Here we are…again.

As we prepare, as best we can, to re-enter the chaos and destruction of another term with the spoiled, dangerous, billionaire in chief, I for one am feeling so much. I’m feeling sad that so many saw fit to vote for him, I’m feeling disappointed that we were unable to inspire and mobilize enough people to prevent this. I feel disappointed and a little embarrassed  in myself as I remembered and re-felt all the same emotions of grief as last time, but with a little more numbness mixed in.  The one feeling I’ve fought off, that I refuse to feel is hopeless. I feel hope, rooted in what I know to be true-we are infinitely powerful and we have very real and concrete ways in which we can and will support ourselves and our communities.

This latest national election loss isn’t just the second time..it’s one of many times we’ve been here. I remember vividly the sinking feelings of dread, dismay and sadness as I came to terms with the reality of a second George W. Bush term in 2004. We joke now that we’d take Bush back if we could, but he represented a real danger to this country, in the form of backward education policies, draconian immigration policy and of course in orchestrating an unlawful and immoral war against Iraq that we continue to feel the impacts of today.  It wasn’t cute or funny, it was scary and real. And yet the world didn’t stop, and we didn’t stop organizing.

In the midst of this, 2004 was the year that San Francisco became the first city in the country to recognize Gay marriage (which wasn’t lawful at the time)..it started here, with local queer organizers and allies. Same sex marriage is now federally legal, but it started in one city.  In 2006 while we still navigated the second Bush term, my personal favorite, paid sick leave became a requirement for every business in the city.  A real, material shift for people working long hours. Despite what takes place nationally, we remain powerful and can support each other and improve our world..together.

And so now, what do we do? Surely we will need to mobilize to stand against dangerous and terrible plans at the federal level. But the tragedy of democracy at the national level, puts Facilitating Power's work around community-driven planning into new perspective. The organizers and community-based facilitators we are working with through the NACRP Facilitator Certification Program are mobilizing their communities to be more self determined, self sufficient and powerful. Our work at Facilitating Power and the work of our members is based on the knowledge that our Federal government isn’t our perfect vision for true democracy. True democracy takes place when we are able to build power and mobilize resources to enact our own solutions and realize our own visions for prosperity and liberation within our communities and with our neighbors.

There are so many examples in our NACRP facilitators cohort program right now. In Kansas, Danielle Jones is a part of a Black Women led effort to create the Sankofa Village. Sankofa Village is reclaiming land for Black liberation. As Danielle notes,  “this project is a strategy to build self-determination and liberation from racial capitalism and extractive systems that profit from our suffering.” It’s a vision created by people with roots in Kansas, to step outside our systems and create healing and possibility together.

In Santa Ana, we have NACRP cohort members who are part of a coalition of immigrant justice, housing and cultural organizing groups who have pushed back against ICE raids and through those efforts built the power to passrent control in the city. Much of the work that led to this game changing victory started in 2016 (hmmm…what happened that year?) and was shaped and led by youth. Their rallying cry was, “permanecer y prosper,” a defiant call to “remain and prosper” in their community! 

These are just two examples of many within our growing network, and thousands more across the country. These efforts remain active, vital and important. May this be a reminder that we’ve experienced intense attacks against our democratic rights many times before, and it doesn't feel fair to put our communities through more, but that is the reality we must face. So now we do what we do..again-we turn to each other, we practice into listening together, to identifying our needs, to recognizing and mobilizing our resources, we build power, we build relationships, we remind each other that we are capable, and we remind our elected officials that they are in fact our employees and respectfully, we expect them to do the job we pay them to do. 

We will have more chances to shift our national politics, but we have new chances, every day, to show up for each other and change our world together, at home. And the truth is, the way we build the power to win at the highest levels, starts, grows and succeeds at home. So, here we are again and the work remains ours, and our neighbors, and I know we will show up to it, to learn and grow and get free, together!