More diversity in politics please!

Hello you space-and-time-traveling extra-terrestrial.

One of the many wonderful things I have gotten to experience over the past year has been supporting two dear friends as they run for political office: one at the municipal level and one at the federal. In fact, I am actually in Montreal this weekend to help Julia get out the advance vote for the federal by-election at the end of the month, so this week I am thinking about the importance of representation and political engagement.

I could not be more impressed and proud of the incredible work these women (and many others) put into their campaigns, nor of the strides they are making to combat the status quo and ensure more diversity in our political processes.  Friends, there are so many amazing people coming out for the first time and running for office at all orders of government—and we need WAY more women and people of color serving as decision-makers in this country/ in the world.

Pro tip: the federal election is coming up in the fall of 2019!
 
If you are interested in getting involved, I would recommend checking out your local candidates (paying attention to those people who are usually underrepresented in politics), learning about their positions on the issues you think are most important, choosing someone to support and then going out canvassing with/for them. I really enjoyed the opportunity to learn how to canvass: it is a great way to get to know what’s important to a community, and is also a SUPER valuable contribution you can make for new candidates who might not be well known in the community as a political figure.
 
But don’t take my word for it! Check out Equal Voice who advocate for more women in politics, and Samara who have tons of resources for people wanting to get involved politically. I also liked this profile of 12 millennial women on how to get involved in Canadian politics. And in case you are not already following her, check out the twitter feed of recently elected (in the US) Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who ran an incredible campaign and is now basically publicly documenting the process of taking up her seat in congress as a young, newly elected woman of color. It is revelatory, and wonderful! See also the New York Times recently published a series of overlooked obituaries for Black History Month, and the end of likeability politics for women in politics and focusing instead on getting things DONE! Also Democracy is not a supermarket, and change is not as easy as it looks.

From one inspired and powerful person to another, I am glad that we can work together to build a more just and caring world. I hope you enjoyed this dispatch, and have a participation-filled week!

Until next Sunday,
The Earnest Platypus