While thinking about an editorial to fit the month of November, the first thing that comes to mind is something about the elections. But where to begin? For months, the looming election (or “selection,” as some might say) has been in the public eye: through commercials, debates, voter registration drives at every event imaginable. Extra reminders to vote bombard our e-mail inboxes. They spring up on the news when a candidate rolls into town or at the next flare-up of a yard sign war.

Strangers on the street ask if you’re registered. Concerts, bars, restaurants and coffee houses double as impromptu registration/education sites. Posters hang from windows, stickers decorate stop signs and public art is pasted on the sides of abandoned buildings along Penn Avenue.

Do we really need another reminder about the elections? Maybe not. But maybe we need to remember what can be done after November 3. When we wake up that morning and the world hasn’t changed as much as anyone would like, we can get out there and mend any interpersonal damages inflicted by partisan squabbles, philosophical differences or perceived regime-change effects. We can get right back into applying power in the myriad other ways that, in many cases, are more empowering, less divisive and more direct. This issue of The NewPeople provides great examples of the many groups and people in this city (and elsewhere) working on a variety of fronts in a multitude of creative, innovative and classic ways. Let their stories inspire you to take action in the 364 days after The Big Day.