Phil AmmannI don’t know if it will be cold or raining, and I’m not sure how many people will be there, but I know I won’t be alone.
On the morning of April 2, I’ll be in Philadelphia, more specifically, at the Liberty Bell, preparing for the first leg of a 140-mile walk to the nation’s capital.
I’ll be walking with a group of teachers, students, doctors, lawyers, small business owners and retirees in something called Democracy Spring.
I first heard about Democracy Spring in January when my wife came across an article describing it. It sounded right up my alley and something inside me just clicked, so I did a little research.
The first paragraph on the website read, “From Selma to Seneca Falls, from Stonewall to Ferguson, the history of American progress is marked by the moments when We the People come together to stand up for what is right. Movement moments.”
Sitting there I remember thinking, “I got this!” a term I learned in prison that has various meanings depending on the context. One of them describes a gestalt moment where a person hears or observes something that he or she understands at the most basic level. Beethoven, for example, knew exactly how a piano worked from the first time he touched one. He got the piano.
Fortunately, I had recently started yoga classes and increased my walking, otherwise, I may have not even considered walking such a distance. Still, I’d need to drop a few more pounds, find the right pair of shoes, and prepare my body to walk nearly 15 miles a day for 10 days straight. It wouldn’t be easy but, after all, this is my “Movement moment.”
The toxic effects of obscene amounts of money on our government and citizenry have never been more apparent. The sum of money influencing all levels of politics has reached a point where a retired business owner like me can’t possibly expect his concerns to be taken seriously. I can’t afford to pay anyone to take me seriously.
While the meteoric rise in the funds available to purchase legislators and laws may not always lead to electoral victories (see Jeb!), the presence of piles of PAC money taints the process in a way that poisons the well for leaders not willing to kiss the rings of the likes of Charles and David Koch.
The monetizing of government harms almost everyone in our economy, except those at the very top who profit from it.
Democracy Spring has the potential to set off a nationwide conversation in which people cease to accept the status quo and stand up to a government operated by the people, for the money.
As a cathartic instrument of action and change, non-violent action like Democracy Spring has a long history. It is also far preferable to other historic instruments of change. Disease, disaster, death and tragedy can bring about, but we cannot continue to endure change through such painful ways. I would prefer to awaken the non-violent power to change – and so, I’ll be walking in Democracy Spring.
As a person with a felony record, I know what it is to lose my rights as an American citizen. The ability to purchase elections, the recognition of corporations as people, and the influence of the wealthy elite of our elected officials has disillusioned millions of Americans.
I’m walking in Democracy Spring to awaken my fellow Americans to the fact that their voice is a powerful one. If we do not raise our voices and demand an end to corruption, voter suppression, and the wholesaling of our democracy, millions will find themselves silenced, just as I was.
Democracy Spring has inspired this senior citizen to get moving, and I hope it will inspire you too. I hope that I’ll see you somewhere between Philadelphia and the District. Together we can defend the basic, beautiful concept that, in our democracy, everybody deserves an equal voice, not just billionaires and big-money interests.
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Paul Heroux is a retired small business owner, a leader with the Main Street Alliance of Florida, and a board member of the Florida Institute for Reform and Empowerment (F.I.R.E.) Column courtesy of Context Florida.
