Thoughts for January 20, 2025

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. said “the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.” But, it doesn’t bend toward justice on its own. We have to use the right levers, persuade the people, and keep bending the arc toward justice on our own. Today, many of you have already done so much, and you are exasperated, exhausted, and beaten down. There will come a day where this too shall pass. Democracy is fragile, particularly in presidential governments. People are easily misled. The Democratic party and 2024 candidate didn’t manage to convince enough voters, and now we all will pay the price. When we come back from this, it is my opinion that we need to return to firm, populist principles that restore justice for all Americans, including immigrants, who make our country strong. In many ways, we should advocate for a new New Deal, and I believe 2016/2020 presidential candidate Bernie Sanders was on the right track with universal healthcare and education, childcare, ending the war machine, and making the American oligarchs pay back the enormous sums they have looted from the American people. We can do all this while confronting American violence and the climate crisis to make a better future for our children. With a strong political and broader social movement, and with candidates who are genuinely unbought and unbossed (like the late Shirley Chisholm), I believe there is still hope to take the Democratic party back to its truest roots and convince enough Americans to come together on this. It is so hard to ask more of those of you who have already sacrificed so much toward these ends, but after a period of mourning and rest, your country will need another measure of devotion. There will be people who cannot give much more, but there will also be those who are re-entering the arena and those who are entering for the first time, and we will all be pulling together.