William J Barber II: ‘We must remember our power’
As the world watches US election results come in, many people are anxious that national polls which have shown Joe Biden with a sizable lead for months will once again be shattered by a last-minute comeback from Donald Trump..
But this is not 2016. Donald Trump is not a reality TV star barnstorming the country with fresh promises to revive local economies and vanquish every imagined enemy. He is an impeached president whose record is a failed response to a global pandemic that has left America grieving unnecessary deaths and struggling to survive in an economy where the richest have seen their wealth increase while everyday Americans face eviction, hunger and loss of healthcare. However strong Trump may look to himself and his adoring crowds, he is politically weak.
Yes, Republicans have engaged in extreme efforts to suppress votes and will fight in court for days to come to have legitimately cast ballots thrown out. We who know that a dying mule always kicks the hardest must be vigilant. But we cannot forget our power.
Nearly 100 million Americans had already voted before polls opened this morning, promising a historic turnout. Of those who already voted in 2020, a quarter did not cast a ballot in 2016. Despite long lines and barriers that were designed to deter them, Americans are marching to the voting booth in 2020 as a broader and more diverse electorate than this nation has ever seen. With this demonstration of power, we have the capacity to not only elect new leadership, but also to demand that Democrats and Republicans address the needs of everyday Americans.
The Rev Dr William Barber is the co-chair of the Poor People’s Campaign and author of We Are Called to Be a Movement
Sarah Smarsh: ‘White working-class women are waking up’
I have an aunt who has turned over a bright new leaf in her 60s: where previously she waved off the election process as a rigged waste of time, she now is heavily invested in our political moment. A Democrat in a Republican-majority state, she had long felt that the electoral college meant her vote didn’t count in national elections. In recent years, though, she follows the news, eagerly discusses politics and votes with gusto.
In her home state of Kansas, which today has a Democratic governor and a neck-and-neck race for US Senate, an October poll showed Trump’s lead had shrunk to single digits from 20 points in 2016. Trump will likely win the state again, but local elections are in play for Democrats as “red” states across the country show signs of transformation.Perhaps sensing that she is part of that shift, my aunt recently told me that her one regret in life was not having paid attention to politics sooner.
To my mind, it was not apathy but the unrelenting trials of her life – born into poverty and abuse, a single mother by age 15, decades in the underpaid food-preparation industry – that kept her sidelined in our democracy. Regardless, she takes responsibility for her actions, or lack thereof.
When my aunt told me about this one regret, it occurred to me that she, a real pistol with strong convictions who could argue you into the ground with a Bud Light in one hand and a smoke in the other, would have made a fine government official had she been born into better opportunities. Instead, her voice and so many like it were drowned out by the deafening grind of capitalism’s gears.
Today my aunt lives in a three-generation, biracial household and takes care of her grandson while her fortysomething daughter works at Target. She is pro-choice, anti-The Man. What woke her up to her own power, in large part? Witnessing Donald Trump’s ascent and despising everything he represents.
Polls have shown erosion of support for Trump among white working-class women. However, millions of white, working-class, eligible voters never voted at all – and should not be presumed conservative.
They are voting now. From my vantage, an inordinate number of liberally minded white working-class women, specifically, have decided against all messages to the contrary that their voices should be heard and that their votes might count. There is too much at stake to think otherwise.
Sarah Smarsh is a journalist and author. She lives in Kansas
Election judges verify and count ballots at the Denver Elections Division building on Tuesday in Denver, Colorado. Photograph: Chet Strange/AFP/Getty Images
Cori Bush: ‘We are ready’
In the face of so much fear, hate and anger, many ask me where I find my strength. The answer is simple: I know that we are ready for this moment. Trump’s corrupt and incompetent presidency has only created division, while progressives are united together for change. Under the rallying cries of “political revolution” and “not me, us”, Senator Bernie Sanders inspired millions. In 2018, record numbers of women of color ran for office, including four trailblazers who shook the nation: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar, Ayanna Pressley and Rashida Tlaib.
This year, Jamaal Bowman, Mondaire Jones and I campaigned with an unapologetically progressive agenda – Medicare for All, a Green New Deal, free higher education, canceling student debt, and protecting unions – all within the larger fight for Black lives. Our primary victories are proof that vocal, intersectional leadership mobilizes voters. It is time for us to rebuild our nation with equity and justice for all – what Jamaal and Mondaire call our generation’s Reconstruction.
Like Harriet Tubman, we’re going to reach back into our communities and bring everyone with us. Because the disabled community has a place in our movement. Immigrants have a place in our movement. The unhoused population has a place in our movement. Farmers and teachers, veterans and union workers, anyone who is committed to equity and justice, all have a place in our movement.
History shows that sustained mobilization is the only way to create social change. I get my strength from the millions of my sisters and brothers, voting today, organizing tomorrow. We’re not just fighting for ourselves, and we’re not fighting alone. We’re fighting for our friends, our neighbors, our loved ones – and for everyone we don’t know. And our movement is bringing their voices to Congress. Regardless of what the result is this week.
This is our moment. We are ready.
Cori Bush is a nurse, single mother, ordained pastor and community activist running for US Congress in Missouri’s 1st district
Sara Amora: ‘Fear cannot hold us back’
In the middle of what feels like the most dooming scenario, I want to be intentional in saying: we can change the world.
As an immigrant undocumented young activist, hearing that 6.8 million people ages 18 to 29 have voted early or by mail in the national election, more than double their vote at this point four years ago, I am reminded that fear and chaos cannot hold back people who fight for their community by all means. We are the generation with most access to information in history and yet somehow we have not lost hope.
In Texas, the youth vote is already up by over 600%, showing that despite fear tactics, direct attacks on human rights and a global pandemic, we will not be put down. In six states, young people have cast more votes than the 2016 margin of victory.
Young people have real power. Though we cannot change everything through voting, it is one thing we can do. Our actions at a local level are meaningful. Working-class youth and elders all across the country fight for the community because it is not an option – often we grow up fighting for our families without even realizing that what we are doing is activism. It’s a necessity of our upbringing to fight for the lives of those we love.
Since the beginning of 2020, being in quarantine, we saw how local communities showed up for each other. We saw people organizing local fundraisers for neighbors, crowdfunding for their favorite restaurants and and bringing custom to local small businesses affected by the pandemic. Today young people are showing up in staggering numbers, yesterday our elders fought many fights that paved the way. Regardless of results, we must continue to make the necessary radical changes for future generations and our current existence.
Sara Amora is a youth immigrant rights activist and president of Women’s March youth branch
Nikayla Jefferson, the sunrise movement: ‘We are here because someone carried a dream by torchlight’
Today is election day. Only time will reveal the world to come, but before it does, I want you to know: we are here because someone carried a dream by torchlight.
Through the darkness, they kept their feet firmly fixed on the horizon. With righteous courage, they marched steady towards a vision of a United States truer to its founding promise: justice. We are here because they grew tired, stretched their arm to pass on the light, and we took up this torch and continued on.
Right now I am scared, too. Caught between Covid and our climate crisis, the darkness is deep and disorienting. I am afraid I will be the one to let the flame die out.
All I have to do is take a second and look to the line of little flames that march beside me, stretched into the curve of the Earth. I am not alone. Darkness grows, but so does our fire. The path more perilous, but we stay faithful to our vision. And this moment is just an obstacle. We will find a way through because the consequences of stopping are not an option. We know you, and all the generations to come, depend on us to continue on.
I want you to know, that today, tomorrow, and forever, I will carry this torch for you. We must be close, the sun about to crack and spill over the horizon, because it is always darkest before the light.
Nikayla Jefferson is a member of the Sunrise movement, a youth movement to stop climate change
Source: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/nov/03/reasons-to-be-hopeful-us-election
