This weekend, America witnessed three very different scenes—each a symbol of the moment we’re living through.
In Minnesota, political violence escalated to a chilling new level, with two dead and two critically wounded in a politically-motivated assassination.
More than 5 million people joined “No Kings” protests across 2,000 cities to resist authoritarianism and the abuse of power.
And in Washington, DC, a military parade rolled through the the nation’s capital, marking President Trump’s 79th birthday and the U.S. Army’s 250th anniversary.
Together, these moments tell a story. We are a country in mourning, a nation in protest, and a democracy on the edge. What comes next will define who we are.
To meet this moment, we need a plan—that turns outrage into outcomes and mourning into momentum and moral clarity:
Condemn political violence—loudly and together. The attack in Minnesota demands a bipartisan response, not just words, but actual security upgrades, legal consequences, and cultural accountability.
Translate protest into cross-partisan action. The “No Kings” energy must mobilize people from across the political and ideological spectrum.
Center those who serve. Veterans, military families, and government workers don’t pledge allegiance to a political party—they pledge allegiance to the Constitution. If we want to honor their service, we must include them in the national conversation about democratic integrity and invest in their care and protection.
Let’s say this clearly: protest is absolutely necessary, but it is not sufficient.
If we march in the millions, but fail to protect public servants from violence, or allow anti-democratic actors to consolidate power unchallenged, then we have not fixed the system—we’ve just shouted at it.
After the historic Women’s March—the largest single-day protest in American history—we still ended up with the Dobbs decision, stripping reproductive freedom from millions. Why? Because we didn’t fund the strategy, the legal defense, or the long-term organizing with the same intensity we funded the protest buses and the pink hats.
We can’t repeat that mistake now.
We must shift funding from one-off mobilizations to long-term strategy. If we can mobilize millions to march, we can mobilize resources to govern. That means investing in “authoritarian proofing” government before the next crisis with proactive policy, effective oversight, and ideologically diverse and tactically innovative coalitions.
The energy of a protest is powerful—but it’s what we do next that determines whether it leads to real change. Democracy isn’t defended by crowds alone; it’s rebuilt in the quiet, unglamorous work that follows: drafting policy, showing up at town halls, protecting civil servants, and organizing voters one conversation at a time.
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