Based on the current level of activism around the country, I can’t help but feel extremely optimistic that the progressive voter turnout is going to be massive this November.
In fact this week we saw historic wins for women of color in many elections across the country. An icing on the cake, well known racist Steve King lost his primary in Iowa.
And it’s just not progressives that are rejecting systemic racism and those that seek to divide us. Yesterday, the former Secretary of Defense, James Mattis penned an essay and emphatically denounced President Trump’s behavior. This portion of the essay really brings it home:
Donald Trump is the first president in my lifetime who does not try to unite the American people—does not even pretend to try. Instead he tries to divide us. We are witnessing the consequences of three years of this deliberate effort. We are witnessing the consequences of three years without mature leadership. We can unite without him, drawing on the strengths inherent in our civil society. This will not be easy, as the past few days have shown, but we owe it to our fellow citizens; to past generations that bled to defend our promise; and to our children.
But there is so much work to do and so much to do to end racism everywhere. It can feel overwhelming where to help. The key I believe is to find ways to get engaged.
So one thing my wife and I decided to do is raise money for the NAACP Legal Defense Fund. We are seeking to raise $75k and we will match dollar for dollar up to $75k. The donation page is here.
In a few days we have raised about $7,500 on the GoFundMe page and another $20k that a friend privately emailed me. So I’m counting all of that and tomorrow and each and every Friday, we will make a donation on GoFundMe to match the prior weeks donations from all of you. I hope those of you reading this post will consider contributing as well. Every dollar helps.
I know this is a drop in the ocean given the scale of the challenges. But I believe action is better than no action and my family will do more in other ways. We all need to.