Those of us who “enjoy” a particular type of pain, the kind reminiscent of warm needles being inserted into your cornea, have spent the past few months trying to understand the strategy of the Democratic Party. It has been frustrating to watch Vice President Harris campaign with Liz Cheney in an attempt to court a very marginal – and in this writer’s opinion, scarcely existent – Republican swing voter, rather than pursuing the obvious winning strategy of mobilizing the Democratic base while calling for an arms embargo and a permanent ceasefire in Palestine.

The only thing more confusing than the Democrats’ strategy is the sentiment of the electorate. With Election Day imminent, how isn’t the candidate that’s not blatantly racist and sexist the frontrunner? If Kamala Harris loses this election it won’t be because she failed to bring along a few undecided “moderate” voters or convert some persuadable Republicans. It definitely won’t be because Black men are suddenly defecting to team Trump in droves because he has a magical resonant message for the “field African-American” as Shelley Wynter would have you believe. It’s more likely that progressives who have traditionally been reliable Democratic voters either stayed home or simply skipped the top of the ticket, lest we forget 2016.

Regardless of what predictions have been made or what polls have been conducted, November 5th will soon be history. The fact is that no matter the outcome of the election, what cannot be undone is that the United States at large has widely platformed fascist messaging, bigotry, violence, and every manner of dangerous white-supremacist ideology for the past several years now. In mainstream media, in television ads, streamed across our computer screens and smart devices, the conversations about replacement theory that were had in the shadows are being had in daylight.

The secret policy briefs that were hidden within the walls of the Heritage Foundation are now found in the pages of Project 2025. What cannot be undone is that the white supremacist who might have called you the “N” word in the comments section before is now emboldened enough to drive 300 miles and murder ten innocent people in a grocery store because they are Black. If not a grocery store in Buffalo, then it’s a synagogue in Pittsburgh, or a church in Charleston.

Elections have implications that last much longer than four years and this time it’s not only about who’s on the ballot, but what they say and do to get there and the accountability of the people who give the audience – or lack thereof.

Despite my seemingly abhorring opinion of the current leadership of the Democratic Party, I do believe there is a pathway forward. The recent birth of my first grandchild has forced me to search for the silver lining, to reaffirm and recommit to my “why” in the struggle for liberation. It’s easy to feel deflated and defeated in times like these. With an extremely conservative majority on the highest court in the nation, the Dobbs decision and the overturning of affirmative action feel like a smoldering warning before a massive fire that we are powerless to extinguish. We must remember that the Southern Strategy was developed very soon after the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was passed. Republicans had been planning to repeal Roe for almost 50 years! We did not get here in one election cycle, or after one protest. Those pro-life people have been outside of the clinic every Wednesday for 25 years and we might be ready to quit because we lost a couple of elections. 

In the grand scheme of things what most of us think of as the modern progressive movement is quite young. Black Lives Matter began in 2013 – that was 11 years ago and we got some significant wins from it. Yes, the moral arc of the universe is long family. We must build a durable and expansive movement. Durable means we have to be able to withstand pressure or damage and be long lasting. Expansive means that we must be open and operate in abundance, we can’t cancel everybody who doesn’t check all the boxes y’all, we have to live our values and meet people where they are. Our movement cannot be dependent on a single charismatic leader, we have to stop gatekeeping and allow vibrant, eager, young people in, we must teach them, train them up and then let them LEAD.   

No matter the outcome of  this election, I know that for the sake of my granddaughter, my community, this planet, there is still work to do. 

India Walton is currently the senior strategist for RootsAction.org, and she is a longtime community activist who emerged in 2021 as a powerful presence in the progressive movement after a stunning Democratic primary victory over a 16-year incumbent mayor of Buffalo.

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