Initial assessment, bleak realities, and beautiful strategies.

We are gifted now to have multi-generational people, willing and able, to do the work of resisting oppression. We have people who were part of The Black Panthers and SNCC, we have anti-war and anti-nuclear activists from the Cold War, we have Latin American struggles for self-determination, we have people who saw African nations become independent. We have labor organizers who remember when unions were strong. We have anti-globalization protestors who are willing to fuck shit up. We have those who organized Occupy Wall Street. We are lit by the burning flame of #BlackLivesMatter.

That is mountains of history and oceans of experience. We can spend time considering how we got to this result in this election, we can register more voters and hope that the next candidate is as inspiring as Obama. We can argue amongst ourselves, the Left is expert at that. Or we can all show-up. I know this doesn’t sound like much, but it is a surprisingly necessary step to take.

Instead of trying to dominate, monopolize, prioritize, and “lead”, each in our area of expertise need to get a move one, and then everyone else has to show up in support.

The environmentalist need to fight to protect the Paris Accords, continue local efforts to institute systems for sustainability and make sure we all have food to eat in the next century. Feminists need to protect abortion rights, create cultural models for addressing patriarchy, make victims of abuse find safety and recovery. Indigenous Warriors need to protect their lands, defend their autonomy, and care for their communities. In the cities we need to address the flood of guns and drugs decimating our youth. Lawyers need to be working with the ACLU to bring every possible legal battle. Labor unions need to make sure we have on-job safety and wellness, paid sick leave, and decent minimum wages. Black communities need to protect themselves, practice self-care, collect their forces for a battle. Muslim communities need to protect themselves, practice self-care, collect their forces for a battle. LGBTQ communities to protect themselves, practice self-care, collect their forces for a battle.

And everyone has to show up for everyone else. It only works if a coalition is enacted and practiced. Yes we can have critiques, we can disagree about strategy, we can bemoan the leadership. I am not saying we have to join them all, hell we don’t have to always like each other. But we do need to show-up for each other. Because our enemies are joining forces, they are protecting their own, they are fortifying their barriers.