Friend,

Something extraordinary has been happening all around us in NYC that should not be overlooked. Long lines of voters-in-waiting snaked around blocks every day of early voting (the challenges that posed are a subject for another email!). Teams of volunteers phonebanking millions of people, while others have stood in the rain to encourage, entertain or support those waiting in line. And last, but certainly not least, poll workers greeting the public, providing direction, translation and sometimes even food, among other things.

There's been an undeniable JOY among those long lines. An unequivocal, resolute determination among the people to exercise their hard earned right to vote that nothing was going to deter. And in that determination, in that joy, New Yorkers can feel the generations of those who came before us. The hard earned right to vote - and the celebration of exercising that right that intensifies in the face of anything that might dare to threaten it.

Americans are showing up in staggering numbers to exercise their right to participate in democracy. No matter the outcome of this election, we must continue to stand up for our collective rights. This country was founded on a promise of a Republican of the people, by the people, for the people. Our freedoms have not come easily. They were all hard won. Come what may in the weeks ahead, we must remember the victories of our past. We must continue to demand justice. And we must continue to strive toward the possibility that our country will someday live up to the full potential of the Republic, for Which It Stands.

In solidarity,
Dianne