The People Are Speaking
Hi Friends,
The people are speaking. Can you hear us?
The recent primary elections in New York, New Jersey, Los Angeles, Colorado, and elsewhere indicate a sea change even against establishment Democrats who cannot find a way to stand against genocide, who cannot find a way to hear us, to see us, to show us that our lived experiences matter, that we deserve more from our elected leaders, that we deserve solutions and validation and meaningful change. The people are speaking.
One of my favorite parts about these recent elections it that the immense amount of money poured into these races to maintain many established politicians could not sway the power of the people. Millions of dollars from billionaires trying to control who has power had little to no impact as underfunded and lesser known names won decisively. On June 26, Rep. Ro Khanna pushed back against a group of centrist Democrats "by saying that voters across the country have shown their hunger for this brand of politics.
“The progressive movement is winning across the country, from the heart of New York to Michigan to Maine,” Khanna said. “The people are saying no to foreign wars and they’re saying no to genocide in Gaza. They’re saying no to the unfair and lopsided economy that has allowed a few people to hoard extreme wealth and power, and they’re saying yes to Medicare for All.”"
The people are speaking.
Resistance continues in Minneapolis, in Los Angeles, in Newark, in communities large and small and medium, anywhere the government's agents are overstepping their authority, breaking the law, or enacting violence. Union labor organizers are finding solidarity with those detained at the inhumane, for-profit Delaney Hall in New Jersey. Veterans are speaking out against US militarism. The people are speaking.
Our success at protesting the actions of our government have led to more and more outrageous reactions, including sentencing the Prairieland 8 to over four centuries behind bars because their protest activities were labeled as terrorism. The increased persecution of people resisting or targeted by this government is only further fueling the resistance. As Scot Nakagawa rightly observes, "When the punishment is wildly out of scale with the offense, the scale is telling you the offense was never the point." The people are speaking.
People are raising awareness about following the money. Economic inequality has exploded in the last few decades. Efforts to revise tax codes to tax billionaires more appropriately are only scratching the surface of all of the extraction going on around us. When we look at where banks are investing our money, we discover that we are left holding the bag at every turn. Money is made on one side by elites investing in fossil fuels and other destructive technologies like AI and data centers, and money is made on the other side by charging all of us more and more for our utilities and basic needs. Investments in tech and surveillance lead to more people imprisoned in for-profit prisons, which makes corporate elites even more money. Even in the face of this brazen amorality, communities are resisting. Campaigns against Flock cameras are spreading and communities are pushing back against police surveillance. The people are speaking.
Communities are standing up against data centers. This past week, much of the United States (and Europe) experienced extreme high temperatures, contributed to not only by decades of climate change, but more recently by the impact of the exponential expansion of data centers. "Due to the demands of AI, over 1,500 data centers are currently in development across the U.S. Virginia, which is expected to experience some of the highest temperatures later this week, currently operates over 600 data centers, the highest concentration in the country. ... Scientists have also found that data centers are creating “heat islands,” warming the temperatures in the areas around them, even over 6 miles away." The backlash is growing as data centers become the latest extractive empire, consuming land, electricity, labor, and water, devastating air quality, especially in communities that are already experiencing water scarcity. The people are speaking.
Communities are denying warehouse space to the government, consciously and vocally challenging internment camps within their borders. In Texas, an ICE jail was protested by Japanese internment survivors. As a result, ICE has ended some of its efforts to open new incarceration spaces. "Faced with a growing and popular resistance movement against its inhumane and draconian immigration agenda, ICE and the Trump administration are now in a weakened position." Resistance is also growing against any kind of incarceration, even that not directly intended in relation to immigration. The people are speaking.
While the gutting of career government workers has led many departments and offices to slow down or cease functioning altogether, momentum still carries many efforts forward. For example, a reparative justice movement in Evanston, Illinois, supported by donations and a local tax, is being targeted by the federal government. Local and state organizers are holding steady: "So, what we’re seeing right now is a global consensus that this is the right thing to do. And when reparations for many years has been seen as some sort of marginal, radical program, the truth of the matter is, when you look at the world, what is radical is the effort to try to — to try to fight these programs, to try to turn back the clock and to try to ignore the inevitability of history." Rebecca Solnit wrote in May about the autumn of the patriarchs, noting the decline of many of these harmful systems and governments. The people are speaking.
Keep speaking. Keep resisting. Keep voting. Keep protesting. Keep singing. Every voice matters. We will make ourselves heard.
Emily
Listen. Amplify. Follow. In Solidarity.
