Alabama Liberal (aka Susan Hales, doublygifted, or simply "Warley" to some) pretending to know all there is to know about my new Galaxy III from CREDO!
The earth didn't move and there were no fireworks on the mountain. Those who were there came on faith that the relationships we'd built one by one over the past few years would grow into something more, and it did, exponentially. Alabama just convened the first statewide day of training for the new grassroots organization of progressives who call ourselves the Alabama Democratic Majority. There were those of us who have been active in Alabama politics since birth, like Peggy Wallace Kennedy, and those of us who came back to Alabama determined to see the good in this fractured and much maligned state despite the headlines and the hollerin' - and it was a day to remember!
When Mark Kennedy walked out to address us at 10 am yesterday morning he received a standing ovation. I was one of the first on my feet. I wrote my first diary here about the man, and only yesterday actually met him. Meeting his wife Peggy was for me a sobering experience, because I have spent most of my life trying to resurrect my own father's life from the destruction the past three decades have done to his memory and yet there was the daughter of George Wallace himself, a man who had symbolized my desire to leave Alabama all those years ago, who has come forward bravely to help us all understand what it was like to move through that very personal experience of being his daughter. Peggy is someone I truly admire. And her husband Mark as well. (Karl, he's still here despite your hard work trying to destroy him.)
Unlike myself, most of the attendees yesterday had never left Alabama or had come here from other places. I was able to meet many of them during the breaks, and hope to get to know many more on the FB page where the photos of yesterday's amazing event are being posted. If you are not convinced that real change is happening, try this on for size. Or just go to the website and sign up, then roll up your sleeves and let's get to work!
7:51 PM PT: Thanks for the recs and kind words. Hopefully many more Alabamians will come out of hiding in the weeks and months to come. It's time.