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Dear Kent Streeters,

We are increasingly living in a world of “yes and”. This news this week makes it more apparent than ever.

Yes, the Trump administration has launched a devastating and dangerous attack on Iran — starting a war that threatens countless lives, further destabilizes the geo-political balance, and diverts essential resources away from those who need them most. It is imperative that we meet this unauthorized act of aggression with protest and dissent.* Silence is not an option.

And, we must continue to fight against and protest the ever-escalating harms and injustices being perpetrated here at home by Trump and his minions in DC and at the NH State House.

Yes, every day seems to bring a new assault on the rule of law, the Constitution, and basic human decency. Attacks on immigrants, transgender people and other vulnerable communities. Attacks on public education. Attacks on free and fair elections. It is unrelenting. We can no longer deny that there are those singularly determined to dismantle the democratic promise of American and in its stead build a neomodern, fascist police state.

And, amid the losses and challenges there have been wins – wins that are harbingers of hope. Wins that show us a victory is possible. Wins that promise a better and more just future. Wins that deserve to be celebrated.

Last week, we had just such a win.

The Trump administration pulled its plan to build an immigrant concentration camp in Merrimack. What was presented as inevitable — a done deal, a fait accompli — was neither inevitable nor unstoppable. Through strategic organizing, tireless coalition-building, clear moral messaging, and courageous public protest, that plan was reversed and defeated.

That victory belongs to everyone who showed up. Everyone who made calls. Everyone who wrote letters. Everyone who stood in the cold with a sign. Everyone who felt afraid and came anyway. Heather Cox Richardson reminds us that democracy is a bottom-up endeavor. The victory in Merrimack proves that when we organize from the ground up, we reclaim our power and reshape our future.

This is what “yes and” looks like. “Yes and” gives us a path forward in the midst of dark and troubling times. “Yes and” teaches us that though we are confronted by the terrible forces of tyranny, history teaches us that they can be defeated “Yes and” shows us that while the threats of fascism are real, we are not powerless against them. “Yes and” that while we must acknowledge the world as it is we must never surrender our vision of what the world can be.

With eyes on the prize,

Louise

* Kent Street will post NH protests as we become aware of them. Stay tuned.