Most voters take the valued tools of democracy for granted. We can access them readily without thinking about how society got them, or who’s responsible for protecting them. The foundational, electoral, and direct democracy tools are deeply integrated into the fabric of society. It has only been under the current regime that significant attention has been given to understanding what these tools are and the potential consequences of losing them.

Does citizenship only count when you die for this country? We can expect more deadly conflicts with ICE as the midterm elections get closer.

Five Democratic Socialist of America candidates will be on the Wisconsin ballot on August 11. The five join dozens of other DSA candidates on ballots across the country. Attempts by the status quo by both political parties to “boogify” their affiliation with socialism don’t seem to be working. Zohran Mamdani’s rise to be mayor of the largest city in the U.S. is verifiable proof that DSA-backed candidates can get the support of voters.

It’s been 174 years since the famous abolitionist, Frederick Douglass, issued his scathing address on July 4 celebrations. The nation couldn’t handle the truth then, and it cannot handle it now. The Trump regime is giving us a harsh reality check as the country prepares to celebrate its 250th birthday.

I often boast of being a child of the 50’s and 60’s. That’s because those years, which included the compelling Civil Rights and Black Power Movements, helped to shape my political consciousness. But I also have to admit I was a child of the Cold War and the Vietnam War, which informed my developing worldview.

Our ancestors gifted us with the concept of Sankofa, which translates to “go back and get it.” This means that we must examine the past to inform, build, and guide our future.

In Shelby v. Holder in 2013 and Louisiana v. Callais in 2026, the U.S. Supreme Court took two machete swipes at the Voting Rights Act of 1965, gutting the key elements that protect voting rights for African Americans. Black citizens wonder aloud as to why there needs to be special provisions and reauthorizations for a right that supposedly comes with U.S. citizenship.

Repression, racism, and war are features of imperialism that have consistently raised their ugly heads under the trump administration.

Today, we find ourselves without voter protections and potentially just a legislative action or court ruling away from no right to vote.