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. 

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 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