Knit Together
This week, I joined with many of you as we watched in horror the events unfolding at the US Capitol building in Washington, DC. To say that the actions of those who chose to terrorize elected officials, staffers, journalists, and the citizens of the greater DC area was reprehensible is an understatement.
I am aware that I am not alone in seeing this attempted coup as a line in the sand. For many years, I operated KnitOasis in as non-political a way as possible, avoiding talk of elections and policies. If you follow me on Instagram, or know me outside of the yarn biz, you already know that things changed for me rather drastically in the last 18 months or so. As I became more and more aware of the damage that the current president has inflicted on this country, on our people, and on the world, I began to speak out in favor of reform and change. I believe that the time to silently "stick to my knitting" had passed.
Several times in the history of America, knitters used their skills and their savvy to serve their country in battles against tyranny and oppression, passing on intelligence through clever stitch work and subversive alliances.
This week a sitting US president told his followers to storm a building where democracy was being enacted as an election he lost was being certified, and he did it after 2 months of over 60 failed lawsuits attempting to stop the counting of legal votes. It truly boggles my mind that this is something that was allowed to happen in America. They have called for war, for a fight to retain power illegally, and for harm against those who disagree.
In WWII, those who helped the occupying forces were called collaborators and when the war ended these people were publicly reprimanded for their complicity in fighting against their own country. Thus should it be for those who still support the evil being perpetrated by this man and his followers.
The time has come for me to say: if my statements against his racist empire offend you, so be it. I don’t want to knit with collaborators, and I won’t turn a blind eye to injustice. If you agree with me then I encourage you to fight for voting rights, for the rights of all citizens regardless of color, for the return of decency and compassion that trumps hatred and bigotry. Together we can knit a new future of healing and “build back better.”
