The Buffalodown, Volume 42
Stories & Events for Social Connection
By Seamus Gallivan
- Swing State Blues: Adventures in canvassing for Kamala
- Musings on Music – My Morning Jacket drops a timeless tune
- Featured Events – 30+ this week, welcoming submissions!
- Listening Links – recommendations welcome!
- Reading Rundown – local and national
Welcome to the Buffalodown! Always welcoming submissions.
Happy Tuesday, y’all! One week until Election Day, and early voting is underway; as a veteran door-to-door canvasser I’m trained to ask, do you have a plan to vote? In case you need help, here’s help:
- Here’s where Erie County residents can get voting info including a sample ballot
- For maybe the only seriously contested race in Buffalo, here’s a resource with profiles of all six candidates for Buffalo School Board – albeit a shadowy one, no indication of who’s behind ‘For the Voters of Buffalo,” at least they were all asked the same questions
- Here’s fact-based media coverage of the New York Proposal 1, thanks to Nate Benson and WGRZ-TV; his colleague Ron Plants sought only the opinions of elected officials in covering the Erie County Proposal 1, and unbalanced at that
As for the Presidential election, due to the tyrannical Electoral College that enshrined unequal voting representation from the dawn of our nation and therefore needs to be overturned if we really want a democracy, New Yorkers are an afterthought in that our state as a whole votes solidly for Democrats, leaving our votes less valuable than, say, our neighbors in Pennsylvania, which might ultimately be the biggest swing state this year.
And so I went to Erie, PA, this past Saturday, as did many fellow Western New Yorkers seeking to serve the cause of democracy – or at least the chance of it, which would be wildly diminished by a second term for Donald Trump, an avowed authoritarian who openly flirts with fascism.
Checking in at the downtown Erie office of the Harris-Walz campaign, I was assigned to go door-to-door in the nearby borough of Wesleyville, which appears almost evenly split between Harris and Trump. However much I might’ve helped the cause – I’d like to think the conversations I had with registered Democrats and Independents helped guide them to get out and vote for Kamala – it did nothing to dispel my concerns that Trump might win back the White House, and so I’ll be going back this Saturday, as it sure beats agonizing at home or on social media…
…please reply here if you’d like to join me – or if you want to help some other way, please consider contributing to or volunteering with the Working Families Party (WFP), which is leading phone banks and more to Get Out the Vote.
I’ll close with this blunt two-minute message from WFP National Director Maurice Mitchell that he opens with, “Here are the top five lies that I hear all the time about elections:”
Musings on Music
My Morning Jacket asks, “Aren’t We One?”
Amidst the heat of elections, so much divide-and-conquer politics, and the fascist forces on the rise since 2016, I appreciate artists who seek to unite – such as my favorite musician and band, Jim James and My Morning Jacket. In their latest release, the single “Aren’t We One?” they appeal to “the better angels of our nature,” to quote the final words of President Abraham Lincoln’s 1860 Inaugural Address, which of course was followed by civil war, sigh…
“We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battlefield and patriot grave to every living heart and hearthstone all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature.”
And now those of James and co., delivered in song as a meditative mantra:
Aren’t We One?
We had to flood out of our nation
And head straight into the sun
You know I would’ve stayed if I could’ve
But the world I knew was already gone
I dreamt we were past all the judgment
Based on faith or the shade of our skin
I saw we were connectеd as people
All the samе in the eyes of the sun
Aren’t We One?
You know I had my reasons for leaving
So hard to stay when you lost what you love
It shouldn’t take disaster to wake us
To admit that we can’t do it alone
This land’s supposed to offer some peace
Too many chains in the home of the free
So many lost souls seeking redemption
So many hungry hearts seeking relief
Aren’t We One?
While we’re compelled to take sides on Election Day, the practice of beloved community compels us to love even our political opponents, to bring light to the better angels in them and find a way to live as one – ultimately, if history shows us that the alternative could be civil war, how about we ask each other, Aren’t We One?
Become a paying member to help us present and promote more music!
Events in the Week Ahead
Thanks to all submitting their events! Welcoming event submissions with a flyer and link to seamus@reconnecter.org.
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Become a paying member to help us promote community events!
Listening Links
Recommendations welcome!
- Buffalo Ballot 101: Prop 1, Buffalo Board of Education & More – The Public Good – “As changes occur on federal, state, county and city level, Buffalo has a large influence on changing our political landscape into 2025.”
- The United States of Pennsylvania – The Daily by The New York Times – “Throughout this election, one state has been at the center of every imaginable path to victory: Pennsylvania. Both candidates have campaigned there relentlessly, and both parties have spent more money there than in any other state.
- The Unpopular Vote – Radiolab – “As the US Presidential election nears, Radiolab covers the closest we ever came to abolishing the Electoral College.”
- Reconnecting to Prevent Social Unrest – WBFO What’s Next – Leaving this link up for a while, as I’m honored to have been invited onto this profound program – this went real deep from the jump, please listen! Here’s how they described it: “Seamus Gallivan’s latest endeavor is Reconnecter, a ‘social connection space’ that aims to bring people together in person and online ‘by illuminating the ties that bind us.’ That means music showcases, variety shows, and media elements — all to help provide a need that he believes can help prevent social unrest. Gallivan sits down with Thomas O’Neil-White to speak about the power of reconnection and his plans for the new project.”
Reading Rundown
With intent to connect, inform, and inspire action, every edition of the Buffalodown closes with links to other sources and stories that deserve more attention. Always welcoming links to read and share at seamus@reconnecter.org.
- Class action sought in BPD discrimination lawsuit – WBFO – “Much of the suit focuses on the traffic enforcement practices of Buffalo’s now disbanded police unit known as the Strike Force which conducted more than 1,600 vehicle checkpoints in the city between 2013 and 2017…”
- The Tool Library officially purchases 2626 Main Street – Buffalo Rising – “Over 300 individuals, organizations, businesses, and foundations contributed to the campaign, which amounted to a little over $500,000.”
- Buffalo asks judge to dismiss lead inspection lawsuit– Investigative Post – “Advocates object, say city isn’t complying with its own laws aimed at protecting children from being poisoned in their homes. A decision is expected within weeks.”
- Ballots set on fire in three states as Election Day approaches – NPR – “It’s a direct attack on democracy.”
Thank YOU for reading this far and being part of it all – extra thanks to everyone supporting this work with a membership at www.reconnecter.org!
Please share with friends to sign up for next Tuesday’s Buffalodown, and reach out with any feedback, all ideas welcome!
Copyright (C) 2024 Reconnecter, Inc. All rights reserved.
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