When the News Hits Like a Body Blow

Some weeks the news doesn't just disappoint you. It punches you in the stomach. These last few weeks have been like this for me. 💔

The Supreme Court finished off whatever was left of the Voting Rights Act — a law that people marched for, bled for, and died for. Gone. And then there's the massive, global "online rape academy" website. That it existed. That it had so many users. I don't have words for how that lands in my body.

Both of those things are true at the same time: the world can be that ugly, AND people can be that fierce. I'm holding both this week. Here's the fierce part.

Two things that helped me this week:

Rachel Maddow pointed out that despite setting aside $38 billion to build warehouse prison camps, Trump has not been able to open a single one. Not one. People all over this country — including in red states — have made it so hard, so contested, so fought-at-every-turn, that they are not getting it done. 🔥

And Heather McGhee said this, and I need you to read it slowly:

"If the generation before us had despaired, we would not have achieved the gains we have now. They said there's a wall, and I'm going to keep hammering at it. I might not be the one to see it fall down — this wall of injustice. But it will fall down because of the blows that I made. That's our job. Now. In this moment. To keep hammering at the wall. To adapt. To be smarter. To be more persuasive. To find new ways to bring people in. And yes — to keep our eyes on the prize."

And here's what else is true right now:

✊ Courts have blocked or overturned Trump administration actions 256 times — compared to 126 government wins. We are winning more than we're losing.

✊ A federal court permanently struck down the show-your-papers voter registration requirement. No president gets to rewrite election law by executive order.

✊ On May Day, workers across the country walked out, marched, and shut things down — including Madison cafe workers who closed multiple coffee shops under the banner "ICE in Our Coffee, Not in Our Streets."

✊ U.S. union membership hit a 16-year high — up half a million members. Workers are organizing at a scale we haven't seen in a generation.

✊ Wind and solar generated more electricity in the EU than fossil fuels — for the first time ever. The energy transition is happening with or without this administration.

So what do we do with the despair?

We feel it. All of it. Grief is appropriate. The Voting Rights Act gutted? Real loss. That website? Real horror. Don't rush past it.

AND we remember: movements don't win because people feel good. They win because people keep showing up when they don't.

Thirty-eight billion dollars. Not one camp open. That's you hammering at the wall.

You're allowed to fall apart. You're also allowed to get back up.

We'll do it together. 💪❤️

🔨 One way to use that hammer is to get more involved with Indivisible Sequim by volunteering. I invite you to check out our membership form which includes sharing your skills and interests so that we may help you find something that feels most empowering for you. IS Volunteer Form