These have been weeks of shock and despair, as chaos was unleashed on federal workers, our friends and neighbors here in the DMV. As someone who worked with USAID on public health programs for many years, it has felt especially personal to me to see the agency so recklessly gutted, its work that has saved lives of women and children across the globe shuttered abruptly and cruelly.
So I have been grateful to have the Third Act community to turn to for support and inspiration and joyful distraction. We have been called to and joined in action by both the Third Act Central team and our Third Act friends in Maryland and Virginia. The turmoil in the federal government has inspired countless protests and demonstrations to express support and gratitude to federal workers–at the Lincoln Memorial for the Women’s/People’s March, Capitol Building on President’s Day, and at agency headquarters all around the city including Treasury, HHS, OPM, CFPB, and USAID. (Sorry for all the acronyms.) And Third Actors have turned up for most of them, even in the most frigid winter weather.
Perhaps most impressively, Third Act DMV folks initiated a series of weekly protests at Tesla dealerships throughout the region with calls to boycott the brand and “stop the Musk coup.” These have been exuberant affairs, eliciting loud honking of support from passing motorists, drawing larger crowds week after week, and inspiring similar efforts elsewhere.
It’s easy to feel helpless and fearful in the face of what’s going on. The Third Act community offers a powerful antidote.
If you would like to join other Third Actors who are protesting in the DMV you can join our Signal Chat to find out where and when the rallies or events are happening or just be part of the community. Here is a signal primer to help download the app and get started. If interested or have questions, send us an email (dc@thirdact.org) and we’ll tell you how to sign up.
–Mark Rasmuson, Third Act DC Communications