Good afternoon! I’m loving the energy here today. Thank you everyone for showing up. My name is Julie. I am a mom and a nurse practitioner. I am here today fighting not only for the future for my children and their children, but for children and families across this country.
It is still UNBELIEVABLE to me that a majority of people who chose to vote in the 2024 election picked an ignorant, immoral, vindictive, fear-mongering man rather than an intelligent, articulate, law-abiding, inspirational woman! And not just once, but twice! I thought we had all learned our lesson and yet, here we are…
And yet… HERE! WE! ARE! And we must FIGHT!
WE MUST FIGHT HARDER THAN EVER BEFORE! The tides are already turning! People are being reminded every day why we voted the Orange One out in 2020. There is a growing, grassroots movement of people of all ages and backgrounds saying in no uncertain terms:
WE ARE NOT GOING AWAY!!
WE ARE NOT GIVING UP!!
WE ARE NOT LETTING DONALD ANOINT HIMSELF KING!!
WE ARE NOT LETTING HIS HOST OF CRONIES STEAL OUR DEMOCRACY!!
WE ARE STANDING UP TO PROJECT 2025!!
The goal of Project 2025 is to crush the working class under the boot of the 1%.
They want to create a King with his boot-licking, ass-kissing, cow-towing aristocracy who want to segregate themselves from the rest of us peasants who are supposed to say thank you for the scraps.
We must stand together in this fight! Project 2025 attempts to divide and crush us in three ways:
#1. They want you to blame your lot in life on those people. And that’s anyone who isn’t the majority. Those women, those people of color, those immigrants, the LGBTQ+. Pick your scapegoat. All of “those people” are not the enemy. And the only minority to fear is the elite 1% eliminating jobs and hoarding wealth.
#2. They want you to believe their inflammatory talking points. I refuse to call anything on Fox “News”. It is the propaganda mouthpiece for Donald and his minions. They think if lies are repeated loud enough and often enough, somehow those lies will magically become the truth.
#3. They want to defund anything that might create a level playing field. Make sure that the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. Gutting public education, Medicaid, food stamps, women’s reproductive rights, environmental protections, and fair housing seem to only be the start of this hideous mission.
All of this is designed to make us feel afraid and powerless. HOWEVER…
The 50501 movement shows us how to fight back!
#1. Support reputable news sources. We need real journalism, not entities that simply tolerate Donald’s lies and stroke his ego.
#2. Speak up and show up. Speak up when people in your life repeat lies and fake talking points. Be active in local politics. Keep attending protests and bring your friends! We need growing crowds full of energy and creative signs.
#3. Create community. Find opportunities to support those around you, no matter how they voted. Show the power of love, not hate. I find myself being so angry with anyone who voted for the Orange One and getting us into this situation. But we must reach out and help each other. The divisive right-wing propaganda machine is powerful and we must fight back through community and conversation.
I know we can get tired. It was so tempting to give up after the election. And, in all honesty, for a while, I did. But then I remembered a very important lesson I learned as a child from--of all places--a Little House on the Prairie book by Laura Ingalls Wilder. In the 1800s, on a hot summer day out on the prairie, a swarm of locusts suddenly appears. As the family watches in horror, a blanket of locusts ruins the crops that were the family’s livelihood. In the midst of this gross and devastating infestation, Ma Ingalls quietly says, “well, at least we won’t have to buy feed for the chickens.” What I took away from that snippet of a story was an important life truth: in the midst of tragedy one can find something good—no matter how seemingly small or insignificant—if one looks hard enough.
Our own blanket of locusts currently surrounds us, feasting on our democracy. But in the midst of the tragedy of Donald’s second term, in the midst of feeling bombarded by his small, weak, weird, locust-like creatures, I have found something good. Something good that is neither small nor insignificant.
The something good I see is so many of us doing the work it takes to keep this democracy alive.
The something good I see is so many of us banding together to defend the greater good for ALL of us, not just the rich, white men.
The something good I see is so many intelligent, insightful, inspirational people challenging Donald and his Project 2025 cronies. They want to exhaust us with this endless game of create-a-new-crisis whack-a-mole. But we outnumber them. We are growing. We are growing in number, in volume, in power. We have woken up and we will not be silenced! We are awake and fighting for the rights of all and for our democracy. And if that’s what they want to refer to as “woke”, give me the sash and I’ll wear it with pride!