In 2017, Emma Shannon and Izzy Bodian Connor went postal.
The Staples High School Class of 2002 longtime friends — dating back to Girl Scouts and Bedford Middle School — were appalled by the first days of the first Trump administration.
They created Let’s Go Postal — a “one-stop shop for a postcard protest party.” They designed kits with attention-grabbing postcards, talking points and sample letters for timely isues, along with addresses for users’ congressional representatives, stamps and pens.
Plus a corkscrew. “It helps the drinks — and the ink — flow,” they said.
Izzy Bodian Connor and Emma Shannon.
Let’s Go Postal did not change the world. Or Donald Trump.
But 4 years later, a new president was elected. The ex-president retreated to Mar-a-Lago, blathering about a stolen election.
Emma went back to work as a freelance creative director. Izzy returned full-time to her work as a sales director. All was right, they thought, with the world.
Four years later, Trump is back — with a vengeance.
So are Emma, Izzy, and Let’s Go Postal.
2017 now seems like both “yesterday, and a lifetime ago,” Emma says.
“We had a great run from 2017 to 2020. Then collectively, the nation took a deep breath. We thought we could sit back. Our work was done.
When “2024 happened, we thought ‘4 more years. We’ve been through this. We can survive it.'”
The past 7 months, though, have been “so different, so much worse. The grownups have left the room. Trump has been left to be his most evil self.”
Almost immediately after the inauguration, Emma says, the women realized that they had to “unretire.”
Inspired by protests around the country — including those in Westport, which Emma and Izzy watched with interest from their homes in Brooklyn and Washington, respectively — they went back to work.
“We wanted a way for people in Westport, and the nation, to exercise their right to protest,” Emma says. “Locally and nationally, politicians have to know we are not okay with this.”
They relaunched their website. The new version includes, for example, a page with details about Trump’s “Big, Beautiful Bill”; talking points to communicate with legislators, and a list of Republican representatives in competitive districts up for re-election next year.
A collection of Let’s Go Postal cards.
And — 4 years is indeed a long time — they added social media to the mix. They signed another former classmate and friend, Carter Downing, to ramp up that presence. The Queens resident is a fulltime social media community manager.
“Instagram stories and reels, TikTok — they are so many more tools to reach our audience now, and collaborate,” Emma notes.
But the goal is still the same: to empower citizens to reach out to their elected officials, at national, state and local levels, on issues large and small.
Everyone’s voice is important, Emma says. Voters in red states need to let their representatives know if they disapprove of current policies; those in blue states need to urge them to keep pushing back.
Those in purple (swing) states have a special duty to make their thoughts known, she adds.
Emma is thinking about the future — and not just for herself. She is 30 weeks pregnant.
Izzy Bodian Connor and Emma Shannon have families, and full-time jobs. But they’re spending lots of time on politics, too.
“We’re only 7 months in” to the Trump administration, she notes. “What will the next 3 1/2 years bring?”
Through Let’s Go Postal, she and Izzy hope to encourage a groundswell of opinion, to help affect change through those with power: elected officials.
What will success look like?
“I would love to retire — for the second time,” Emma says.
(“06880” often covers Staples High School graduates, new business ventures and politics — and sometimes, like today, the intersection of all 3. If you enjoy these stories, please support “06880.” Thanks!)
