As an older person (pushing antique), all of my past and any future is invested (indeed rooted) in this country and even this State. I'm lucky to be living in a blue State with a very brave and outspoken Governor. I have children and grandchildren (not to mention cats I'm responsible for), so I have no choice but to stay and to fight in any way that I can. In my opinion, more people need to appreciate the wonders of multicultural diversity (am I being too simplistic?). We really need to fight for the beauty and the diversity of our country. That's what has made us great and will make us great again! I so admire you. Thank you for your words of wisdom.
Ms. Ifill, as always, your voice is the one I need to hear, the one I totally trust for its clarity, acuity, intelligence, understanding of our history. This post for me strikes the perfect balance of clear eyed honesty and hope. Thank you so much!
Hi Sherrilyn, I just finished listening to yesterday's "Saturday Coffee Klatch with Heather Lofthouse and Robert Reich." Toward the end of the video, Heather Lofthouse said that "Jeff" had posted a comment asking for suggestions about where to house "10 linear feet of boxed documents" containing original materials about CORE and the Mississippi Freedom Summer of 1964. I immediately thought of you and the Howard University School of Law, and suggested that they contact you. I wanted to let you know, in case you want to contact them. Thank you!
Thank you for this. Sadly, I think hitting rock-bottom is the only thing that will wake enough people up to the brutality of the white male dominance culture that has always been the foundation of the U.S. This is our chance to expose and tear down that ideology and instead build something that will support all humans, not just those who happen to be white and male. This is why the establishment is despetately clinging to power: they see us fighting and they are terrified of us 💯
I've been thinking along those lines. We -- meaning primarily white people, of whom I am one -- have had warning after warning after warning since the passage of the Civil Rights and Voting Rights Acts of the mid-1960s. The Reagan administration was a four-alarm fire, and it's never really gone out. Republican packing of the Supreme Court + the freakout over the election of a Black president -> the 2010 Citizens United decision unleashing corporate spending in elections.
Thank you! Just what I needed from here in occupied D.C. And one of the necessary changes for a "new and healthy democracy" is D.C. statehood. The fact that Americans are denied representation in Congress just because of where we live is a fundamental weakness in our democracy and was always a sign that we weren't the strong democratic nation we thought we were.
Yes to all of this! Thank you for your words of hope and encouragement, as well as your clear-eyed assessment of where we are and where we need to go. Appreciate you!
As Ms. Ifill said— the other side is exhausted too, as we continue to push back against their plans.
Onward, with perseverance and courage and love for each other.
Thank you so much. You are delivering a potent message. I especially align with your desire to rebuild bc I know in my heart that this moment will end and We the People will prevail.
Thank you again for an excellent essay on truth and hope. I have taken to heart your advice to think about what a better future should entail. We must enshrine DEI into the constitution with ways to protect all people from discrimination. There must be a basic right to healthcare for all. A basic right to housing, education, access to safe, well paying work, access to nature. We must completely change our reliance on fossil fuels. We must stand against authoritarian regimes in this country and the world, support freedom for Palestinians who are facing genocide. These are just a few of my thoughts for the future.
Your concern that individually and collectively we may lose hope and give up the fight reminds me of my husband’s wisdom. He always says, “You may not win the fight, but you’ve got to fight the fight.” It inspires me whenever I’m on the verge of giving up. Because I don’t like to lose, it also motivates me to think about and engage in what for me is a winning strategy. It’s different for everyone. My winning strategy may not be yours. But each of us has one. We just need to be intentional in finding, and then fighting based on our unique winning strategy. If we each do that, then collectively we can win. It takes a village.
We have stiff headwinds. From Nate Silver’s website: “With everything going on, there must have been some interesting movement in Trump’s approval rating, right? Wrong. Since the start of August, Trump’s net approval has fluctuated between -8.2 and -8.9. Today (Aug. 15, 2025), 44.0 percent of Americans approve of the job he’s doing as president and 52.3 percent disapprove. His approval ratings on the four issues we track — immigration, the economy, trade, and tariffs — have also been relatively steady.”
I believe the reason for this is that Trump presented a vision for our country (white supremacy), had a plan (project 2025) and is faithfully executing the plan.
The Democrats present no vision (besides whining about Trump for the past ten years), have no plan and until Governor Newsom’s deft parry of Texas gerrymandering, exhibited zero leadership.
Schumer, Jeffries and Martin are apex players of party politics, not leaders. We need leaders. People who are septuagenarians and octogenarians (and anyone associated with the Clintons) need to retire. NOW. Think about the future, prepare your mentees (they don’t have any, Pelosi’s staff is far less diverse than her district - a key failure of leadership) and move aside. Everything Biden didn’t do.
There is hope. The Black boycott of Target, led by Pastor Jamal Bryant, is working. Aside from same store sales, Bloomberg reported that Placer.ai (a company that tracks shoppers by cell phone pings) showed that shoppers in Black neighborhoods had changed their patterns (away from Target).
AOC has a larger social media audience than Jeffries, Schumer, and Martin added together.
The same approach needs to be applied to the Democrats. They’re not listening, they’re not feeling any pressure, that needs to change.
Excellent. "Trump will have even higher hurdles to scale in any attempt to overrun cities like Baltimore, Oakland, and Chicago – located in states with strong, fearless Governors" -- Yes, and that is the other lesson I take from this: DC deserves statehood as soon as we can make it happen. I hope we all take that lesson from it.
GOP officeholders will help drag this out to the bitter end — November 2026 — and possibly beyond, because of money and power, those evil twins that are behind this administration and many state houses.
Thank you for the inspiration. Two places we can exert the pressure you talk about. boycottcitizens.org, which targets citizens bank because it is financing private prison industry profiting from mass detention and deportation. Also Ground Avelo campaign targeting the airline for contracting with DHS to fly deportation flights. These campaigns could have the power of Tesla Takedown. Make it costly for these companies to collaborate.
Thank you Sherrilyn Ifill for another inspiring essay. It’s important that we take time to care for ourselves and those around us, including our local communities, during these perilous times. I agree that we’ll survive and succeed as a country if we work together on building a better tomorrow. In the short-term, politically, I think the “eyes on the prize” needs to be making sure next year’s midterm elections take place, making sure people have registered or will register to vote, and getting the word out about the importance of next year’s midterm elections.
Thank you for your analysis and reminder of what it's been in the past. Changes that are needed are many to be centered on that every single person matters. May someday we become a country that doesn't throw anybody away...
As an older person (pushing antique), all of my past and any future is invested (indeed rooted) in this country and even this State. I'm lucky to be living in a blue State with a very brave and outspoken Governor. I have children and grandchildren (not to mention cats I'm responsible for), so I have no choice but to stay and to fight in any way that I can. In my opinion, more people need to appreciate the wonders of multicultural diversity (am I being too simplistic?). We really need to fight for the beauty and the diversity of our country. That's what has made us great and will make us great again! I so admire you. Thank you for your words of wisdom.
Ms. Ifill, as always, your voice is the one I need to hear, the one I totally trust for its clarity, acuity, intelligence, understanding of our history. This post for me strikes the perfect balance of clear eyed honesty and hope. Thank you so much!
Thank you Margo! And call me Sherrilyn.
Hi Sherrilyn, I just finished listening to yesterday's "Saturday Coffee Klatch with Heather Lofthouse and Robert Reich." Toward the end of the video, Heather Lofthouse said that "Jeff" had posted a comment asking for suggestions about where to house "10 linear feet of boxed documents" containing original materials about CORE and the Mississippi Freedom Summer of 1964. I immediately thought of you and the Howard University School of Law, and suggested that they contact you. I wanted to let you know, in case you want to contact them. Thank you!
Thank you for this. Sadly, I think hitting rock-bottom is the only thing that will wake enough people up to the brutality of the white male dominance culture that has always been the foundation of the U.S. This is our chance to expose and tear down that ideology and instead build something that will support all humans, not just those who happen to be white and male. This is why the establishment is despetately clinging to power: they see us fighting and they are terrified of us 💯
I've been thinking along those lines. We -- meaning primarily white people, of whom I am one -- have had warning after warning after warning since the passage of the Civil Rights and Voting Rights Acts of the mid-1960s. The Reagan administration was a four-alarm fire, and it's never really gone out. Republican packing of the Supreme Court + the freakout over the election of a Black president -> the 2010 Citizens United decision unleashing corporate spending in elections.
Thank you! Just what I needed from here in occupied D.C. And one of the necessary changes for a "new and healthy democracy" is D.C. statehood. The fact that Americans are denied representation in Congress just because of where we live is a fundamental weakness in our democracy and was always a sign that we weren't the strong democratic nation we thought we were.
And all territories that want it!
Thank you for this Ms. Ifill. Your voice restores my soul.
Yes to all of this! Thank you for your words of hope and encouragement, as well as your clear-eyed assessment of where we are and where we need to go. Appreciate you!
As Ms. Ifill said— the other side is exhausted too, as we continue to push back against their plans.
Onward, with perseverance and courage and love for each other.
Thank you so much. You are delivering a potent message. I especially align with your desire to rebuild bc I know in my heart that this moment will end and We the People will prevail.
Thank you again for an excellent essay on truth and hope. I have taken to heart your advice to think about what a better future should entail. We must enshrine DEI into the constitution with ways to protect all people from discrimination. There must be a basic right to healthcare for all. A basic right to housing, education, access to safe, well paying work, access to nature. We must completely change our reliance on fossil fuels. We must stand against authoritarian regimes in this country and the world, support freedom for Palestinians who are facing genocide. These are just a few of my thoughts for the future.
Your concern that individually and collectively we may lose hope and give up the fight reminds me of my husband’s wisdom. He always says, “You may not win the fight, but you’ve got to fight the fight.” It inspires me whenever I’m on the verge of giving up. Because I don’t like to lose, it also motivates me to think about and engage in what for me is a winning strategy. It’s different for everyone. My winning strategy may not be yours. But each of us has one. We just need to be intentional in finding, and then fighting based on our unique winning strategy. If we each do that, then collectively we can win. It takes a village.
We have stiff headwinds. From Nate Silver’s website: “With everything going on, there must have been some interesting movement in Trump’s approval rating, right? Wrong. Since the start of August, Trump’s net approval has fluctuated between -8.2 and -8.9. Today (Aug. 15, 2025), 44.0 percent of Americans approve of the job he’s doing as president and 52.3 percent disapprove. His approval ratings on the four issues we track — immigration, the economy, trade, and tariffs — have also been relatively steady.”
I believe the reason for this is that Trump presented a vision for our country (white supremacy), had a plan (project 2025) and is faithfully executing the plan.
The Democrats present no vision (besides whining about Trump for the past ten years), have no plan and until Governor Newsom’s deft parry of Texas gerrymandering, exhibited zero leadership.
Schumer, Jeffries and Martin are apex players of party politics, not leaders. We need leaders. People who are septuagenarians and octogenarians (and anyone associated with the Clintons) need to retire. NOW. Think about the future, prepare your mentees (they don’t have any, Pelosi’s staff is far less diverse than her district - a key failure of leadership) and move aside. Everything Biden didn’t do.
There is hope. The Black boycott of Target, led by Pastor Jamal Bryant, is working. Aside from same store sales, Bloomberg reported that Placer.ai (a company that tracks shoppers by cell phone pings) showed that shoppers in Black neighborhoods had changed their patterns (away from Target).
AOC has a larger social media audience than Jeffries, Schumer, and Martin added together.
The same approach needs to be applied to the Democrats. They’re not listening, they’re not feeling any pressure, that needs to change.
Excellent. "Trump will have even higher hurdles to scale in any attempt to overrun cities like Baltimore, Oakland, and Chicago – located in states with strong, fearless Governors" -- Yes, and that is the other lesson I take from this: DC deserves statehood as soon as we can make it happen. I hope we all take that lesson from it.
GOP officeholders will help drag this out to the bitter end — November 2026 — and possibly beyond, because of money and power, those evil twins that are behind this administration and many state houses.
Thank you for the inspiration. Two places we can exert the pressure you talk about. boycottcitizens.org, which targets citizens bank because it is financing private prison industry profiting from mass detention and deportation. Also Ground Avelo campaign targeting the airline for contracting with DHS to fly deportation flights. These campaigns could have the power of Tesla Takedown. Make it costly for these companies to collaborate.
Thank you Sherrilyn Ifill for another inspiring essay. It’s important that we take time to care for ourselves and those around us, including our local communities, during these perilous times. I agree that we’ll survive and succeed as a country if we work together on building a better tomorrow. In the short-term, politically, I think the “eyes on the prize” needs to be making sure next year’s midterm elections take place, making sure people have registered or will register to vote, and getting the word out about the importance of next year’s midterm elections.
Thank you for your analysis and reminder of what it's been in the past. Changes that are needed are many to be centered on that every single person matters. May someday we become a country that doesn't throw anybody away...
Thank you for having the brilliance and clarity for these times. I hope we all will heed your wisdom and work together to build a new country.