Dear John,

After returning from a much-needed sabbatical to care for myself and travel, I am reflecting on where we are as an organization in a rapidly changing landscape. I am moved by and proud of the dedication of the Alliance San Diego team to develop leaders, engage our community, advocate for policy change, protect legal rights, and share the stories that connect us to our humanity. 

With fresh eyes, I see our mission as absolutely critical: to build collective power to create a more inclusive democracy. Democracy has never worked for all of us, but it can, and it must, and it's up to us and people of good conscience to make it so. 

What does it mean to have a functional and healthy democracy? It means checks and balances, rights and responsibilities, and power and accountability. But more fundamentally, it means a system of governance, a way of living together that recognizes each others' human dignity. From this perspective, dignity is the point of a democracy. It is the starting point for all decision making and it is the end goal. We can never lose sight of that. 

We are living in multiple crises — political, social, and environmental — that make us feel uncertain and unsafe, small and insignificant, isolated and alone. Social media exacerbates, distracts, and divides. Artificial intelligence blurs the problems and manipulates the solutions. The truth we see on a screen is no longer a handhold we trust. It's imperative we step outside of the machine (and help others to do the same) to reconnect with ourselves, with each other, and with our sense of humanity.

A thriving democracy depends on healthy and safe spaces for diverse communities to interact and make decisions together that start with dignity. We can play a role in creating those spaces. The ballot box in and of itself is not enough to render a system a democracy. It must come hand in hand with the protection of human rights — the right to vote, the right to speak, and the right to be free and equal regardless of our nationality, ethnicity, gender, gender identity, religion, and ability, among other traits.

Without the protection of human rights, elections can lead to people in power using public support to silence or exclude others; that in turn can lead to authoritarianism. We are on this trajectory now. Leaders who stir up emotions, fears, and divisions to gain power and secure the privileges of the few — the bigots, billionaires and bullies. By keeping us apart and dividing us into 'us' and 'them', they dilute our collective power. But community is a powerful counterweight when organized and channeled. 

Our survival depends on coming together to understand, claim, and protect human rights. We cannot protect what we do not claim — and we cannot claim what we do not understand: that we are one human family, bound by a shared fate. As Dr. King said, we must learn to live together as sisters and brothers or perish as fools.

Alliance San Diego is uniquely equipped to build the collective power our communities need. Our work strengthens the skills and capacity to center human dignity in the fight for full human rights. While self-centered forces tear down institutions, we believe other-centered people can build anew.

Even in the face of devastation, we can meet this moment with movement. At the local and state level, we have a role to play — not only to protect people from today’s crises, but to shape the inclusive democracy of tomorrow. Our dedicated staff and board are ready to lead the way.

Now more than ever, we must come together to build the inclusive democracy we all deserve — one rooted in human dignity and shared power. Here's how you can help:

🔹 Make a donation to support our vital work and help us meet this moment with movement.
🔹 Sign up for our upcoming Start With Dignity Leadership Workshop and be part of building local power from the ground up.

🔹 Register to join us for a community walk to distribute Know Your Rights literature to vulnerable communities.

🔹 Share/forward this message with friends and family and help us spread the vision and invite others into the work.

Together, we can create the conditions for lasting change. In the coming days and weeks, we will dive into planning for the months ahead. Though the future is uncertain, it is also unwritten. We can outline a path that reflects our shared humanity and fill it with the hopes and dreams of our Beloved Community.

In Solidarity,

Andrea Guerrero

Executive Director, Alliance San Diego

Alliance San Diego
P.O. Box 12266
San Diego, CA 92112
United States 

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