A Snowflake Manifesto

[babylonsister]

http://johnpavlovitz.com/2017/01/08/a-snowflake-manifesto/
A Snowflake Manifesto
January 8, 2017 / John Pavlovitz


Snowflakes are fragile, temporary, inconsequential little things.

They are delicate and brittle and quite harmless—on their own.

But when they begin to attach to other snowflakes, they become stronger, more powerful.
They become dangerous.
They become a force of freakin’ nature.

Trump lovers like to call his detractors “snowflakes”, as if their feelings are a liability, their passions a reason for embarrassment, their grief a sign of weakness. (The attempted slur is especially ironic, given the absolute historic white fragility of the President-Elect, whose Twitter feed rings like the petulant cries of a perpetually offended middle schooler—but that is neither here nor there.)

Snowflake?

Is that all you got?

I’ll take it.

As a guy who grew-up in Central New York, I spent my entire childhood watching lake-effect snow systems roll in and in the blink of any eye, quickly blanket everything in shimmering, frozen white. I marveled at their ferocity.

I’ve seen snow storms paralyze cities.
them shut down entire parts of the country.
I’ve seen them derail and disrupt everything.
Snow storms alter the landscape.
They stop traffic.
They wreak havoc.

No, one snowflake isn’t likely to make an impact—but I’m betting 65,788,853 can.

I imagine that the shared strength of that many snowflakes is something to be reckoned with. In fact I’m certain that it is. I’ve already seen it happening in the weeks since November 8th; millions of good, compassionate, intelligent people connecting their individual, jagged, beauty into a glorious and forceful response to the hateful environment around them.

Right now a massive, diverse collection of Americans of every faith perspective, every political persuasion, and every walk of life are assembling, and this is why hope isn’t hard to come by these days—because I can feel the weather changing by the minute.

The current climate of bigotry will not stand, because we will alter it. We will change the weather:

We will not allow people to be vilified for their religious traditions.
We will not tolerate the civil rights of any group to be removed.
We will not be divided along lines of color, gender, religion, orientation, or politics.
We will not accept the physically and mentally ill to be left without healthcare.
We will not allow people of color to be discarded by those sworn to protect them.
We will not allow women to be devalued or overlooked with regard to pay, opportunity, or safety.
We will not tolerate elected officials whose allegiances are not with all those they represent.

This is simply the truth. This is the storm that’s gathering. This is the forecast for this nation.

So yes, feel free to call us snowflakes simply because we care deeply, because we feel fully, because we lament the bitterness we’re witnessing. We will gladly wear that title. We’ll revel in it as we gather together.

Because trust me, the coming days will be defined not by the hatred in this land, but by the fierce and loving avalanche that comes against it.

Hang on tight and gird your loins, Donald—winter is coming

[cilla4progress]

1. This is great,

thank you, Babylonsister. I tried to post about the snowflake meme last week and it went over like a lead balloon.

This is far more articulate and substantial.

Thank you!

[babylonsister]

2. You're very welcome! I do enjoy

the way this man gets his point across, and obviously agree with it.

[Martin Eden]

3. AVALANCHE !!! K&R n/t

[progressoid]

4. Rec!

[2naSalit]

5. K&R

[Fast Walker 52]

6. Love it-- so perfect

[mnhtnbb]

7. That is a nice piece of writing.

One thing I'd add is that each snowflake is unique--not one is like another-- formed from the same elements, yet
all unique and different. All snowflakes.

[ffr]

8. On board

[JNelson6563]

9. Awesome piece.

My hope is that everyone will be interested enough to actually vote in the next mid-terms.

[Hekate]

10. Wow! That is extraordinary!

Thanks a bunch, Babylonsister

[Madam45for2923]

11. Water is powerful in all its states!

Love!

[bora13]

12. it's been a slow train coming

Last edited Tue Jan 10, 2017, 04:18 PM - Edit history (1)

if you look from afar or near now, what happened in 2016
was that the losers in both the Revolutionary war and the Civil war (tories and confederates)(can't forget nazis either)
have teamed up to take back what they claimed was theirs, oh so many years ago.

and their dear leader thinks he's besties with the other loser of the cold war.

sad, but true, losers all of them.

not enough people payed attention to the slow tide flowing in.

i wouldn't even worry about capitalizing sentences because soon it will be illegal to
use correct english spelling and grammar.

as a matter of fact, srtat throwin in sevarel mistakes in yer own typing now and again.
it is the law.

[Generator]

17. Kinda true there

Also Mr. Putin wants some pre-1990 Russia back too.

[whathehell]

13. Trump's "fragility" has not a damn thing to do with his color..

So let's not create racial 'things' where they don't exist.

[Generator]

18. I read that somewhere that Trump thinks he is of the master race

He believes that shit. RACE has everything to do with him and who he has advising him. Don't kid yourself. I can find that link-but the neo-Nazi Bannon and that Johnson guy-what are you talking about? You feel a pressing need to defend white people? ARE they endanger? That's white supremacist talk. Coming from having many family member that believe that shit-your post raises my hackles. Also you took ONE word ONE word out of the whole piece and it ruined it for you. You could have just not commented on it.

[kimbutgar]

14. Thank you Babylonsister I needed that prep talk

It's getting too easy to pessimistic when everyday you wake up and read the awful things thump and the rethugs have in store for us.

[MrScorpio]

15. Well, the weather outside is frightful

Let's bury 'em


FDT.

[jmg257]

16. "Winter is Coming"

We will not allow people to be vilified for their religious traditions.
We will not tolerate the civil rights of any group to be removed.
We will not be divided along lines of color, gender, religion, orientation, or politics.
We will not accept the physically and mentally ill to be left without healthcare.
We will not allow people of color to be discarded by those sworn to protect them.
We will not allow women to be devalued or overlooked with regard to pay, opportunity, or safety.
We will not tolerate elected officials whose allegiances are not with all those they represent.

[AgadorSparticus]

19. Beautifully said.

[niyad]

20. k and r

[joanbarnes]

21. Well said and beautifully written, Babylonsister.

[MineralMan]

22. I just finished blowing a lot of trumpflakes off my

driveway and sidewalks. Trump's a flake, too. I think I saw him there in a patch of yellow snow, just before I blew it out into the street.

[tandem5]

23. The snowflake builds the avalanche

[blue cat]

24. Excellent post!!!

[Lifelong Protester]

25. Well done!

Maybe if we can't afford the tee-shirts for the women's march we could wear handmade snowflakes?

[Ilsa]

26. Not just 65+ million. About 72+ million voted against DT.

At this point, it's not just about who voted for Hillary, but who went up against Trump.

[Lint Head]

27. Oh Donald. You can eat the yellow snow.

[Mike Niendorff]

28. Boom.

Well said.


MDN