Sticking together
When I launched Indivisible Montgomery at the end of 2016, I wanted to build a community of like-minded people to resist Donald Trump and his GOP, and I wasn’t the only one. Groups like ours sprung up across the country in the wake of Trump’s first electoral win. The protests, phone calls, election efforts, and more that followed were the work of the resistance, but what held each of our groups together was the knowledge that we weren’t doing this alone. The people of our communities are the ones we lean on to pull us back from the brink of cynicism and despair. They are the community we celebrate with.
What we’re seeing in Minneapolis is a strong and resilient community standing against the Trump administration in incredibly dangerous circumstances. We saw similar communities spring into action in Chicago, Los Angeles, and other places over the past year. All across the country, resistance communities are working to support those in these dangerous situations while preparing for when federal agents might descend on their own home towns.
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The attacks by federal agents on legal observers are direct challenges to the fabric of our community. In administrations of the past, events such as the executions of Renee Good and Alex Pretti would launch investigations and at least a suggestion the agents at fault may face justice. But the members of the second Trump administration, from the President and Cabinet secretaries down to the guy pulling the trigger, mock and gaslight the resistance community asserting there will be no justice for those who resist.
This message is meant to get us to stay home and not bear witness to the atrocities of this administration. The purpose of asserting power with overbearing arrogance is to make us question what one person can do against such a force. Their mockery stokes our inner cynic that tells us we can’t make a difference. The goal is to get us to disengage. Because if no one is engaged, then no one shows up. And if no one shows up, then the administration’s brutality can realize its full potential.
But the lesson from the first Trump administration is that community works. Banding together and opposing the Trump administration at every possible turn laid the groundwork for every victory the resistance has had to date. We keep turning up because we care about our families, our friends, and the people who live in our neighborhoods. We keep supporting others across the country because we know they’ll be there for us when we need them. Community works. Community will win.
***The People United: A Memoir of Hope and Resistance During Trump’s First Term is now available at Bookshop, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other ebook vendors.***
