“Do Something”– Turns into a Charleston Dance Gathering in Syracuse

Monday Motivation, Monday Mood, Political Street Theater, Joyful Childless Cat Ladies

It was a quiet Sunday morning as I approached the Delevan Art Center parking lot in downtown Syracuse. As I pulled in, my high school friend Amy Bartell, an artist and art teacher with a very creative mind, organized a few women who arrived early. A portion of the parking lot was taped off in yellow ribbon where the “stage” was set for a unique gathering of childless, cat-loving, democratic women and a few men.

With my “Votes for Women” banner slung over my pink shirt and purple skirt with an old-fashioned white hat with an ode to the suffragettes, I took my place directing traffic into the cornered-off lot. The once quiet Sunday afternoon turned into laughter, conversation, and bubbly enthusiasm as people gathered to livestream and tape the Charleston group dance for Kamala Harris and Coach Tim Walz.

When Democratic Presidential Nominee Kamala Harris spoke at the DNC last week, one of her mantras, straight from her mother’s mouth, was “If you want something changed, do something about it.” With the election approaching, she meant to vote, work the polling booths, knock on doors, drive neighbors to the polls, or do anything else to support the upcoming election.

Amy Bartell took that “do something” to create an opportunity to host a Charleston Dance Party (aka Street Theater) and invite anyone who identified (or not) as a “childless cat woman” which came out of the mouth of the Republican VP nominee JD Vance.  50 other people joined and decided doing joyful dancing with others was one of their calls to action.

The finished product which can be viewed at this link: Childless Cat Ladies Do The Charleston (youtube.com) was then sent out into the social media stratosphere for all to share if they too, agreed to bring some collective joy into the election. I learned over the last 3 decades that bringing women together to support women in business, sports, and equality events naturally illuminates the atmosphere and sends light waves everywhere.

In the end, women dancing the Charleston won’t take the place of every person voting, but we sure hope it inspires some who might not think of voting for the first female president, to do something of their own accord to make it happen, just like we said in the beginning of the video, “We aren’t going back!”