I won’t sugarcoat it: the past few months have been a hard time to be a Democrat.
I’m not talking here about the fact that our party lost the presidential election last November: politics involves losing elections, and while that can sting, it’s part and parcel to public service. I’m not even really talking about the fact that Republicans control both the House of Representatives and the Senate, a result that put them in control of both the legislative and executive branches of the federal government. That definitely hurt, but it comes with the territory of national and electoral politics.
The reason it’s been tough to be a Democrat these last six months is because of what has happened since November. Without majorities, we’ve had to watch as Republicans try to dismantle the safety nets that progressives and Democrats thoughtfully constructed over our nation’s history, programs like Medicaid, Medicare, the Affordable Care Act, and more. We’ve been forced to watch as the Republican President Trump has demeaned his office and articulated some of the most xenophobic, heartless, and demoralizing ideas ever to be spoken by a U.S. president, regardless of political affiliation. We’ve had a front row seat to a wave of violence and discriminatory acts by those emboldened by the rhetoric of this president and his colleagues in Congress.
So, yeah, lately it hasn’t been easy to be a Democrat.
Honestly, though, it should never be easy to be a Democrat.
Our party’s raison d'être has been about fighting – fighting for the disenfranchised; fighting for a better future; fighting for all those whose lives can be made better, stronger, and more successful with the help and assistance of a government who cares for them and sees them as individuals full of potential.
Democrats are fighters, and fighting is never easy. And when it seems like the fight is easy, that’s when we need to realize that we may have lost focus and must look to where the fight has moved without us.
Here in Massachusetts, our history of progressive movements like abolition, women’s suffrage, public healthcare, marriage equality, and more, may make it easy to feel complacent, but it’s important to remember that we only earned our status as a home to progressive political successes because we are also a home to those who fight tirelessly for equality and social justice.
Indeed, as a party of fighters, we recognize that, despite our successes, there are still many fights that we must continue to endeavor to win – fights for an equitable living wage; fights for racial justice; fights for the rights of immigrants and our undocumented neighbors; fights for housing equity; fights for greater medical access and services for all; fights for gender and sexual equality; fights for the dignity and sanctity of all of us, regardless of our wealth, our race, our gender, our ability, or our birthplace.
As Democrats in Quincy, we wage these battles on a daily basis, fighting to improve the lives of all residents in Quincy. We fight these battles out of love for our neighbors, for our community, for our history, and for our future. We fight these battles because, in no small part, we simply believe that this is the right thing to do. We fight these battles on behalf of everyone in our community, regardless of whether they vote Democrat, vote Republican, or whether or not they can even vote.
Our community is strongest when it recognizes the inherent value of all of its members, even when – especially when – they need the help of the rest of the community. That is what it means to be a Democrat in Quincy, and that is the reason that the Quincy Democratic City Committee is proud to fight for the inherent self-worth of every person who lives in our historic community.
We recently created this website so that the Quincy community can get a better idea of what we do as Quincy Democrats and so that those who are interested in fighting with us can find ways to put their talents to work. We will also be using this blog to give more in-depth looks at who we are as Quincy Democrats and to answer questions that we hear from community members.
If you would like to join the fight for democracy in Quincy, you can find out about future Quincy Dems activities at our Events page. You can also check our News page for updates from the QDCC as well as follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Our monthly meetings are held on the second Tuesday of each month at the N.A.G.E. building (first floor) at 159 Thomas Burgin Parkway in Quincy. If you're looking for additional ways to get active, check out our Mobilize page for information about other organizations or events that the Quincy Dems support.
Thank you for visiting our blog, and stay tuned for future posts. In the meantime, keep fighting, and we’ll be fighting right alongside you.