So many people come to this site and read, think, and sometimes they comment. I can tell you some of my most viewed diaries are not necessarily the ones with the most recommendations or the most comments. There are things I’ve written which are very personal to me, and a few diaries that if I look back at them I struggle to read through them because still, to this day, I remember those moments and I find them sad. I shared them with the Daily Kos community because it was a place I could talk about anything. Being vulnerable isn’t about just broadcasting to the world every event of your day; for me it is about being okay to say: “I don’t have this.” Or, “I am not at my best today.” Being vulnerable also means opening yourself up to be hurt. There are times that the Daily Kos community has left me feeling hurt—not in flaming mad mode, but hurt because I cared for someone, sometimes people I hadn’t met or known well, but I knew them through this website and through our shared goals.
I sat back over the last few weeks thinking about diaries that made me remember what they meant to me. In a prior CUA, I highlighted David Nir’s powerful diary that brought me to tears. I was in the shower this week thinking about this and remembered this diary by Neeta Lind honoring Carter Camp in 2013. It was a powerful tribute to life and the history of a people. Camp would pass on not too much longer after this, and Neeta posted a beautiful tribute:
Carter always kept his sense of humor. On a phone call I had with him after the Sun Dance he said that when people ask him how he’s feeling he replies that it’s only a case of fatal ennui, and not to worry. At the time he said he was forcing himself to go out and water the tomatoes to keep active. We laughed together. I hung up the phone and wept at the thought of how much I would miss him.
There are so many Kossacks I’ve known who have since walked on that we have mourned. I thought about GrannyDoc, BruinKid, Jotter, and so many others. I could run a list of numerous, numerous names. I also thought of the joyous moments that made me feel both sadness and elation, like Denise Oliver Velez’s diary in 2008 about casting a vote for Obama, and what it meant in history:
They are my mother’s family. They were held in bondage in Loudoun county. After emancipation they remained, to till the soil, to birth babies, to build walls and houses – many of which still stand today. They are buried in a quiet cemetery in the woods. Their spirit lives on in me. On this day, as I sit here watching with quiet joy, I see a change in Virginia, which I pray will change America, and change the world.
If you are voting in Virginia today, cast that vote for all those who came before, who never had the chance.
Her diary was the kind of testimony that is so powerful that it should be read and seen frequently. It is a piece of the history of our site. There is also Chris Bower’s fantastic write up of Occupy Wall Street, as well as so many commenters with photos and appeals to what was happening.
Some stories from long ago still seem unfortunately true, like a 2011 diary about plans to disenfranchise voters in North Carolina.
I had to hunt for a diary, but this one I thought about a lot during the recent Supreme Court hearings, about Representative Foley, the Republican congressman who was discovered to be sexually assaulting and involved with a series of young men. Republicans at the time? Nothing. Not a word.
Now that three full days have passed since the revelation that a U.S. Congressman is a predatory pedophile. And that the highest levels of Republican congressional leadership was aware of this situation, and apparently did nothing to prevent this person from having access to young boys in their charge.
At the time Foley was the chair of the House Caucus on Missing and Exploited Children. Oh well. Dennis Hastert went on Rush Limbaugh’s show to say they asked him to resign. Then again, it turned out Hastert molested young boys. So, I guess that makes sense. This storyline brought me to tears because it represented everything wrong with a party that valued power above anything else. It has only become worse as the years have gone on, and Republicans forgive all sins of their own and fictionalize claims against others.
I would like to add that this series owes a great deal to do many in our community who, through the years, have kept up on local and regional groups and calls to action. Please check the comments! I’ve enjoyed every state I visited to meet in person with members of Daily Kos. From Ferguson, Missouri to Hawai’i and New York. San Diego to Montana and Wyoming, Colorado to North Carolina. While I have not been traveling with COVID about, look for some exciting community meet up methods ahead!
Is there a comment, a story, or a moment on Daily Kos that made you cry?
