The Unlikely Activist

A call to action often strikes people in mysterious ways: a hurricane whips through their region and climate change becomes a connect-the-dots moment for the first time. A family member may develop a life-threatening illness and suddenly affordable health care-or lack thereof-affects them personally.

Lately, a new form of activism has appeared at Rideshare2Vote: the Ex-Republican. My Ohio organizer and I searched our database for Ohio drivers for the upcoming special Congressional elections in November and stumbled upon a gentleman who signed up back in October of 2020. A call to Jesse R. followed; he answered needed a gentle reminder, given the 11 months ensuing his initial registration. It turned out he never drove as we were working mostly in Texas but not Ohio for the presidential election.

We told him about this November’s special election and after hesitating a moment, he agreed to sign up and drive voters to the polls. His reluctance? Jesse recently retired at 67 from his tech career only to go back to school to become a nurse. He’s incredibly busy, working part-time, going to class at night, studying a new discipline.

We thanked him for his service; he said, “I know you’re busy but do you have a second?” He proceeded to cite verse and chapter of all the damage Trump and the GOP have unleashed on this country. He grew up in a deeply religious, conservative family that has only voted Republican. He never expected, was actually shocked that he had a change of heart and voted for Biden and plans to vote Democrat here on out. “The Republicans have no business telling women what to do with their bodies!” “Climate is our biggest threat, and what are the Republicans doing about it? Nothing! Beholden to the oil and coal industries while we all suffer!” “What happened to the solid middle class in this country? The rich are richer and the streets are full of desperate homeless folks.”

His final thoughts were, “My heart is in it; I’m pretty busy, but I have to do something to help this country and to stop the Republicans from further damage.” As I prepared to email Jesse the training link, our organizer Heather called him a king. I quoted her in the email; a king among men. An awakened citizen; a call to action he did not know he had in him.

Rideshare2vote welcomes any and all volunteers; political affiliation is irrelevant with the challenges that Jesse brought up; we are all in this together; the solutions will be collaborative. We are a community of caring individuals.

by Anne E Wile