One Year Into This

 

On February 11, 2011, I remember exactly where I was when I heard Governor Walker announce that his budget repair bill would remove collective bargaining rights from public employees, that they might be “a little upset” so he had placed the National Guard on alert. I remember thinking “The National Guard!? This is hasty—something doesn’t seem right”.

Within four days, I had become a protester for the first time in my life—and then, an activist. When hundreds of thousands of people protested at the Capitol for many weeks, I thought certainly our GOP governor and legislature would reconsider their actions. They did not budge then and have not budged since. They thought that we would go away after a few weeks, but we have not budged either. Instead we’ve learned to stand up for ourselves.

It’s been a long year.

Because they continued to pursue their extreme agenda against the will of many Wisconsin citizens, unprecedented recalls of legislators have gone forward this year. Nine this summer. And six currently, including Governor Walker, face recall. It would have been easier to do nothing, but how could we remain complacent?

It’s the perseverence, energy, courage and sacrifice of tens of thousands of ordinary citizens that we will honor at this one year anniversary of the Wisconsin uprising. We’ll come together to remember and reflect on where we’ve been and where we’re going as a state. Forward!

To check for events this week and next visit http://wisconsinwave.org/event-list