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This week’s episode of At Our Table is emotional for me. I sat down with Eliana Pinckney, the eldest daughter of my dear friend, the late SC Senator Clementa Pinckney. I’ve known Eliana since she was a child. Now, listening to her speak as a young woman shaped by loss, clarity, and conviction, I found myself both humbled and challenged.
We talked a lot about power. Who holds it. Who it’s supposed to serve. And why so many people—especially in her generation—feel disconnected from a political system that often seems louder about empathy than it is about action.
As Eliana put it:
“Genuine change happens when communal values are strong. No fight gets won individually. There’s so much power in numbers.”
That idea came up again and again. Change doesn’t come from statements alone. It comes from people showing up together, pushing together, insisting together.
She was also blunt about what she sees too often in politics today:
“Performative activism is such a very, very strong and very, very alive thing. Politicians will say the bare minimum of what they need to say, but then in policy and in actual action, not do anything to support that.”
That gap—between words and work—is where trust erodes.
One of the moments that really stuck with me was when Eliana said:
“The job of the politician is to represent the people. Politicians should not be celebrities.”
She wasn’t saying it to be provocative. She was saying it because she means it. Because when leaders forget who they’re supposed to serve, democracy starts to feel like theater instead of responsibility.
And yes, she didn’t shy away from calling things as she sees them. When it came time for our Sit Your Ass Down Award, Eliana explained why she believes Donald Trump deserves it:
“A lot of his actions are a big part of why my generation doesn’t have trust or faith or believe in the system anymore.”
Like all of her comments, it was honest. It was personal. And it was grounded in a real concern about what leadership signals to the country.
We all can learn something from this episode. Eliana represents a generation that is paying attention, asking harder questions, and demanding more than symbolism.
As for me, this conversation reminded me that democracy doesn’t need more performance. It needs more people willing to treat leadership as a duty, not a brand—and to stay rooted in the communities that made them.
— Jaime
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