Tell the Story of What Happened Here
We have to remember, and we have to be honest.
This weekend, people all over the country once again took to the streets to protest the rise of authoritarianism in our country and the chainsaw massacre style cruelty of DOGE and the federal approach to budgeting, among countless other injustices perpetrated by this regime. People are showing up to town halls with their Representatives and Senators, or the nearby Democrats who have taken up the responsibility to make sure that those constituents are heard even when their own elected officials won’t show up. Across the country, we are getting louder.
It feels like the resistance was slower to take off this time around. Because Trump gained ground with almost every demographic, in almost every state; because he won the popular vote, even if only by a very slim margin; because his rhetoric was so scary and it seemed like so much of the country wanted it; because so many of our political leaders were cowed by the results and unwilling to speak up. Because, as we looked around, we found that so much of what we’d believed in, so much of what we had been fighting for was cracked and crumbling beneath the surface.
Or as they say on the internet, not so much laws as a bunch of norms in a trench coat.
For all that we implore people to trust science in the face of RFK Jr. 's attacks on our public health, we forget about how untrustworthy science has been for so many communities, particularly women and people of color. For all that we rage against Trump’s use of the Alien Enemies Act to kidnap people and send them to a foreign torture prison, how often does FDR’s use of the same law to imprison Japanese Americans in World War II come up in discussions around his legacy? And all of the enforcement mechanisms we have for an out of control rely on members of that executive’s party being more loyal to the country and their constituents than their party, or at least more loyal to their own power.
It’s a contradiction that was written into our very founding - a crack built into the foundation. The Constitution had to be changed, had to expand the right of due process, equality before the law, equal access to democracy. Written into the same Constitution we are relying to defend us now was a clause stating that Black people, kidnapped from their country and forced into chattel slavery, were only three fifths of a person. Our expansion came about via the buying and selling and conquering of stolen land.
The contradictions, the hierarchies and oppression, the power and violence are not new. But neither are the movements rising up against them. Neither are the people forming a human chain to protect their neighbors or showing up at town halls to demand the government lives up to its promises. And neither are the people marching through the streets.
This fascist takeover of our government, and the bullies stealing the wealth we’ve created for themselves is attempting to destroy the good things we’ve built - the relationships with other countries, the programs meant to provide food and medicine and housing to people all over the world and here at home. But they also want us to keep from telling our stories, telling this story. The book bans, the attacks on DEI and universities, the edicts sent out to museums, they don’t just reify the old hierarchies that empower and enrich them, they are also an attempt to make us forget our power, to make us forget what we can do together. It’s not just that we can fight back, it’s the reminder that we can build something new.
We have to tell the story of what’s happening here. We have to remember what they tried to take from us and how they were able to do it. It’s not just about the chaos and the corruption. It’s not just about winning elections.
It’s about the dreams deferred - the small business that the tariffs crush, the people who lose their jobs, the creativity that we lose to the drudgery of poverty and the creativity in how people survive. We have to talk about the people we’ll lose, all over the world, to the diseases we could have treated or cured. We’ll never get back the time we’re losing in cancer research and Alzheimer’s research. This regime’s attack on research into drug resistant tuberculosis will not just kill time - it’ll make tuberculosis stronger and even more drug resistant.
Donald Trump promises to end wars and bring prices down, and yet the violence is rampant and everything is getting more expensive. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine rages on, and Israel’s slaughter of Palestinians paves the way for Trump’s dreams of beachfront property. Trans people are losing rights by the moment, as every attempt is made to force them back into the closet, out of public life through intimidation, violence, and threats.
And as the climate crisis worsens, and investments in renewable energy are stalled or canceled while big oil grows and grows and grows, the destruction will grow too, and lives and homes and species and whole islands will be lost.
Oh yeah and they are still kidnapping people off our streets and dooming them to spend the rest of their lives in a foreign torture dungeon.
I know it sucks to read. There’s no sugarcoating it. It’s awful now and it’s going to keep being awful for a long time yet. But we have to talk about it. We have to keep saying it no matter how hard it is. The consequences of what we’re experiencing now will be far reaching and pervasive for many, many years. When we get power back we will have to do the hard, complicated work of rebuilding, and when things don’t automatically get better, people might once again turn to candidates who offer easy, if hollow, solutions and someone to blame. We need to remind people that what we’re experiencing is the result of deliberate and intentional choices. And we need to make sure they know who made those choices. Out of an understandable but misguided desire to get back to normal last time, I am not sure we did that well enough.
But even more than that we need to tell this story, to remember what happened and how because we need to build something better, something stronger out of the wreckage. We can’t burn it all down and start all over again. The pieces of who we are now are, and will always be a part of us. But if we know where the cracks are, we can fill them in. We can shore up the foundation and build something that will last even longer.
We will tell the story of what happened here, and we will believe in the possibility of something better, and no matter what they ban or stop or change or steal, they can’t stop that.
What to Do About It This Week
If you can, put another event on your schedule - whether that’s a protest or a town hall or a volunteer event. You can check out Vote Save America’s list here. You can also check out this site to find other events near you.
How has the Trump regime impacted you? Whether on your social media, or by emailing friends and family, or even just by talking to a friend by answering honestly when they ask how you are - share what’s going on. Put a face to the statistics for people in your network.