Stop screaming at the TV, on Twitter. How to really make a difference in politics.
At the end of February, I watched the Michael Cohen testimony. Like so many others across the country, I was glued to the television to see politics play out in a Congressional hearing.
Just this past week, we watched as the Mueller report trickled down into the national conversation. Here was politics on the grand scale. The testimony against a man in the highest of public offices, from a man who had lied to support him. A final report from a 2-year investigation boiled down to a 4-page opinion from a political appointee.
Both were pivotal moments in the history of this administration. And inevitably, there were the arguments. There were the memes on Facebook. There were the barstool commentaries. There were those who opted to scream at the television and wring their hands, or rant from the comfort of their Barco loungers.
But here at home in Versailles, on March 7, the Friends of Big Spring Park met to discuss plans for the park that holds the spring that Versailles built up around. And on March 30, they met on the hillside across from the park to clean out yet another part of our community to make it a nicer, brighter, better place to live.
Their work may not seem like a big thing. It may seem like the hearings and fights on Capitol Hill are the most important part of politics today. I disagree.
What happens in Washington may seem like the Super Bowl of politics. For me, though, the really important stuff – whether in politics or basketball – happens on a local level. It’s not the Patriots versus the rest of the NFL that thrills us nearly as much as the Wildcats versus “all y’all”.
Like the Super Bowl, national politics is a spectator activity. But politics – real politics – is a full-contact sport. Real politics is people like Robin Espinoza and Christa Stoudt working for years to clean up Big Spring Park and turn it into something extraordinary.
In the late 1700s, Versailles started as a way station around the spring that runs under it. In fact, if you go behind the courthouse in Versailles, you’ll find where the spring wanders down the hill, under the road, and into the nearby park. The spring, according to Woodford County Historic Society volunteer Marti Martin, was the energy source for a grist mill and a wool carding mill in the budding town. Behind the courthouse is Big Spring Bottom where the spring bottoms out.
After the Civil War, the area there was home to an African American community and to Big Spring Bottom Church. After several pastors, the church grew into a new location, the old location was abandoned and the church burned down in 1932. Within a few years, the area fell into disrepair and the community came together to clean the area up. After the Versailles Chamber of Commerce petitioned the city to let them do something about the area in the late 1930s, the city formed a committee and within three years, the homes in the slum the area had become were bought up, the grounds were cleared, playground equipment was purchased and installed, and the park was opened on July 4, 1940. All from money raised by those who felt they could improve their community.
A similar thing is happening today. The Friends of the Big Spring Park are working with community members, as well as city and county elected officials to make Big Spring Park a shining gem in Woodford County’s crown.
On April 4, the Friends of Big Spring Park will have another meeting, to talk about their Earth Day event at the park, including their Litter Hunt and other activities. And that is real politics. That is the real work that takes place every day, all across our state that makes a real impact on our lives.
While it seems like we’re involved when we sit back and watch what happens elsewhere, real political activism isn’t about tweeting, arguing in bars or screaming at your television set. It’s about getting involved and being a part of the solution. Real politics means getting in there and getting your hands in the midst of it all.
And more of us should do more of that, every day.
Liz Carey is a writer and author in Versailles. Find her blog at hellsfunnybelle.com, follow her on Twitter at @lizardsc or email her at lizcarey@twc.com.
This story was originally published April 3, 2019 at 12:00 PM.
