Where do we go from here?
"We can be frustrated and still see the humanity in each other. We can feel lost on the next steps of organizing, and still be committed to showing up."
The Recombobulation Area is a thirteen-time Milwaukee Press Club award-winning weekly opinion column and online publication founded by longtime Milwaukee journalist Dan Shafer. The Recombobulation Area is now part of Civic Media.
This is an opinion column written by Angela Lang, executive director of Black Leaders Organizing for Communities (BLOC). Lang is a regular contributor to The Recombobulation Area, is the winner of an award from the Milwaukee Press Club for her work at the publication.
This holiday season, not surprisingly, has felt a bit bleaker than years past. It seems as if there’s been a dark cloud hovering over us since the pandemic started, one that only got darker the closer we got to Election Day.
In the weeks and months since the election, many people have been having tough conversations with friends and family members about how they voted — even cutting some people off, if they didn’t think they still aligned with their values. Wives were divorcing their husbands; Thanksgiving dinner was awkward for some. People on both sides are passionate about the outcome and that’s leading to tension in some communities. It’s so easy to be upset at people right now, but support and mutual aid are important for vulnerable communities at this moment.
While there may be new fights on the horizon, we can’t forget about the battles we’re already fighting. The 53206 ZIP code in Milwaukee continues to be the most incarcerated in the nation, and many don’t feel like there were enough sweeping changes after the largest protests in American history in the summer of 2020.
We will need to juggle our fights and instead of playing oppression Olympics, we can see the intersections in all of our fights. Many people have shared Martin Niemoller’s words:
“First they came for the socialists, and I didn't not speak out because I was not a socialist. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out because I was not a trade unionist. Then they came for the Jews and I did not speak out because I was not a Jew. Then they came for me, and there was no one left to speak for me.”
White supremacy can be so pervasive. It thrives on a divide and conquer mentality — seeing other marginalized people as the villain, instead of wealthy elites who have taken over our institutions. We must not fall for it. We need to hold the fact that our new fights also intersect with our ongoing fights.
The murder of Brian Thompson, the CEO of UnitedHealthcare, has stirred conversations about America’s broken healthcare system. As part of this conversation, it was interesting to see the online discourse bring folks from all sides of the political spectrum to discuss how corporate greed is impacting working class folks of all races and backgrounds.
Class consciousness and awareness has been growing over the years, and with people struggling to get by, there is an opportunity to talk about the intersectionality of our issues and how we can relate to one another.
But how do we reconcile these conversations around class while living as we approach a Donald Trump-Elon Musk presidency? Some of the same people who have been sharing their frustrations with the healthcare system or the price of groceries voted for a man who is surrounding himself with wealthy elites responsible for those same frustrations. If they haven’t already, some people who voted for Trump will soon see how it might impact them for the worst. Some in our own families or networks will get caught up in the very things some of us were trying to warn of. While it may be difficult, those folks will need a political or organizing home, and we can’t turn our backs just because they fell for the intense GOP propaganda machine.
To be clear, I’m not saying our organizing and resistance is primarily focused on recruiting Republicans to our causes — it didn’t work in the campaign and it won’t work now. But all the same, we also can’t say “I won’t help you because that’s what you get for voting for him.” I’m not saying it will be easy, or that everyone is ready to do that, but if we actually want to build a multiracial democracy that works for everyone, that includes educating people on the true villains of this story, Trump, his allies, and the wealthy — not each other.
Resistance will look different in 2024 than in 2016. After 2016, there were so many people looking to get involved and start organizing, some for the first time in their lives. But this time feels different. People are exhausted.
Many of us are bracing for what this administration will bring, but it’s also important that we don’t spiral or preemptively give in. We can prepare for the worst, but we won’t fully know how many of Trump’s plans (and threats) will actually be enacted.
So many organizers and activists have been going hard for the last eight years straight with back-to-back fights, locally and nationally. We will get through this with clarity and by being in deep community with each other. We need to be sharp when movements or language is co-opted. We need to remain focused in recognition that there is a lot more that brings us together than divides us.
I’ll concede that it’s hard to think of the future in a hopeful, we’ll get though this together kind of way. I myself have been on the brink of burnout multiple times last year. Thinking of the future is daunting. But something I realized recently is that multiple things can be true. We can be frustrated and still see the humanity in each other. We can feel lost on the next steps of organizing, and still be committed to showing up. This next chapter will be messy and is sure to have moments like nothing we’ve seen in recent history.
We’re all figuring this out collectively, together. There is no manual for what we are in for, but at the core of our activism, we must stay grounded and focused on building a democracy that works for all of us — including those we may disagree with.
It’s understandable to feel that things are bleak right now, but I’m reminded of the words of the poet Martin Espada: “No change for the good ever happens without it being imagined first, even if that change seems hopeless or impossible in the present.”
Angela Lang was born and raised in the heart of Milwaukee. She has an extensive background in community organizing. In the past, Angela served as both an organizer and State Council Director for the Service Employees International Union, working on such campaigns as the Fight for 15. Before founding BLOC, Angela was the Political Director with For Our Future Wisconsin. She is a graduate of Emerge Wisconsin. She currently is the Vice President of the ACLU of Wisconsin Board and sits on the board for Diverse and Resilient, a non profit organization that supports the LGBTQ community in Wisconsin, as well as on the board for the Milwaukee Parks Foundation.
Angela is motivated by making substantial and transformative change in her community while developing young, local leaders of color. Her journey in organizing hasn't always been easy, but through it all she has remained a fierce advocate for securing more seats at the table for those who represent the New American Majority.
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Thank you so much for this…it’s exactly what I needed to read. Grateful to have your insightful, honest perspective, Angela. Your words always resonate with me.
Thank you Angela