Notes From the Front Lines
Indivisible Kansas City came to join many causes, especially voting rights and Medicaid expansion, where newly engaged, civically minded people could find a toehold for their energy.
John Hanna/AP Photo
Advocates for expanding Medicaid in Kansas stage a protest outside the entrance to the statehouse parking garage as lawmakers, staffers, and others drive in, May 1, 2019, in Topeka, Kansas.
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My personal interest in politics, government, and international relations is lifelong, having been born to diplomats and raised in a wider world. Domestic exposure to municipal governance and congressional internships were intensely rewarding, but ultimately I chose a different career path. Avocationally, I remained connected to issues and representatives, and supported advocacy groups, hopeful that theyâd best represent my belief in a cause.
The Importance of Local and National Collaboration
Neither the Indivisible Guide nor the organizationâs brilliantly effective map built the 2017 resistance movement wave, but they were critical in allowing our group to conceive of ourselves as powerful political agents.
Stephanie Klein-Davis/The Roanoke Times via AP
Members of Charlottesville Indivisible attended a demonstration in Moneta, Virginia, May 9, 2017, before a town hall event with Republican Rep. Tom Garrett.
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On a cold January day in 2017, my group of friends and activists delivered New Yearâs cards to the office of Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-VA), the powerful House Judiciary Committee chair. It was a surreal afternoonâwe were never allowed in his office and talked to his chief of staff in a hallway. It was my first-ever congressional office visit.
Resistance Disconnect
As the clock struck noon on January 20, 2021, liberals across America let out sighs of relief. But relaxation has been transitory, as it dawns on activists that Trumpâs departure is just one moment in an ongoing, dire struggle to save U.S. democracy and make government work for the majorityâas the Republican Party ever more tightly embraces violent authoritarian tendencies.
How to proceed? Many left advocates see this as a moment to rev up progressive demands on newly installed Democratic officials. However, we also need to understand how and why the momentum gained in fights to save Obamacare and win congressional and down-ballot elections in 2017 and 2018 did not fully carry over into 2020, when Democrats suffered net losses in the House and in many states. For the American left that carries the fate of U.S. democracy on its shoulders, this is a moment to learn from past shortfalls and not just mount new Beltway demands.
McConnell Continues to Refuse Reconvening Senate Following House Impeachment
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell looks on in the House chamber during a reconvening of a joint session of Congress on January 6, 2021, in Washington, D.C.
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After just 10 House Republicans joined with Democrats in a historic vote Wednesday that made President Donald Trump the only U.S. president ever to be impeached twice, a diverse collection of political figures and advocacy groups delivered a clear message to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell: “Finish the job.”
That call was the subject of an email that Rev. Lennox Yearwood, founder and president of the Hip Hop Caucus, sent to supporters following the vote. As Yearwood put it: “Trump and his minions are rioting because WE voted, and we are WINNING across the country. We did our job at the voting booth. The House did its job today. Now it’s time for the Senate to do the job it was elected to do, and to remo