by Alex M.
They say harm-reduction voting is like riding a bus.
It might not get you exactly where you want to go,
however, some buses will take you closer than others.
But what do you do
when the buses are immobile, or going the opposite direction?
Not voting isn’t the answer, and yet
riding a bus that doesn’t go anywhere isn’t productive.
I understand people’s frustrations around our “democracy.”
I think about this analogy a lot,
especially as a disabled person.
As a disabled person that is reliant on public transit,
but still tries to show up and be in community,
the resources are absent.
There are places I cannot go in this town.
Places that are beautiful or important, like lush food forests
or city council and commission meetings.
City council and commission meetings are essential.
They decide whether to put in an accessible sidewalk,
where to put the food forests, and
whether to allocate money to transit.
How can they speak for us if we can’t be there?
Chronic pain is exhausting, frustrating, and angering.
Even if a bus does travel near where I need it to go,
that doesn’t mean I can walk to it.
I desperately crave community in this town.
To see everyone convening, laughing, and dancing
becomes magical to someone that can’t be there.
There’s so much happening in Fargo-Moorhead,
and I both hope and yearn to be part of it.
But how do I be a part of something that does not value me?
How do I participate in a system where my voice and skills are needed,
when my accommodations aren’t deemed needed?
How do I balance the energy of needing to be somewhere,
with the exhaustion from pain and burnout?
But I dream of a day where we have an accessible system
that encompasses the full metro area,
and one that runs every day of the week.
Until that happens- we focus on community and community care.
Because when we come together, if a bus won’t take us somewhere,
we still make sure that we all get where we need to go.
We become our own resource.
We fill the gaps that others do not see
because we know and value the impact of change.
A revolutionary change doesn’t always start with a rally,
and a revolutionary change is rarely sudden.
Instead of disabled people needing to advocate for ourselves,
sometimes change starts by someone else asking
“Do you need a ride?”
RRCC 