17 November 2016

Throwback Thursday, and Hope

Sometime after September 11th, an unofficial memorial sprung up in the Union Square subway station.

Union Square Messages

It's unassumingly constructed out of clear, matte finish mailing labels, and is nothing but the names, all of the names, each name to a subway tile. Over the years - fifteen! - the labels have become worn, dirty, ragged. But they're still there.

Union Square Messages

Sometime after the election, a forest of post-it messages appeared in the same station. I walk through there every day, and every day there are more.

Union Square Messages

They are heartfelt. They are erudite.

Union Square Messages

They are direct. They are angry.

Union Square Messages

They are pointed. A set of six post-its says A Woman Won The Popular Vote, in blue felt tip pen. Another hand has added Yes with a black ball point pen.

Union Square Messages

And somehow, although I may be grasping at straws, I have to find them hopeful.

Union Square Messages

1 comments:

Nogrinnin said...

Love the pink heart at the end.

Emotions are running high all around. To Trump supporters, it feels like their views have been vindicated. To me and many others, it feels like the end of the world. I think it is crucial that we, the voters and the non-voters, the plain citizens of this multi-faceted country, we need to try to rise out of our partisan bubbles and start talking and really listening to one another. Those at the top - those who play with power - they're not down here on the ground trying to survive in the systems they create that the ordinary people then have to deal with.

We must remember that whatever our political leanings, we have far more in common with each other than we do with those who rule or hope to rule from Washington. We've all got to keep a critical eye on the politicians and remember that we are all in this together.