“The most powerful, the most wealthy, the ones with the most access, collectively tried to protect themselves. People said, “No”. Regular people were the ones who have pulled democracy back from the brink in 1000 different ways over the last year starting with Town Halls in February.
Folks showed up directly to let Elon Musk know what they thought of his work as a federal government Chainsaw in Chief. Building the Hands Off, where so many of us pulled off the first major mass mobilization of this term, with three and a half million people collectively. Continuing to fight and push and organize at the local level, to defend our neighbors, to protect our values, to try to make sure that we were standing in solidarity with communities. Folks you know in really red and rural areas becoming the first person in their community to show up and say, “Hell no! This is not for us! I’m going to start organizing. I’m assembling a group and we’re going to make ourselves visible and we’re going to stand for our values.”
We are on a totally different playing field than we were in March or January of this year.
I really do believe that historians will look back on this year, and they will understand it as the year where elites failed us and regular people fought to save our democracy and to pull us back from the brink. That is you! That is your Indivisible group. That is millions of people across this country who collectively form this extraordinary tapestry of defiance and changed what was politically possible. So, I hope you feel that tapestry of defiance. I think we have been building quite the tapestry this year and it is what are we most looking forward to.
And again, as we’ve said earlier, the fascists want us to feel alone and what we’re trying to do is stand indivisible together. We’re trying to bring everybody together. One voice of opposition altogether across all of the country, across red, blue and purple states, in rural communities and urban communities and suburban communities.
With Indivisible yes, but it’s not just Indivisible. Many groups have been building to fight back, and I hope you’ll feel like you’re part of something bigger than just yourself or your own Indivisible group or your own community. This is enormous and historic.
One of the main things that folks said when we asked them to look back on 2025 and tell us, “What did you accomplish? What you’re most proud of?”
“We did do that together. We did all of this together and what an amazing year it has been.”
LeahGreenberg and Ezra Levin
So, just reflect back a little bit so you can be feel part of this with us.
At top of the list that we heard from just about everybody here, “We did three of the five largest mobilizations in American history this year. Hands off, No Kings and No Kings 2.0 make up three of the five largest in all of history. We went from 3 million people at 1,300 events in April to then 5 million people at 2,100 events in June to then 7 million people at 2,700 events in October.”
This sense of a growing movement that was rejecting Trumpism was rejecting fascism. How can you not feel like part of history being part of that?
But the second thing that came up a whole bunch when we asked people was, “This sense of building the infrastructure. This wasn’t just a wave that occurred. This wasn’t just a naturally occurring event. It wasn’t the weather rolling in. We all built this infrastructure. Local groups formed all over the country.”
One of the things people were really proud of is, it produced actual wins that we were able to shore up democracy by winning. So, things like the wins in Wisconsin earlier this year where Elon Musk tried to buy a Wisconsin Supreme Court seat, he spent 10s of millions of dollars and was rejected totally rejected.
Y’all have been building up the structures necessary to actually create that wave. And so, “Damn right, we’re proud of the infrastructure.”
But another one of the things that came out, is the third most common, the pride that we saw reflected in first time activism and in courage. Again, and again and again, we heard stories from people directly or from people who are forming new Indivisible groups who said, “This was the first time I’ve ever protested.” There were new people who came in who had never been part of a protest before, and in an environment where the fascists are threatening to bring the hammer down on people exercising their freedom of speech their First Amendment rights. We have millions of people saying,
“Well screw that. I’m going to take this step. I’m actually going to show up.” And they did it. Not just once, not just twice, but many times. Week after week after week, showing up on bridges and on street corners and on overpasses, showing up at Marches. Yes, for Hands Off and No Kings one and two but also for John Lewis, a day of remembrance and Good Trouble Lives On, and more.”
LeahGreenberg and Ezra Levin
2026 provides us with an opportunity to participate in, “What’s The Plan?” with Leah Greenberg & Ezra Levin.