1.png
 
3269C18C-0B3A-480D-9D21-10596A42D498_1_102_o.jpg

In the Spring of 2020, Siobhan O’Loughlin stayed up late on the phone with Sean Pollock, talking about the phenomenon of artists not being involved enough with activism.

 
PHOSPHATE copy.jpg

In the summer, she sat in Prospect Park with Ira Gamerman, who told her that “these next two months before the general election really matter.” By September, she knew what she had to do: use her years of phone banking skills to empower others to phonebank for Joe Biden. That’s when David Jacobs, a fellow DSA-member and long term activist, messaged her on Instagram and said he’d be there to help.

IMG_1506.jpeg

Siobhan and David met with a group of 15 people who felt displaced from electoral politics. When the volunteers asked about the next session, Siobhan and David quickly cleared their schedules to maintain the group. The second session had double the attendance, and the third session tripled. Siobhan reached out directly to Ira, who had been phone banking on his own for months leading up to the election. Sean reached back out to Siobhan, and she asked him how comfortable he’d be with training new members.

 

The Misfits for Biden became a regular assembly, with a community of nearly fifty artist and activist types from across the country, who met three times a week to adopt Pennsylvania for Joe Biden. After Biden’s victory, Siobhan received numerous texts on November 7th, asking when the team would come back together to work for Jon Ossoff in Georgia. And so, they did. Together, The Misfits contributed over 60,000 phone calls to flip Pennsylvania and Georgia to halt America’s slide into Fascism. 

Jabari_Sio 2020 .jpeg

The Misfits became more than a group of creative people suffering from anxiety over pandemic-era elections. They are a collective of passionate, talented artists and activists who have chosen to be hopeful. They lead with radical compassion and transparency. 

You’ve never seen a political organizing team like The Misfits. They just don’t belong anywhere else but right here.