What if This Is What Democracy Looks Like?

“The future is written by those who choose to show up.”
—Jennifer Hofmann

Remember the halcyon days of our nation’s democracy? A time when everyone worked together, the economy was thriving, our nation had no enemies, everyone enjoyed the same rights, and no one worried about their economic future? 

For me, it was the spring of 1980.

I remember my second-grade teacher letting us “vote” for Carter or Reagan by raising our hands and counting hash marks on the blackboard. Even at seven, I had a sense that democracy was fair and my country was good. Beyond that classroom vote, my strongest memories of democracy were our town’s parades. Firefighters rode on shiny red trucks, the high school marching band boomed down Main Street, and city council members marched behind Connecticut and American flags. My little heart swelled with pride. I felt lucky to belong to such a good country.

Looking back, I knew all the words to “We Are the World” without understanding the struggle that inspired it.

At the time, I only had kid-sized concerns: homework, the Scholastic Book Fair, and earning badges for my Girl Scout sash. I didn’t know about the groups fighting for the rights and opportunities I took for granted. I didn’t know that the LGBTQ+ community—of which I would later realize I was a part—was organizing for basic rights. I was unaware of the worldwide community of people protesting nuclear war and weapons. The world seemed simpler because I wasn’t yet aware of its complexity and injustice.

As I grew older, those rosy glasses began to crack. In the ‘90s, it was the AIDS crisis that forced me to confront that reality. 

While thousands of Americans were dying, I sat in a darkened movie theater watching the credits roll, forever altered by the movie Philadelphia. I started to recognize that those in power, like the rest of us, are shaped by motives, values, and prejudices.

Maybe you remember that time. Political leaders first ignored, then treated AIDS as a moral issue rather than a public health emergency. Religious rhetoric and anti-gay bias slowed the urgency of the response. For years, society condemned HIV-positive people, even blaming them for their illness. Where was the justice?

Enter the freedoms granted by our Constitution. Americans have the right to speak without government censure. They have the right to assemble. They have the right to peacefully protest. We have the right to hold corporations accountable through how we spend (or don’t spend) our money. 

Even if the government response to the crisis was failing, the people were not. Coming out of the closet became a political act. Activists marched in Pride parades and wore pink triangles bearing the phrase “Silence = Death.” ACT UP innovated new protests like “die-ins” that challenged political leaders, the media, and pharmaceutical companies. Outraged at our nation’s failings, people showed up to demand research funding, visibility, treatment, and urgency, resulting in historic changes to the ways people are seen and diseases are treated. 

These non-violent tactics disrupted the norm. They made people confront their biases and feel uncomfortable, but many Americans refused to accept a situation that devalued their lives or loved ones’ lives. 

As a young, closeted teen, it was hard to watch. I hadn’t yet found my voice, but I felt the injustice of the AIDS crisis to my bones. I felt moved and inspired by the courage of so many Davids who took on the governmental Goliath with every tool they had, even as they grieved the death all around them.

Dumpster Fires and Firefighters 

Maybe, like me, you have been looking around at everything happening and don’t know the part you can play in creating the better future we want. 

Like me, you still know all the words to “We are the World.” You still put up your hand to vote. 

You may, like me, believe that our nation isn’t good, but it has the potential to be. You know that democracy is fragile and imperfect, but it has the potential to be better. You might still feel that boom-boom of your heart with the drums of parade marching bands or feel grateful for the service of firefighters or your city council. Despite all that is happening at this moment, we are still lucky to be here, to have the rights we do, to have opportunities to improve the nation where we live.

Is It Calm We Seek or Justice?

Today, we are rightfully concerned by the instability we see around us. The headlines are dominated by court cases, executive orders, protests, investigations, and competing visions of America’s future. We see real harm being done by those with the most power and money.

If we are indebted at all to the current administration, it is for their openness about their egregious biases against those of different races, religions, immigration status, genders, and economic class. Their disdain for and agendas against those in the “minority” are well known, for they are not hidden. In fact, the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 literally advertises the many groups they seek to suppress! 

These seemingly new hateful views and misuses of power aren’t a sign that democracy is failing. They’re only saying the quiet part out loud. So many victories for justice,like those historic wins during the AIDS crisis, were the result of fighting against the same biased system we’re facing today.

What if this is what democracy looks like?

If you think about America’s victories—from abolition, women’s suffrage, and labor rights, to  civil rights, disability rights, and marriage equality—most of these were not won by an act of Congress or presidential executive order. 

Rights are won due to the sometimes messy, sometimes boring, often diligent work by We the People. Not content with mere calm, ordinary people worked (and keep working) together through disagreement, resistance, and failure to secure a better future. A more perfect union is not pretty, but that’s democracy in action.

Groups of people have organized (and keep organizing) to keep moving the needle toward justice. 

But Are We Showing Up?

As the rich and powerful increasingly seek to curtail the rights of voters, workers, women, trans Americans, DREAMers, children, the planet, and more, there’s no better time than right now to assess what we can do to further the cause of justice. Our work is not simply to undo the damage wrought by the current administration or merely win an upcoming election. Only by thinking long-term and committing to taking small actions—often and in community—can we realize the potential of our nation. 

The headlines may suggest a country coming apart. But beneath those headlines, millions of Americans are still doing the often invisible work of self-government. They are advocating, organizing, volunteering, donating, voting, serving, and caring for one another.

It must be mentioned that, for some Americans right now, economic insecurity and personal hardship leave little room for civic engagement. It’s of the utmost importance to care for oneself first. However, many of us can still write, volunteer, show up, vote, attend a meeting, donate, or contact an elected official.

There’s only one way democracy can correct course: People. There is only one way those without great wealth or formal power can influence the future: Together. It must be on our minds at all times that ordinary acts, performed consistently, are what lead to change. 

In my Brownie uniform and pigtails, I saw the parade as reassurance that our nation was good and strong. As an adult, now I celebrate those in the audience who are speaking up to challenge our nation, advocate for justice, and insist that those marching at the front live up to democracy’s ideals. I celebrate the tens of thousands of ordinary people showing up to make the country more just, more inclusive, and more responsive to those it has dismissed. 

Because, since its inception, our democracy has never been a spectator sport. The future is written by those who choose to show up.

Here’s Your Chance

Will you join us this week by speaking up for a better nation? Here’s our latest Checklist of actions for democracy and justice.