Molly, You in Danger, Girl

If you’re old enough to remember that scene in the movie “Ghost,” you’re also old enough to remember a time when America seemed to be on a steady path of progress toward a more equitable and inclusive future, and our collective moral arc was bending, slowly but inexorably, toward justice.  

But now Molly is America, and that future feels like it’s being chipped away. 

The definition of tyranny is oppressive power, specifically, oppressive power exerted by government. For the last eight months, we have watched our young, multiracial democracy precipitously backslide into a more tyrannical system, causing our nation to buckle under a cruel, capricious, and oppressive government.   

That backslide hasn’t been accidental. Led by President Trump and his administration, the GOP-led Congress and Senate, various state administrations and legislatures, and even the U.S. Supreme Court, have been party and co-conspirators to this rapid decline by throwing every democratic norm and principle of checks and balances out the window. They have amassed political power to implement an extreme economic, political, and cultural agenda that has put our democracy in peril. Trump is the main beneficiary—grifting like never before, the likes of which we’ve never seen. And, while his current inner circle of billionaires and white nationalists may think they're protected, the consequences are dangerous to us all.  

The past few months have been a troubling display of unchecked authority. From the punitive firing of Dr. Erika McEntarfer, commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics to the federal takeover of the Washington, D.C., police department to indiscriminate ICE raids in Chicago targeting Black and brown communities—including children and U.S. citizens—the consequences have been deeply unsettling. This is an oppressive overreach and an infringement on our civil liberties in action.  

The firing of Dr. McEntarfer crossed a line into well-worn authoritarian practices that punish truth-tellers when they contradict what the strongman says, the lies they are telling, and what they want the public to believe. Anything short of the truth is propaganda, and this administration is bent on gaslighting and conning the public into believing its policies are working for everyday people. Again—this is dangerous to us all.  

Meanwhile, Texas Governor Greg Abbott called special sessions of the Texas Legislature at Trump’s order to redraw the state’s congressional lines and ensure a GOP win in the midterm elections. This was nothing short of an assault on democracy and a gross subversion of the will of the people. While manipulating state maps with a racial and partisan gerrymander is an unfortunately common, contested practice, it’s rarely done so blatantly and at the explicit behest of a sitting president. And many other states have followed suit, like Missouri and North Carolina. 

I find hope in a growing movement of people standing up and pushing back—to see the persistence of FreeDC, the joyous resistance of Portland, OR, and the growing momentum of No Kings Day protests. It shows me that there is collective outrage over the outright assault on voting rights, free and fair elections, and due process, as well as the blatant and unconscionable act of voter disenfranchisement by the administration and complicit state elected leaders. This represents an abhorrent abuse of power. Throughout our history, it has always been people-centered actions like the Civil Rights Movement that have held those in power to account, and this moment once again requires the collective action of everyday people to resist the authoritarian consolidation of power currently being directed by this administration. 

Since Inauguration Day, the implementation of Project 2025 has brought an extreme agenda to the White House—the People’s House. Our communities have endured immigrant kidnappings and disappearances—a blatant attack on their constitutional rights, let alone their rights as human beings. Our federal government and the public trust in our institutions have been decimated. As of this writing, in his nine months in office, Trump has issued 209 executive orders, which is more that Biden issued in his entire presidency. These executive orders have done everything from terminating diversity, equity, and inclusion programs in federal agencies to challenging birthright citizenship. Beyond these, Trump has also taken to deploying National Guard troops without state consent. This administration’s extreme agenda is wreaking havoc on our democracy, and people must continue to mobilize as we have done every time our rights have been at risk.

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.” 

As our country bears witness to the dismantling of our democratic norms from the White House to the halls of Congress and state legislatures across the country, this quote from Margaret Mead feels especially salient.  

People must take heed to stop our decline.  

If we want to ensure our vision of a multiracial democracy and an inclusive economy is still within reach, we must reject this nonsensical but dangerous administration’s extreme agenda and recenter the needs of the people. Access to healthcare remains a critical concern. Grocery prices continue to climb, and high-quality jobs are still hard to come by for everyone.  

This moment is frightening, but it is also a clarion call for us to take action. 

Since 2020, many of us have talked about the threat to democracy, and folks didn’t take us seriously. For the residents of D.C. who have been fighting for self-determination, for the voters in Texas whose voting power is being diluted, and for the Black and brown children of Chicago who were zip-tied in a parking lot, this matter has become as real as it gets. 

This is no longer hyperbole.  

This is not a drill.  

Our democracy is at stake, and we are all in danger.