Political chalk scrawled in all caps has emerged on CC’s West Campus sidewalks. These messages, which range from critiques of ICE to urging people to defend democracy, are the work of a local group called Indivisible.
According to their website, Indivisible is a “grassroots community advocacy organization that empowers people to connect and create positive change through education, collaboration, and action.” They organize and participate in protests, create educational materials and support candidates for local elections. The Catalyst spoke with Indivisible member Pamela Blatchford, who does the majority of the chalking on campus.
Blatchford began her program of political chalking in front of City Hall and in her neighborhood before expanding outward. Though there are others from Indivisible who help out, she is the primary artist. Wednesdays are her days off work, so she comes to CC, decked out in a pro-democracy shirt with pins supporting Ukraine and survivors of Jeffrey Epstein. In her backpack, she carries all kinds of chalk—including mini packages to give to people interested in helping out—a small copy of the Bill of Rights and several notebooks filled with phrases to write.
Her goal is straightforward. Blatchford wants to bring awareness to what she sees as pressing political issues that require mobilization and activism. “I do it to activate people into doing something,” she said, “because it’s not the people in power. It’s the power of the people that can overcome this. We have the power.”
Blatchford teared up as she spoke about her motivations. “My belief is, even if just one person is activated, all of this is worth it.” She added, “I don’t care how tired I am, if I don’t feel like it, if it’s cold or it’s too hot. Our country’s too important.”
While her messages vary each time, the general ideas are discussed at group meetings and focus on current events, such as the D11 strike and the No Kings protest on Saturday, Oct. 18. She prefers to stick to the facts to make her arguments harder to refute. “Facts aren’t woke. You know what I mean? They’re facts.”
She does not take the same approach everywhere; the chalk messages tend to be tailored to the expected audience. At CC, explained Blatchford, she is able to take a more honest approach. “I don’t have to be so careful and always positive because people here want to know the truth,” she said.
Blatchford says she has not received any negative or threatening responses to her activism. On occasion, when she chalks in her neighborhood, there are people who try to erase her messages or write counter-arguments, but she has never faced anything more extreme. “I’m not afraid,” she told The Catalyst. “I don’t hate them or despise them, because they’ve been conned.”
In an email to The Catalyst, Director of Campus Safety Cathy Buckley stated, “The area where the group is writing on the sidewalk is public property. Since [Indivisible is] using chalk, the artwork is not vandalism because the chalk is not permanent.”
Furthermore, because they are not using inflammatory or defamatory language, nor are they obstructing traffic, the chalking is legal.
This is the first time in her 70-something years that Blatchford has considered herself an activist. “I’ve always participated in voting, signing petitions and some protests, you know, small things,” she stated. “But right now, it’s essential that we all have to be extreme, because what’s happening is extremely dangerous. Not only for our country, our people, but the world.”
“I hate having to be [an activist], because I miss my grandchildren. I work full-time,” she said, “So it’s exhausting, but it’s worth it.” For Blatchford, as exhausting as political agitation may be in the moment, it is ultimately energizing. “It gives you energy to be like, ‘okay, I did my part today.’”
Overall, Blatchford tries to emphasize that people are not as alone or powerless as they may feel. “We do have the power,” she said. “Fear can be contagious, but so can courage.”