Indivisibles --
Celebrate. Yes, celebrate. It’s been four damn long years. Today, we have
all earned the right to celebrate.
Shortly after Trump and his Republican trifecta won the 2016 election, we
opened the original Indivisible Guide with these words:
"Donald Trump is the biggest popular-vote loser in history to ever call
himself President. In spite of the fact that he has no mandate, he will
attempt to use his congressional majority to reshape America in his own
racist, authoritarian, and corrupt image. If progressives are going to
stop this, we must stand indivisibly opposed to Trump and the Members of
Congress (MoCs) who would do his bidding. Together, we have the power to
resist — and we have the power to win."
Today, we’re celebrating not just the defeat of Trump, and not even just
the creation of a new Democratic trifecta -- but something more
fundamental: the triumph of determined grassroots power and the promise of
what is to come.
Take this short trip down memory lane with us.
Four years ago, we watched from home as Donald Trump was sworn in and
delivered his "American Carnage" speech. All the hatred, cruelty, and
horror that was to come was forecasted in his speech. The two of us felt
anger and fear, but we also had a reason to hope. We’d launched the
Indivisible Guide one month before, and we were utterly swamped with
emails from people all over the country who were shocked and furious and
heartbroken -- and starting to organize. We knew -- because we were
reading our inbox -- that something important was happening, that Trump
would be met with a wave of opposition that would help to check and
ultimately defeat him.
Four years later, we’re watching from home for very different reasons.
Celebrants are staying away from D.C., and instead the streets are choked
with National Guardsmen, preparing for white supremacists and QAnon
cultists. Soaring rates of COVID are keeping us all isolated in our own
homes, away from the communities that we’ve spent the last four years
building and that helped us make this day possible. And we’re mourning the
people who should be here with us today and praying for the safety of
everyone targeted by violent would-be fascists.
It’s a sadder, more frightening, and lonelier day than it should be.
And yet.
Today, Joseph Robinette Biden Jr., a good man, will be sworn into office.
Kamala Devi Harris will be sworn in by Justice Sonia Sotomayor, making
history as the first Black and South Asian American woman to become Vice
President.
Today, we’ll rejoin the Paris Agreement, reverse the Muslim Ban, and
cancel the Keystone XL Pipeline. These are first steps -- and there will
be more, every day, as the Biden administration takes over and as the
now-Democratic Congress gets to work.
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This won’t be a “return to normal.” We can’t go back to the way things
were before Trump; we have to fix our democracy so that it works for all
of us. And now, with this new trifecta, we have the chance to do that --
to pass COVID relief that truly meets peoples’ needs, and to make the
structural reforms we need to fix our democracy. That means D.C.
statehood. That means the For the People Act. That means the John Lewis
Voting Rights Act. As we’ve written in [ [link removed] ]the new Indivisible Guide (which
outlines how we’ll do this!), “Victory isn’t the election. It’s the
legislation.” There’s a lot of work still to do, and we’re going to be
here along with you, doing it together.
But that’s history that will be written tomorrow. Today we celebrate the
defeat of a would-be tyrant. Today we celebrate a rare window of
opportunity that we’ve opened together. Today we reflect on the incredible
power we have built. Did we win every battle? No. Did we prevent all the
damage of the Trump and McConnell regime? Absolutely not. But we tried. We
threw ourselves into the defense of our values, our neighbors, and our
democracy. That’s all we could do. And damn if it wasn’t enough to at
least create the chance for a new world.
On this inauguration day, we’re thinking of our new Vice President’s
words: “When our children and grandchildren ask us where we were at this
moment in time, we’re going to tell them what we did.” You’re part of a
movement that has a rich story to tell. Maybe you formed an Indivisible
group. Maybe you showed up at a town hall, or a protest, or a
congressional office. Maybe you knocked doors, raised money, or ran for
office yourself. Whatever you did, you’re a part of this historical story.
And if you’re still reading this, you’re helping to write the next chapter
too.
Cheers to that.
In solidarity,
Ezra & Leah
Co-Founders, Indivisible
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