Across the rapidly changing face of America — from Portland, Oregon, to Seattle, Washington, and from Austin, Texas, to Kenosha, Wisconsin — the Movement for Black Lives continues to demand justice. But now, fear has reached a boiling point: In a matter of moments, a nation in crisis will make its vote in an unprecedented and critical election. With the deaths of Jacob Blake, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, George Floyd and now with what may be the devastation of free and fair elections, we must assure ourselves of the battle taking place right before us. We are fighting fascism. We must work now, confidently and assuredly, to protect our communities. We must organize at every level, from our neighborhoods and families to Capitol Hill, to condemn the plague of White supremacy in our country.
This will be no easy task, especially when the commander in chief works overtime to undermine our democracy. President Donald Trump’s decision this summer to deploy secret police against overwhelmingly peaceful demonstrations in Portland, Seattle, Chicago and other Democratic-controlled cities is perhaps one of the most telling moments of his presidency. Sporting unmarked vehicles and refusing to identify themselves, these clandestine forces affiliated with the Department of Homeland Security are emblematic of our moment: Law and order now means voter intimidation, militarism and chaos.
The motives of the Trump administration are transparent: pandering to right-wing extremists secures the confidence of White supremacists and their sympathizers — his base. An escalated police presence and the inflammation of White nativist rhetoric are all measures of a political last stand for Trump’s failing reelection campaign, with poll after poll indicating a failure to match the energy which narrowly propelled him to victory in 2016. Now, to preserve Trump’s legacy of “America First” imperialism, the president must undermine the legitimacy of the election altogether. The administration, in its final appeal to the working class, has pursued dubious executive orders and now, in the midst of a pandemic, is working to sabotage the Affordable Care Act, potentially leaving millions without health insurance.
What has become apparent since the beginning of this movement, however, is that Trump is not the cause of our social ills — he is merely the representation of them. Existing political alternatives have long been co-opted by injustice at the bipartisan level. The Democratic Party, which promised large-scale reform in the wake of Floyd’s death, reflected this tendency in their refusal to institute meaningful change despite their political rhetoric. Beyond Congress, state leaders are also caving; in the Massachusetts House of Representatives, for instance, where Democrats hold 127 of the allotted 160 seats, a vote to merely ban tear gas against civilian protesters failed 38 to 121. Bipartisan solutions, proposed by both Democrats and Republicans, have also seen little success, almost always stalling in the Senate. With the failure of both parties to deliver reforms that are nevertheless popular with the general public, our political institutions consistently demonstrate that they are incapable of the structural reform needed to hold police accountable. To build a better America, we must start with a key consideration: Racial justice in this country will not be attained through politics as usual.
With this consideration in mind, we must also consider the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on our politics and society more generally. As we approach what feels like a climax of social tension, we are experiencing the worst phase of the pandemic to date. Yet, across the country, schools have been forced to reopen under financial coercion from the federal government. Businesses are being pushed to stay open despite evidence suggesting that many may not follow safety protocols or possess the resources to keep their workers safe. The individual toll of the virus is also daunting; COVID-19 has produced a mental health crisis of significant proportions. In the face of the pandemic, the Movement for Black Lives becomes especially significant. Recurring evidence demonstrates that Black Americans have been hit hardest by the pandemic, bearing the brunt of disproportionate death rates among various other discriminatory outcomes such as a lack of adequate healthcare provisions and social services.
An unparalleled pandemic joined with what may be the largest civil rights movement in American history creates a new kind of revolutionary enthusiasm, but also a deep anxiety. With so many new phenomena to consider in constructing our new social world, we have to realize that organizing will look different forever. The ability to communicate with people on a mass, societal level has never been so important. Yet, now, misinformation — most of it sponsored by the president himself — dominates the American consciousness. In this, we are left with the question of how we should go about governing our society post-pandemic. As Deborah Tannen, professor of linguistics at Georgetown University, notes, our path toward rebuilding will necessarily require conceiving of a “new way of being-in-the-world that we can expect to change our doing-in-the-world.” In our silver lining, we may finally see that the pandemic has ruptured the conventional logics of our social apathy, naivete and innocence, pressuring us to confront the real issues that almost all Americans agree require fundamental reforms. This necessarily means reevaluating the efficacy of our existing social and political institutions.
This reevaluation comes at the center of both of the crises of our day. The systemic inequities in our society have defined the disproportionate impact of the pandemic in shaping the failure of our social systems to address the needs of a society that has changed in ways unimaginable at even the beginning of this historic year. We should not be surprised, then, to see the masses of thousands calling for systemic transformation on the streets; as this pandemic rips apart the logic of the old world, it too rips apart the foundation of our conventional social thought. Indeed, Americans have been shown that another world is not only possible, but necessary for our continued democratic existence. Cornel West actualizes the weight of this realization in one key phrase: “the system cannot reform itself.” Instead, if it is truly structural change we seek, we must be prepared to take on a conscious, expansive and personal dedication to the work ahead of us. Forsaken by the institutions and leaders who vowed to protect the public interest, people now have no choice but to take systemic change into their own hands and within their own means.
In identifying the possibility for social transformation, how can we — as activists, thinkers, and organizers — seize our moment of change? What can we do to make sure that #BlackLivesMatter does not become a trend lost in the constantly circulating news cycle, but rather a constant call to action? How can we bring a true set of revolutionary strategies to praxis, confronting not only policing, but also its systemic commitment to institutional racism and state-enforced poverty?
We must organize, and we must focus on organizing at the level of our communities. We must march, contribute to mutual aid, support bond funds and engage our families. We must seriously engage in community-building by pressuring our local institutions, from the ballot booth to the police station, to support policies that uphold the interests of the communities who are suffering the most during the pandemic. However, we must also realize we cannot have all the answers at this moment. In a moment of profound structural crisis, we have no means to evaluate what the coming weeks and months will require of us. But what we have now is more important than anything we can find later on. We have momentum, solidarity, and purpose. We cannot let this moment of action escape us.
We should not yet lament. Progressives are finally getting their break in this country. From electoral victories like that of Cori Bush against 20-year incumbent Lacy Clay of Missouri, or in securing progressive policy proposals as serious political considerations, such as in popular support for Illhan Omar’s national rent cancellation bill, it is clear that the left’s voice cannot be silenced any longer. This, combined with the growth of popular resistance, signals that Americans are willing to fight. They are also turning to the ballot box at a historically unmatched level. Sustaining this momentum, building networks of support and mutual community development, will be the steps towards realizing the potential of this unprecedented and rare moment in history.
Our actions must be guided by both our new wisdom and the impetus of a lifetime. If we want to build a better world, we must seize this moment. Justice and social progress should no longer be negotiable.
I would like to thank the always empowering organizers at the Harvard Young Democratic Socialists of America for assisting in the intellectual development of this article series. Solidarity forever.
Image by Clay Banks is licensed by the Unsplash License.