Believe It

It's been exactly one week since the elections of 2026 and the resonance that continues is a source of uplift in the moment. The size of the shift in public sentiment has made it very clear - There is a chance that the country actually has capacity to embrace a new generation of leaders. They are diverse, courageous, and possess clarity of conscience about the times in which we live. One of them declared, "Always, always support the underdog." Okay, that's what a lot of my friends have done for years. And the suffering and grief continued to grow as power shifted to those who always and only go with "winners". Things reached a breaking point. It seems that's what it took for voters to deliver a collective message: "Stop the insanity."

For so long, it was hard to believe what we saw and the Orwellian story of a future where the country was asked not to believe what they were seeing and hearing come to fruition. We were asked not to believe that it was lawless killing on the seas when small boats were being blown out of the water with the claim that these were not fishermen but drug runners - with no evidence or explanation. We were asked to believe that this country doesn't turn its military against its own people - then we saw ICE invade neighborhoods wearing ski masks and using vehicles to run people over. We were asked to believe that the mass incarceration of anyone who looked like an "immigrant" was a criminal with no rights to prove the contrary. It was too much when the combined forces of Homeland Security and Border Control killed two people - Goode and Pretti - who were trying to avoid and stop the brutality and intimidation of federal agents. We were asked not to believe that it was murder. On a global scale, thanks to technology and media access, we witnessed the deaths of thousands of people, including children, who were killed or maimed in the crossfire between governments that could not find a solution to political differences - we were asked to believe that war is peace.

Even though things have appeared to change, we have to follow through on what happened a week ago at the polls. During the events of recent history that showed the underbelly of what "freedom" can bring, people found ways not to surrender to the idea that terror is inevitable. There was advocacy, both in the courts and in the streets. Organizing happened at an unprecedented pace with the next generation of leaders pursuing a vision that is not burdened by, "It can't be done." or "That has never worked." or "We already tried that and it failed". The new generation is going for it.

There is a shift. We actually don't know what it means but we know that there is evidence of resistance to what was happening just a few months ago. The jubilation over "victory" will be short-lived; another level of engagement will be required of the new generation; things that were not possible in the minds of the old guard in politics are going to be made possible. Believe it.