamiliar took hold of text chains and social feeds everywhere: hope. There have been enthusiastic posts and memes: Coconut emojis were used as an endorsement, referencing her mother’s line, “You think you just fell out of a coconut tree?” And Charli XCX gave her the ultimate Gen Z plug, calling her “brat.”  A VERY ENTHUSIASTIC VOTER AT A RALLY IN SAN FRANCISCO YESTERDAY. (VIA GETTY IMAGES) But the joy isn’t just meme-deep. Over the last two days, people have mobilized, and money has followed. In a call led by Win With Black Women on Sunday night, 44,000 people joined and raised 1.5 million dollars. The next night, Win With Black Men assembled and raised another cool 1.3 million. And white women may be organizing their own call next. All told, the first 24 hours of the Harris campaign raised a record $81 million, which her campaign said “represents…the kind of grassroots energy and enthusiasm that wins elections.” None of that erases the concerns many voters may have about Harris—both those based in reality (her past in law enforcement) and those that are more openly sexist (like the argument that she lacks charisma or the horror that she is childless or the claim that her beating Trump is a “fiction”).  HARRIS AT AN ICE CREAM SHOP WITH HER NEICES. DO YOU THINK SHE ORDERED COCONUT? (VIA GETTY IMAGES) But right now, the palpable excitement and energy her candidacy has engendered feels propulsive, whether you agree with her policies or not. After all, Harris has inherited an enormous political mess. She is tasked with saving the party from the brink of disaster—and to win, she has to do something the party has failed to do so far: present a unified message that quickly galvanizes people and alleviates their anxieties. She’ll have to defend her stances on abortion, the economy, student debt, and the war in Gaza. (It’s impossible to look at the position she’s in and not think just a little bit about the “glass cliff” phenomenon, in which women are handed CEO roles only once a company is about to go off the rails.) Against that backdrop, we need a little of this enthusiasm. Optimism and hope are, themselves, political tools, especially when people feel the odds are insurmountable. They give us a reason to believe, a reason to fight. As the climate writer and futurist Alex Steffen writes, “Where no one believes in a better future, despair is a logical choice, and people in despair almost never change anything. But introduce intelligent reasons for believing that action is possible, that better solutions are available, and that a better future can be built, and you unleash the power of people to act out of their highest principles.” It can be easy to forget that in the early days of his campaign, some argued that Barack Obama was a long shot: unelectable, too young, and unprepared. Instead, young people quit their jobs to door-knock, folks phone-banked in earnest, and we saw the greatest voter turnout we had seen in decades. It was a historic campaign and, in the end, a historic eight years. The point isn’t that Harris is Obama or that Obama was perfect. The point is just that hope is a very effective tool against apathy and authoritarianism. As long-time reproductive justice leader Loretta Ross told The Cut about the election, “We can’t be only defined by what we’re against…we have to be defined by what world we build and want.” AND:
 CHAPPELL ROAN REMINDING US THE PLANET IS LITERALLY HOT TO GO
 LISTEN UP 🎧Tomorrow morning we’re dropping the first episode of our brand-new podcast, “America, Who Hurt You?” with Sarah Jones! And since we’re all friends here, you get to find out first that in tomorrow’s episode, Sarah Jones will be in conversation with “On Being” host Krista Tippett. And there may be tears. Click the image below to learn more and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts!   FOLLOW THE METEOR     Thank you for reading The Meteor! Got this from a friend? Subscribe using their share code or sign up for your own copy, sent Tuesdays and Thursdays. |
