The Power of the People
This week, Senator Cory Booker (Jersey, baby!) did something incredible. (Gift link: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/02/nyregion/cory-booker-speech-reactions.html?unlocked_article_code=1.804.F9yp.mmfq18iWskqs&smid=url-share)
He held the senate floor for 25 hours. He did this with help from democratic colleagues asking questions, allowing him to yield for those questions, while retaining the floor. It was livestreamed everywhere.
I watched, or listened, on and off throughout the day. And every time I tuned in, what I heard was remarkable. This wasn’t someone randomly reading from a book to hold the floor. It wasn’t someone sputtering nonsense. No, it was a man full of passion saying smart things, pointing out important truths, and holding up heroes of the past for examples of what it means to be American—John Lewis and Alice Paul.
Most people know who John Lewis was—and they should. That man was a profile in both courage and wisdom, and I cannot say enough good things about him. But Alice Paul? Alice Paul was a Quaker from New Jersey who waged a fierce battle for suffrage. She was a staunch advocate for women’s rights, a feminist. She was a person who found her footing and her voice and used both things for the greater good. A badass by any measure.
When I was studying English lit, I read a lot about Quakers, about midwives, about witches in early America. I was fascinated by people like Bridget Bishop, Anne Hutchinson, Alice Paul, Inez Milholland, Martha Ballard, and so many more. But Paul always stuck with me, because she was from Jersey. And I loved the fictionalized version of her life, Iron Jawed Angels.
The thing that history tells us is that you can be anyone and step up and become a hero. You can fight for those you agree with and disagree with (famously, Paul did not think Stanton and Anthony’s approach was doing enough). The methodology may differ, but there is more common ground than you may think.
But the thing about Paul and about Booker is this: both heard the voices of those around them. They listened intently. Both saw the wrongs being done and decided to do something. There is power in that. There is power in words and symbolism and movement. There is power in taking a stand.
If there weren’t, speaking up wouldn’t make cowards afraid. And believe me when I say, insecure men in power are always cowards. Because they rely on bullying tactics and strong arming tactics, which are unfailingly weak actions of unfailingly weak men.
Booker has heart and conviction. Obviously, he has fortitude too, because I swear to god, I would’ve been a babbling mess right before passing out, if I tried to do what he did. But he held up hope for all of us, loudly and with clarity.
Hope is not a delicate thing. Hope is not neat or tidy. Hope has a busted lip, bruised knuckles, dirt in her hair, and fire in her eyes. Hope is a brawler, a scrapper. Hope can take a punch, but knows how to give it right back.
Hope is a lit match in want of a candle. And we are all holding candles now. We are, all of us, speaking to and for each other. We are raising our voices in demand. And we must continue to do so.
“The power of the people is greater than the people in power.”
I have been thinking and thinking on that statement from Booker since he made it. Collectively, we are many. And our voices matter. If they didn’t, Booker wouldn’t have done what he did. He wouldn’t have heard all of us—and those who called his colleagues too.
But we have spoken, and he listened. And that has an effect. An impact. It matters.
You matter. What you do matters. Keep on doing what you can, every chance you get. Don’t forget to reach for joy and to be silly whenever possible. Because you need happiness to fight. You need levity. You need love and laughter and kindness. Reach for it. It too is a blade against the dark.
Do not forget what Tolkien taught us: despair is a weapon. If hope didn’t matter so much, despair wouldn’t have either. And while the everything is certainly a lot, and jesus christ, it really is—there is work to be done.
And we are already doing it. So, we keep our eyes on the horizon. And we put our heart into the work, because it’s us who move this mountain, with every action that we take. You don’t have to do everything to accomplish something.
P.S. I hope Strom Thurmond is spinning in his grave and rotting in hell. XOXO