Let’s Sing a Song Together

One of my first memories of activism was at 6 years old. All the Girl Scout troops in the state had made a huge day of going to Frontier City theme park in OKC. It was a big deal and everyone was excited. We reserved places in the park for each troop to eat ahead of time, dropped our stuff and enjoyed the morning

At lunch time, with hungry, tired kids and warming weather, we were told we weren’t allowed to eat any outside food inside the park. There were nearly 300 Girl Scouts and accompanying adults and all of a sudden we were out of luck.

My dad, a former but never reformed hippy, agreed with the troop leaders that we’d comply with the letter of the law but not the spirit. We parked our butts outside the entry of Frontier City while people had to step over little girls just enter the park. They tried to move us but the adults declined, stating that if we weren’t allowed to eat inside the premises, we’d find space outside.

This was where I learned the song “We Shall Overcome” and an incredibly important lesson - one person isn’t necessarily powerful, but many can be. One six year old will rarely be taken seriously - but 300? There’s the power. Imagine the optics of this headline: “Frontier City Evicts 300 Girl Scouts Over Lunch”. You can imagine how that would’ve landed.

My point is, you may feel your voice is small, but when you add it to all of the others who are also crying out in dissent, it makes an incredibly powerful noise. When we all sing together to the same tune, the sound can be overwhelming to those in power. So let’s all sing together, to the tune of a better future.

And in case you were wondering, Frontier City made the wise decision to allow us to eat in the park on every Girl Scout Day moving forward.

*The number of Girl Scouts is based on my memory of the event and may not be perfectly accurate. Regardless, Frontier City caved the same day and allowed us to bring our food back into the park, and we never had another issue with it.