We stand ready, and we stand together. We will resist while we still can, and impose costs when we must on those who trade away our freedoms and dignity for profits.
My heart swells as I think of the more than 7 million people who poured into the streets for No Kings rallies last Sunday. In every corner of our country, in more than 2,500 communities, people showed up to say they will not let authoritarians decide our fate or our future.
From the tens of thousands who marched in New York and Chicago to the lone woman who stood on her streetcorner in Beckley, West Virginia with handmade signs and a broad smile for all to see, people are saying loud and clear we will not give in to tyrants or masked goons.
“I think you need to show your face to your actual neighbors,” said the West Virginian, Kendra Sullivan. “We’re just like everybody else: We are America.”
Like Kendra, these protesters share what People’s Action calls the spirit of Joyous Rebellion. They show up peacefully, with courage and with open hearts. Together, we stand on what Ella Baker, John Lewis and other veterans of the struggles for civil rights for all called “The Freedom Side”: a place where all are free, and all are welcome. Our joy shows those who want to intimidate us that we are not afraid.
And yet our struggle has just begun. Those who wish to end our democracy have unprecedented resources they intend to use against us. Before they shut down the government, Republicans in Congress more than tripled ICE’s budget to $28 billion, which it is spending on guns, armor, and chemical weapons, and hiring thousands of new agents. ICE is now one of the largest armies in the world and has more money than the FBI.
President Donald Trump has been open about his desire to use military muscle against peaceful civilians. He calls those who disagree with him “the enemy from within,” and says he wants to use U.S. cities as “training grounds” for the military.
Meanwhile, the government shutdown harms millions of innocent people. Government workers are going without pay, families who rely on food aid are hungry, and the cost of health insurance for millions will double or triple. What is this Republican-led Congress’s response? They’re taking a long vacation - at our expense.
The fact is, they just don’t care - about your suffering or mine. As long as they can dominate the media and corporate profits rise, they’ll stay on the golf course. They won’t care when you don’t have enough to eat, your loved ones are dragged away, peaceful protesters and journalists are shot, and the only hospital in your county closes.
That’s why we must continue to show that we do care - by showing up for each other, and for the future of our country. We will keep each other safe and raise our voices, as Kendra did.
Yet we must do more: we must protect democracy while we still can. We need a plan and alignment across our movement around a clear, shared strategy, because what has worked in the past to defend and expand our rights is no longer enough.
That’s why many across our movement for social justice are preparing to pivot from seeking to influence policy to disrupting, when necessary, the consolidation of authoritarian rule. We are channeling the power and momentum of marches into concrete actions to defend our future.
Flooding the streets was only the first step: achieving nonviolent change means combining people power with popular demands that make sense to an undeniable majority of the population. We must erode support for the pillars that prop up an authoritarian regime, then make room on our side to welcome everyone who chooses to no longer support it.
These pillars vary over time and from place to place: they include the judiciary and elected officials, the military and law enforcement, and all those - including corporations - who profit from authoritarian rule.
To be sure, authoritarians have not yet secured the level of influence and control over our society they to achieve: we still have free elections, despite efforts to undermine them. Trump is term-limited and is not allowed to run again under our Constitution, despite his efforts to get people to accept a third term. Many in the National Guard and local law enforcement oppose his calls to turn guns on innocent people. And even if the Supreme Court gives Trump most of what he wants, there are more than a few judges who still refuse to give him a free pass.
Yet we are running out of time. The number of public officials willing to publicly oppose Trump is shrinking fast, and the number of corporations who go along with Trump’s plans for the sake of their own profits is growing. And once the door to democracy closes, it can take years or decades to reopen.
So we stand ready, and we stand together. The next three years will test us, and we must choose who we want to be, as individuals and as a nation. We will resist while we still can, and impose costs when we must on those who trade away our freedoms and dignity for profits.
What can you do? Join us. We are hosting open calls every week until the shutdown ends, where you can learn more about the paralysis in Washington affects you and the ones you love. You can then stay in touch with us and others who care as much as you do as we take next steps together.
We welcome all those who care for each other and believe in our democracy to join us on The Freedom Side, and we will not rest until we win.
