I ran across the picture, above, as a posting on Facebook. Here is the text that went with it:
On May 25, 1986, something truly remarkable unfolded across the United States. More than six million people from every walk of life joined hands, forming a single human chain stretching from New York City all the way to Long Beach, California.
The event, known as Hands Across America, transformed strangers into neighbors and made hope visible. While celebrities like Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie helped shine a spotlight on the cause, the real power came from everyday people—parents and children, workers and students—standing side by side with a shared commitment to fight hunger and homelessness.
For fifteen unforgettable minutes, a living ribbon of humanity crossed cities, deserts, farmland, and rivers, proving that even in a vast and diverse nation, unity is possible.
The effort raised millions for food banks and housing programs, but its greatest legacy wasn’t financial. It was the message it left behind—a reminder that when we reach out and join hands, literally or figuratively, we can create something far greater than ourselves. And perhaps now more than ever, it’s time to reach out again (emphasis added).
I looked up "Hands Across America" on Wikipedia (you can see the entry by clicking the link), and I found that there seem to have been some "breaks" in that human chain (but not so many that the idea didn't come across - or at least, so it appears).
"HANDS ACROSS AMERICA" GAVE ME AN IDEA!
How about doing this again, and calling it something like, "One Nation, Indivisible"? I think we ought to be aiming for coordinating the effort with our upcoming mid-year or November elections - and the fact that this is the 250th anniversary of our Declaration of Independence makes such an event timely. We need to remind ourselves, and to make visible, that the people of the United States are "together in this," and that "we, the people" refuse to stand down or be silent as attempts are made to sabotage our system of democratic self-government from the top on down. An unbroken "hand to hand" line of those who have stepped forward to make such a statement visible, from the East Coast to the West Coast, would be quite a demonstration!
Most people reading this will, undoubtedly, be familiar with "Indivisible," the national group. I think this group has the organizational ability to make such a nation-spanning event happen. Indivisible has helped to mobilize millions of people, in local communities all across the United States, to engage in "No Kings" demonstrations which have made clear that the American people reject the undemocratic aspirations of our current president (and the supine Congress that has ignored its Constitutional responsibilities).
Besides the national organization, there are lots of state and local Indivisible groups, too. California has an Indivisible group to coordinate local groups around the state. Santa Cruz County has a countywide Indivisible Group, with about 5,000 members. The Santa Cruz County Indivisible group has a number of "Issue Teams," which focus on specific policy areas. I, for instance, am personally active in the "Environmental Issues Team." There is an active Pajaro Valley Indivisible group, and there's an Indivisible Monterey Bay group, too. Such groups exist all across this nation - and they all know that our governmental system is being fundamentally challenged.
Let's make our upcoming "mid-terms" about this challenge, and show our national determination to reject the efforts of our current president to carry out an "Agenda 2025 (and on)," intended to eliminate democratic self-government in the United States. Properly deployed, "we, the people" can make very clear to every current and prospective Member of Congress (and to the Supreme Court, for that matter) that we will not stand by and watch our elected officials, and others, ignore what our Constitution says, and that we will simply not allow unchecked executive power to operate as though "we, the people" don't actully exist.
Let's show them that we exist!
Let's see if Indivisible will step up to organize what would be, without a doubt, the most impressive demonstration ever undertaken of our national commitment to the Constitution, and to the principles made so clear in our Declaration of Independence. Let's join hands, across America, and show everyone (including ourselves) that we have not forgotten, and never will, what Abraham Lincoln told us at the end of the Civil War. Let's demonstrate that we are, in fact, still willing to pledge our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor to the proposition that a government "of the people, by the people, and for the people," shall not perish from this earth!
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