Cutting Through Chaos: The Power of Us
Hapa Mag - SEPTEMBER 16, 2020
By Joanna Carpenter
2020: The year of a global pandemic and social uprisings, protests and power plays, debilitation and destruction.
We are experiencing trauma like never before, both worldwide and on a deeply personal, molecular level. The sense of overwhelm, the feeling of drowning in a sea of social media toxicity, the fear of contagion, and the brutality in the streets are all leading many to put their head in their hands and ask, “What is the point, anymore?” 2020 also happens to be the single most important election year in the history of the United States of America.
There’s no getting around the fact that today’s political scene is confusing, chaotic, and the furthest thing from transparent. Many of us are told that it’s important to vote, to “use our voices,” but what does that even mean in a world where truth and facts are triggers for media wars and advocacy feels impossible? Our physical safety has been politicized, health and wealth have been weaponized, and it feels like the world as we knew it has crumbled around us, with no viable leadership in sight.
At the time of this piece being written, almost 200,000 Americans have died from COVID-19, with numbers of deaths and infections rising exponentially every day; 30 million people are out of work, surpassing numbers from the Great Depression; entire industries have shut down, frozen because of the pandemic; climate change has brought us fire tornados in California and an intense hurricane season in the South; and the fallout from government inaction and instability has caused irreversible damage for multitudes.
All that being said, if you are overwhelmed right now, that means you are neither robot nor sociopath, and your feelings are understandable.
I write this to remind you (or to help you see for the first time) that your voice is capable of being a force for change.
“But I’m just one person. How can I possibly make a difference in all this chaos?”
There are endless parables about the power of the collective — the straw that broke the camel’s back, the crack in the wall; but how many straws came before the one that broke the camel's back? How many times did the hammer hit the brick before the final tap that crumbled the wall? It took 10,000 Uruk-hai to clear the path for that one crazy guy to blow up the wall of Helm’s Deep, right? (Yes, that was a hefty Lord of the Rings reference.)
Our individual voices are the essential threads in the fabric of change. One of the most insidious tactics of politics and politicians is the work to make language and knowledge so inaccessible that it feels impossible for a mere mortal to truly understand how the engine runs.
We know that knowledge is power, and power creates and propels change.
We have watched the Black Lives Matter movement lead a tidal wave of change, not just across the country, but across the world. We have watched protests in Hong Kong uniting people everywhere against authoritarianism. We have watched the entertainment industry collectively rise up against racism, sexism, and the status quo across nearly every medium.
Do you really believe that these things could have been done without the multitudes of individuals choosing to believe in the radical value of their own voices?
There is no change without the individual — without you.
The myth to bust is that there is a single right way or wrong way to make your voice heard.
You don’t have to go viral — but you do have to send the tweet.
You don’t have to run a campaign — but you do have to make that phone call to your representative.
You don’t have to get it perfectly right every time — but you do have to try.
Democracy works when we are all active participants. Regardless of party, regardless of the differences and similarities between us, we are humans who are experiencing one of the greatest socio-political upheavals in the history of this country. It is, I believe, our responsibility to use our voices to speak out for the voiceless. Every time you cast a ballot, call your elected officials, write letters and emails, you are making it loud and clear that your voice has value and that you choose to use your autonomous power to speak for the unseen and unheard, the undocumented, the incarcerated, those on the fringes who cannot fight for themselves. Every time you use your platform, your empathy, and your experience to call into light what is unjust or unfair, you are throwing momentum behind the change that needs you to propel it.
We are much more powerful than we realize. We are being heard. Social and political change is happening globally. It can feel frightening, heavy, and daunting, but it’s the work worth doing.
So, what can you do? First, register to vote, if you are eligible. Next, pinpoint the issues that matter most to you — one look at the world around us and it’s easy to see that there is no limit to what we can take up the mantle for. Figure out what you are passionate about, and go after it. Dig into research, question everything, reach out to your elected officials any way you can. No action is too small, and your voice is too valuable to stay silent.
2020 might be the year of upheaval and a pandemic, but it can and will also be the year when we unapologetically, loudly claim our spaces and our voices to help drive forward into a better world for all of us.
Joanna Carpenter hails most recently from the world of craft spirits brand management. She is an industry leader in beverage/ brand relationship cultivation, and designing niche bar concepts. A seasoned hospitality veteran, Joanna has helped create cocktails for some of New York City's most recognizable spaces and is a proud, active advocate for creating equal visibility and support for women and persons of color in hospitality. Joanna is a singer, actor, and director, recently seen as the Baker’s Wife in INTO THE WOODS with NAAP/Prospect Theatre Co and “Run the World (Gays)”.