We live in crazyland.
Yes, I know, each of us has our own version of what that means standing on the left or right. However, there's only so much a governed populace can take being governed by the same unforgiving, private prison-loving and anti-public education philosophies year after year. If we disagree there's not much here that's up for debate or tons of grey area we could discuss over coffee and feel agreeable on at the end of the day.
I don't think I'm alone in feeling that any organized efforts to counter what comes out of our state government often feels reactive rather than proactive. But perhaps this year is different as Baja Arizona citizens organize against a budget that once again takes aim against public education and more.
Almost every Friday at the YWCA, 525 N. Bonita Ave., a group called Arizona Stands Up, made up of concerned citizens, politicians, people who work in different government entities, activists, social workers and others, have been meeting to talk about what to do to change, well, to change crazyland.
There's no hidden agenda with these folks—they want to protect public education, families and children. They want state government to stop cutting education and fully fund education. They want the governor and state lawmakers to do what's right and stop what many feel is the perpetual creation of a school to prison pipeline.
This type of organizing is messy, but for those who want to be proactive, it can be community building. Maybe the end result will be changing the minds and hearts of Republican legislators who seem to have bought into the theory that doing that same thing over and over again is good for the state, its people and our economy.
Sitting in the YWCA at the last meeting, I saw how a lot of details need to be settled before they can continue to move along, but I loved what I read in their notes—that doing the same thing over and over again thinking you get different results is a definition of insanity. Hence, why I call our state government crazyland.
I suspect you'll be hearing from this group soon in the form of a campaign and on the pages of the Tucson Weekly. At least, I hope so. If you want to get involved, look up Arizona Stands Up on Facebook events. And to find out about the next meeting, call the YWCA at 884-7810.
—Mari Herreras, Managing Editor
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