Note: This message is an excerpt from our blog “We are not okay” looking back on the January 6th insurrection. Click here to read the full post on our website.

“I’m okay.”

Those two words hit me in a multitude of ways. After hours of watching the chaos unfold in the Capitol building that day, knowing that AOC, Cori Bush, and other people we had helped elect to Congress were directly in danger, seeing those words offered an immediate and overwhelming sense of relief.

But I knew when she wrote “I’m okay,” that she was not actually okay. I knew because I’d once said those words myself when my own life was in danger.

On January 6th I wasn't thinking of AOC, the international icon. I was thinking of Alexandria, the kind, compassionate candidate who worked with me over Slack to tinker with her campaign lit copy before we launched her campaign for Congress in May 2017.

I was picturing a woman hiding from violent people in her place of work, and I wanted to know she and the others were safe. So when she tweeted “I’m okay,” I instantly knew how bad it had been.

And one year later, I have to tell you, friends, America is not okay.

Even as we continue to piece together the facts one year later, there are a few things I know from that day.

I knew this mob was violent. I knew some of them had an explicit desire to harm the people our organization put in that building. And I knew they had the capability to carry it out.

While we waited for word of their safety, these are the images that emerged:

January 6th was the most urgent political moment of my lifetime, and it demanded an urgent, clear response like the one Cori Bush issued when she called for the expulsion of seditious members of Congress mere days after the insurrection.

Instead Democrats dragged their feet for six months before finally forming the January 6th Commission. The slow, plodding work of that committee has nonetheless uncovered some vital facts.

• There are sitting members of Congress who actively participated in planning the events of January 6th.

• Trump’s team developed a plan to stage a national emergency and throw out the election results – which they pitched to allies in Congress.

• They are willing, and able, to do it again. And next time they may succeed.

Last January 6th 147 Republicans voted to overturn the 2020 election after the violent storming of the Capitol.

Congresswoman Cori Bush’s first piece of legislation was H.R. 25, a resolution to investigate and expel members of Congress who sought to overthrow the legitimate election of Joe Biden.

There are only 54 co-sponsors, and it has never been brought to the floor for a vote.

One year later we are still waiting for these members to be held accountable.

Despite a wave of aggressive new voter suppression laws, crucial legislation to protect our voting rights has stalled out in the Democratically-controlled U.S. Senate.

The insurrection of January 6, 2021 was an emergency – and it remains one today. America is not okay. We need leaders who understand the (multiple) crises we face and move with urgency to solve them.

Do not let another year, another month, or another DAY pass without real accountability.

Today Cori is reissuing her clarion call to action, and it’s time we hold these seditionists accountable. Join us in the call to investigate and expel the members of Congress who incited this insurrection.

In 2022 we have an opportunity to substantially grow the ranks of bold, progressive, working class leaders like Cori Bush, Jamaal Bowman, Rashida Tlaib, and AOC.

Help us elect people who lead with moral clarity; who recognize a crisis and respond with urgency. Help us elect a Brand New Congress.

Cory Archibald

Interim Communications Director