To My Fellow Progressive Activists

To the many progressive political activists I have worked with the past four years:

I don’t know what will happen with our election, and I don’t know when we will find out the results. But I won’t dwell on this now. You can do that many other places on the internet.

I want to reflect on our journey as progressive political activists, especially those who came together starting in 2016. This is really important, because the election, no matter the outcome, has taught us that the work we’ve started has just begun. We are a nation seemingly divided, fighting to cling to the past and simultaneously grasp our future. Our work does not end with any election, it is perpetual.

We’ve been working together now for four years. We’ve built an enormous community of people, many who are now partners in fighting for progressive agendas, we’ve founded a trusted community, and we’ve even made friends. We often fight, but we always unite around core values.

In the beginning, starting in 2016, I saw many of us emerge into our own activism. Previously, many of us, myself included, more or less sat at the sidelines, dutifully voting, but never getting more involved. Some of us had written the occasional letter to our city councils, Congresspeople or even the local paper. But these were things we did, these were not who we were. We didn’t make democracy a core part of our lives.

I’ve seen that remarkable shift in all of you. The activism, the awareness, the passion to teach each other and encourage each other to fight on, no matter how dark the days. Knowing that democracy is not a spectator sport. Knowing we have a role, and a voice.

More recently, I’ve been blessed to see activism at a whole new level. Many of you became ardent students of what went wrong in our country, the perpetual, structural issues of inequality, racism, classism, and more. You started to fully understand your privilege, truly understand inequality, and start to fight to create a seismic shift. I remember those first extremely painful conversations about p*ssy hats, and how mad many of you got at me when I tried to explain you need to listen to people of color. Now, you fight publicly and fearlessly to end systemic racism and the other structural inequities in our country.

Like you, I struggled with my understanding of my own privilege, and then became a fighter for justice. This is my calling. It is yours, too.

The last four years didn’t break you. They made you.

Whatever happens with this election, you are fully capable and ready for the challenge. You will continue to fight for what is right, never returning to the state of belief that a little fairy dust will make it all work. You will do the hard work, you will have the endurance to face anything that comes. You were put here in these tumultuous times for a reason, and proven you are ready.

So breathe deeply, and prepare for the future. We’ll be here, gearing up for whatever comes next, for the long haul. We got this!

In admiration!