We are still here.

First, we rest. Then we resist.

There is no sugarcoating what happened last night. It was devastating and will have severe consequences for our country and the world.

It will take some time to grasp how and why this happened. It will require reflection, humility, and listening.

My advice for today, take some time for yourself. Spend time with your community. However, you define it— friends, family, colleagues, classmates, pets, etc. Community is going to be crucial in the years to come.

There is a long road ahead of us. On that road, there is some really scary stuff.

Donald Trump will enter power on January 20th, with control of the executive and judicial branches of government. He will wield enormous power and be relatively unrestrained thanks largely to a substantial majority in the Senate and, at best, a very narrow minority in the House.

He will use this power to enact a series of catastrophic initiatives:

• His mass deportation will raid churches, hospitals, and schools, deporting millions of people and, by his own admission, will certainly deport people living here legally.

• His economic plans will raise prices for all Americans while giving tax breaks to Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos.

• His tariff policy will create a massive pay-to-play scheme, enriching him and his family and creating a class of oligarchs desperate to please Trump to avoid being taxed.

• He will strip the ability for Trans kids to receive life-saving healthcare.

• He will strip the ability of women to receive life-saving healthcare.

I don’t say this to fearmonger. This is the platform he ran on. This is the platform the American people voted for. I think it is important to be clear-eyed about what lies ahead.

BUT WE ARE STILL HERE.

MAGA didn’t go away when Joe Biden was elected. We will not go away because Donald Trump has been. And so, yes, the promise of progress is on pause. The next four years will be all about damage mitigation.

But, if this bold and diverse experiment of democracy is to survive, it will require the people who are less impacted by the federal government's ebbs and flows to use their voices, privileges, and power to advocate for the communities that became more vulnerable today.

This won't be easy. But the effort is important, noble, and critical.

I plan to double my efforts to stand up for communities that are under attack by Trump.

I hope you all join me.

First, we rest. Then we resist.