John, the 2024 election is over, and Donald Trump has officially won the presidential election.

Trump’s victory is a devastating outcome for our country and the innumerous marginalized communities he has targeted for the last decade.

There are millions of people living in the U.S. who are scared right now for what the future holds and we stand ready to protect and defend each other. We face threats of mass deportations, a national abortion ban, and an all-out assault on our democracy and civil rights. Our political leadership – those who have had the power and privilege to govern over us for decades – owes it to each of them to take responsibility for how a second Donald Trump presidency became possible again under their watch.

The leadership of the Democratic Party has repeatedly chosen to let Trump, the GOP, and corporations dictate our policy positions rather than our own base or the people who will inherit the future we are fighting for.

Our leadership cannot say they stand for peace and the sanctity and prosperity of all lives if we continue to let families get forced out of their homes because they can’t make ends meet in this economy; throw away our asylum policies because of Trump’s demonizing of immigrants; or refuse to stop funding bombs we know are wiping out entire generations of families in Palestine.

The Democratic Party is rapidly losing its legitimacy amongst the everyday people and marginalized communities continuously used as stepping stones to win elections. For as long as our Party has cozied up with corporate CEOs, right-wing billionaires, and big money Super PACs, everyday people in this country have seen Democrats’ populist platitudes as hypocrisy at best, and outright deceitful at worst.

The reality is that the leadership of both parties is bought and paid for by billionaires and corporations that are dividing our communities, undermining our fundamental freedoms, exploiting our workers, and destroying our planet. These monied interests are on the frontlines of destroying our democracy, taking away the power of voters through their unprecedented spending in elections — while those in power refuse to stand up and fight back. For eight years, the Democratic Party has been the Party against Trump instead of the Party for the people.

With the victory of Donald Trump, there are no easy answers for where we as a country and movement go from here. But what is clear to us is that politically courageous leaders at the federal level are needed now more than ever – the Democratic Party must usher in a new era, led by new leaders, not beholden to corporations and billionaires. Leaders in Congress like the Squad have shown us another way of doing politics is possible and represent the promise of uniting our fractured nation into a multiracial democracy where everyone thrives and no one is left behind.

It’s time to end the era of career politicians and the corrupt campaign finance laws that keep them in power. Either they can choose to step down and welcome a new generation of teachers, nurses, union workers, and everyday people to the halls of power or they can be forced out at the ballot box. Their time is up.

In solidarity,

Alexandra Rojas
Executive Director