How to do it:

The McCarthy era featured many of the abuses we currently face. We came back from it when the public turned on the lies fueling it. We can do it again. What follows is personal.

When I saw the flyer above on the reconstituted group’s site, I burst into tears. I was hit by the bravery of such a small group of signers at a time when dissent ended careers, at best, and Hollywood did not yet have today’s clout. I remember taking a breath as I signed a “Coming Out” ad in my school paper in 1997. There were nearly 100 co-signers, and the cover of “and allies.” I lived in a place wit some protections and things seemed to be headed for better times. Still, you never know what might come…I certainly never imagined this.

The second thing that tugged at my heart was the idea of Jane Fonda growing up in a home where that flyer sat in a box, archival testament to her father’s bravery. An artifact. History. Some time in these past months did she remember it? Dig it out and look at it? Courage is contagious. Did she hold it and think “I can do this, too!” I don’t know that it’s her family record  — that’s my assumption. I do know that legendary movements like The Committee for the First Amendment begin with simple, unimportant seeming acts. If you look at the bottom of the flyer, the way you reached them was a wire to a hotel. Imagine what we can do today?!