ACLU Supporter – I want to thank you because today marks a big day. And you helped us get here:

100 years ago, a few determined activists dared to create a more perfect union.

Roger Baldwin, Helen Keller, Crystal Eastman, James Weldon Johnson, and our other founders set out to amplify the voices of the marginalized and secure our civil rights and liberties – so that our Constitution is not just theoretical, but has practical and real meaning in people's lives.

Put simply, our founders believed that the words "we the people" in our Constitution meant all of us – not just a privileged few.

Since then, we've brought or been a part of nearly every landmark legal case in this country. Miranda v. Arizona, Loving v. Virginia, Tinker v. Des Moines, Griswold v. Connecticut, Obergefell v. Hodges and so many others have expanded our rights and brought to life our democratic principles.

Under Trump, these very principles – from freedom of religion to freedom of the press – are under siege like never before.

But the 2016 election didn't just present grave threats to our civil liberties. It ignited activists across the country who decided to join us in defending our hard-earned liberties.

Thanks to people like you, the ACLU quadrupled our membership in the last three years. We've launched over 260 legal actions (and counting) against the Trump administration – already surpassing legal action against any other administration since our founding. We have over 1,700 staffers – including 500 staff attorneys and organizers – in every state, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico fighting for people's constitutional rights. We've grown our organizing muscles and strengthened our ability to build electoral and advocacy power.

We're proud of what we've achieved. But we will never be finished. If history has taught us anything, it's that the work of defending our hard-earned liberties – and advancing new ones – never ends.

And so we will keep fighting for the ideals of our democracy, for all whose rights are denied – even when it isn't popular, even when we're the only ones who will.

ACLU Supporter, here's to 100 more years. We couldn't have gotten here without you.

Anthony Romero
ACLU Executive Director