History shows us there is a fast and slippery road from the loss of freedoms to the overreach of power. If we allow our rights to be stripped away, we lose far more than we gain.
Something incredible happens to humans when we go through hard or tragic experiences together and survive. When we hold each other close, and rely on each other, it bonds us. That’s why my early experiences help me know that even in dark times, we can find the strength to be good to one another. We can move past hatred to create a brighter future.
I grew up in a small and poor community in El Salvador. We didn’t have much, so we relied on each other to survive. What we lacked in resources, we made up for with abundant generosity, ingenuity and sincere care for each other, grounded in accountability. When things got bad, we had each other.
In the United States, I became a community organizer, which gave me a sense of the power people can achieve together. Now, as in no other moment in our lifetimes, is it important to remember that together, we have this power to control our own destinies, and we should never give this up.
This came to mind last month when the party of Nayib Bukele, El Salvador’s president, rewrote the country's Constitution so he can serve as president over and over again. Bukele then moved swiftly to ensure he can continue to hold the 80,000 people he has swept into megaprisons during his “state of emergency” for another two years without charges or trial.
Trump was quick to praise these moves. Indeed, Trump admires “strongmen” like Bukele, because he wants unlimited powers like these for himself. He has sent U.S detainees to Bukele’s notorious megaprison and torture center, CECOT, and now he aspires to create a whole network of camps and prisons in the U.S. that follows Bukele’s model, where detainees can be held without accountability.
When Trump sends troops into the streets of Los Angeles and Washington, and arrests both migrants and U.S. citizens and holds them without trial or representation in places like Alligator Alcatraz and Guantanamo Bay, he’s testing the waters. He wants to see how far the people and our elected representatives will allow him to go in his quest for absolute power.
Our job is to pull back the curtain and to expose the deep systemic causes of the pain and injustices we experience. When we reveal the facts and who is responsible, we allow the wisdom of community to flow in like a river. This moves us into action together, so we can fix what’s unjust. We must then create just and accountable power structures, and most importantly, hold the likes of Bukele and Trump to account for their actions and uphold what’s right, just and fair for our communities.
Without a community to hold us through our fears, insecurities, and vulnerabilities, we look to “strong men” to save us. But history shows us there is a fast and slippery road from the loss of freedoms to the overreach of power and into authoritarianism. Complete control of our daily lives by one man or by a government may give us a false sense of security, but if we allow our rights to be stripped away, we lose far more than we gain.
There is an old saying in Spanish: el jinete montará el caballo, hasta que el caballo se canse. “The rider stays on top, but only until the horse gets tired.” Because even though the rider holds a whip, the horse can always throw him off.
We must always remember we have this power together. It has always been clear to me that the role of organizing is to first build community, to help people tap into their individual strength, but most importantly, to discover and build our collective power, grounded in our shared interest.
The first step from powerlessness to power is to find your neighbors. Listen first, then talk with them to find and build common ground, and where you can move into action.
Need neighbors? Find, like I did, a local community organizing group near you, or join our virtual team to connect with people all across the country by phone. Because together we can, together we must, and together we will.
