White Supremacists came to Washington in broad daylight, rioting in the Capitol at Trump’s instigation. The country watched, terrified and helpless. We saw smashed glass, the destruction of the people’s property, the terrorizing of those who were there to work and heard cries for help that did not come. Trump refused to stop the insurrection, enjoying the sight of a mob acting out his/their rage.

We have known that white supremacists have been part of our history, and solidified into endemic racism. Yet we chose to avert eyes. Last Wednesday we were forced as a nation to confront our truth as white supremacists came to the Hill with fascist ideologies using violence and terror tactics. 147 House Republicans who refused to confirm the people’s vote infused the rioters’ shouts of “stolen election.” Senators Hawley and Cruz supported the lie, and an autocratic unhinged president told the mob, “We love you, you’re very special.” read more

The rioters entered fearlessly, looking straight into cameras as they destroyed and desecrated a people’s building. Urged and fired-up, by an unhinged Trump they stormed the Capitol building, smashing doors and windows and terrorizing those who were there to confirm the people’s presidential vote.

They were as unafraid and arrogant as the policeman with his knee on the neck of George Floyd looking calmly into the camera. No one stopped the murder of George Floyd. No one stopped the hooligans in the Capitol. To the contrary, some Capitol police took pictures with the smirking rioters. In Minneapolis we witnessed brutal power terrorizing Black people, in Washington we saw with our own eyes how White Supremacists pushed and shoved law officers with impunity. read more

Let us stipulate that Donald Trump has not started a war that has killed 50 million people, and has not tried to systematically murder any ethnic or religious group. Other than that, let the Hitler analogies fly. A man who came to political prominence solely by promoting vicious, racist lies. A man whose “talent” if you want to call it that is his ability to tap into the anger and rage of his followers, exclusively cultivating the worse devils of our nature. And if Hitler, is obviously, the worst chancellor in German history, from Bismarck to Merkel, by some exceptional exponential magnitude, the same can be said about Trump among his presidential peers, let us say, Franklin Pierce, James Buchanan, and Andrew Johnson. They were terrible politicians, who failed the United States at a critical hour in its history. Donald Trump, on the other hand, is simply a monster. And yesterday’s events were an absolute nadir. We make comparisons to Hitler because he is the best-known example of a legally elected head of a democratic government who systematically destroyed his country’s democracy.   Donald Trump never had any intention of leaving the presidency voluntarily. He will have to be pried out, excavated and dynamited out. read more

Our country and the world are watching, fearfully and stunned, the attack of pro-Trump supporters invading the Capitol building. Today, January 6, 2021 a wild crowd following Trump’s unhinged call earlier to “Stop the Steal” invaded the building where top political leaders of this country have gathered today. Lawmakers have gathered in a joint session to certify President-elect Joe Biden’s Electoral College victory. The terrifying mob streamed into the building threatening the joint session of Congress including the Vice President, the Speaker and the leaders of the Senate. The mob endangered  lives and democracy. read more

It was a jarring moment when Amy Coney Barret refused to answer questions about climate change in her confirmation hearings for the position of Supreme Court Justice. She said “I am certainly not a scientist” and that “my views on global warming or climate change are not relevant to the job I would do as a judge”. Ms. Barrett added that she could not respond to questions because it was “too politically controversial.”

As I listened to her responses, I thought of how Supreme Court decisions both horrific and enlightened have had a profound impact on real people. Supreme Court decisions such as Brown v. Board of Education and Obergefell v. Hodges have expanded individual rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Other decisions, such as Dred Scott v. Sanford or Korematsu v. U.S. have contracted people’s liberty. read more

Until 2016 Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland was a book of fiction. We woke up in November, 2016 and found ourselves in the thick of the book’s madness with the Queen of Hearts/Trump screaming, “Off with their heads.”

We recognized the similarity between Trump and Lewis Carroll’s Queen who is a “blind fury,” a foul-mouthed, ill-tempered, irrational monarch; madness came to dwell in the White House. The Republicans supported, aided and abetted it.

For four years we have been in the grips of daily assaults on our sanity by the Queen of Hearts/Donald Trump. She/he has upped the nasty game to provoke and invoke the demons of xenophobia, of racism, of shaming, of mocking and of mouth-fouled misogyny. read more

Every morning, for the last few months, I would open my door to see that the Biden-Harris lawn sign was intact.  Signs have been destroyed in my town and all over our country; each night I would leave the lights on to protect the sign. Each morning I was happy to see it. We bonded in protection.

Millions of us took part in supporting the democratic candidates determined to protect Democracy in America. We wanted to do everything in our power to bring an end to the nightmare of a corrupt presidency. read more

Four years ago we voted hoping that we were making history in electing the first female president. We thought that we were on the road to pull the Founders’ promise of equality into the wide-open 21^st century. Instead, we woke up to find out that the man in the White House was a president determined to hack away the American soul, uproot equality and dismantle civil rights. For four years we have written scores of articles pointing out the disastrous impact of this presidency of dizzying destruction of iconic institutions that have shaped American democracy. We were shocked at our faith in a linear trajectory of democracy, how we would keep struggling to increase inclusions and civil rights. We discovered the fragility of the very tenets of democracy. read more

After the revelations of the death of Daniel Prude in police custody, the protests for racial justice that swept the country have taken on a local meaning. How did you become involved?

I have been attending the weekly BLM protests and rallies here in Rochester since May 30, right after George Floyd’s death. I have been volunteering there almost every week. When I heard the organizers had been arrested just after the video was released to the public, I answered their call for help and went to the Public Safety Building. With everything that happened that first day and the way they blocked off the streets, I was unable to leave until around 10:00pm. After that, I felt compelled to be there fighting for the rights of every person in our community read more