Brad Lander for NYC Comptroller [[link removed]]Dear John,

What we saw today in Washington, DC was a terrifying assault on our democracy, fomented by the President, fueled by white grievance, and abetted by GOP leaders, to prevent the peaceful transition of power.

Our democracy must be defended, and people must be held accountable -- for today’s violence, and for the politics that fueled it. I support colleagues in Washington who are calling for the impeachment and removal of Donald Trump, and consequences for the members of Congress who urged on the mob. And Congress must proceed to certify the election of Joe Biden as soon as possible.

We did not need to see images of armed, Confederate flag-wielding rioters storming the Capitol to know that our democracy is under siege. We’ve spent the past four years marching, demonstrating, organizing -- all of it nonviolently -- to protest the hideous cruelty and corruption of the Trump regime, and we knew that he and some of his supporters would try to take our democracy down with him. Still, watching it, worrying for the people working inside the building and for the stability of our government, was deeply alarming.

My friend Ady Barkan has been arrested 8 times for engaging in nonviolent civil disobedience in the Capitol, and I joined him one of those times. I saw more police that day than in any of the images of the Capitol today. We know all too well that there is a double standard when it comes to how police respond to those protesting white supremacy versus those defending it, but again, it was still it was shocking to see.

It’s hard to process all this. Like many of you, my family and I are feeling shaken, by the violence, hatred, and fragility of our institutions that we witnessed today.

Still, it’s very clear what we are called to do.

I woke up this morning feeling more hopeful than I have in a long time at the prospects for that very same democracy, bolstered by the first Black Democratic Senator from the South, an end to Mitch McConnell’s rule as Majority Leader, and especially to have a fighting chance (maybe today we should call it an “organizing chance”) to bring about a bold agenda to save our democracy and share its benefits far more broadly.

Democrats will now control the White House and both chambers of Congress. That power is not unlimited, but it is great indeed. We will need our leaders there to push it to the limits (and very likely beyond where they think those limits are) to transform our institutions to bring about more equality, more justice, and more investment in our collective future.

If they do, I believe we will be able to restore confidence in our democratic system, broaden its benefits, and give people hope in a shared future. If they don’t, I fear we will be back here again, watching hate-filled populism surge to threaten our institutions.

For starters, we need to see those $2000 checks and more direct aid to families, tenants, small business owners and landlords. And the billions of dollars in state and local aid that we will need to get the vaccine distributed rapidly to everyone, keep our subways running, confront Covid-19’s fiscal crisis, and begin to bring our city back to life.

But we need far more than filling holes and nibbling around the edges -- we need a new social contract that can fulfill long-delayed promises to house, feed, employ, sustain, and protect all of our communities. And we’ll need bold action too to strengthen our democracy, so it can actually function as a vehicle to represent the will of the majority (with strong protections for the rights of minorities of all kinds, too).

We clearly have a huge amount of work ahead of us. But it couldn’t be clearer -- from both the results in Georgia last night, and the ugly coup attempt in Washington this afternoon -- that the path forward runs through organizing, centering and empowering communities of color so our systems can work for all of us, and pursuing concrete policies that improve people’s lives and remind us why democracy matters in the first place.

Brad

P.S. If you want a break from being glued to the news and are looking to make sense of the day and find ways to take action, The Frontline, Movement for Black Lives, The Working Families Party, and United We Dream are holding a joint call at 8 PM [[link removed]] to process today, the results in Georgia, and next steps for organizing.

Lander for NYC
456 5th Avenue, Third Floor, Suite 2
Brooklyn, NY 11215
United States
[email protected]

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