I recently took a little break and played Pickleball with my husband and some friends. (My first time, fyi!)

The group was mostly retired couples who talked about their golf groups, their Tuesday night mahjong games, their Friday get togethers for dinner and cards, shopping excursions, and new places to go for lunch.

And I thought to myself: So this is what retirement is supposed to be?? Momentarily, i longed for my life to be that way. 

But it is not.

Because I’m with you and you and I are in this together. You and I know that while everything we see around us looks the same. It is not. 

And because it is not the same, we cannot be.

We can’t think like we were thinking six months ago or even six weeks ago. We can’t assume that anything we’ve done in the past will be effective in this present. We cannot fight by the Marquis of Queensbury rules when our opponent is doing Fight Club! 

Our country is 249 years old. Next July should be a great celebration of the 250th birthday of the world’s greatest and longest standing democracy. But will that democracy still be standing?

With just a score of amendments, our constitution has stood through 236 years of seismic change including the industrial revolution, the sexual revolution, two world wars, nuclear weapons, civil rights, gay marriage, gender transitioning, the technology revolution, a civil war, and Tik Tok.

And still it stands. 

But can it survive when the leaders charged with protecting and defending it are just ignoring it? Trump has already ignored (i.e. violated) one Supreme Court ruling, and several other federal court rulings that have gone against him. Can we hold Trump accountable to a Constitution he clearly thinks has no sway over him? 

Can it survive when US Senators, like our own Lindsey Graham proclaim on X after the Tuesday address to congress: Trump 2028. That endorsement of a third Trump term is a clear violation of the Constitution that he took an oath to protect. (Over the weekend he backpedaled and called it a joke). 

Worse, those who bear the greatest responsibility as the guardians of the Constitution have put themselves on the sidelines while this disaster plays out. 

When the House stands by submissively as the president takes over its Constitutional responsibility to designate, cut, or redirect funding.

Is it possible that this Orange Julius, who is barely functional with the English language, knows little about our history, and views everything including Peace in the world as a transaction that goes to the guy who makes the best deal… Is it possible this person can destroy what has stood as an example to the world for two and a half centuries?

No. Because he didn’t do it. We, the people, did it. 

We did it when we didn’t pay attention to the policies that politics led to. We did it when we stopped believing in a free and fair press and facts. We did it when we decided the burden of democracy was too much for us to bear. We did it when we let ourselves believe that elections don’t make any difference. And now we are seeing how wrong we were.

And elected officials in red states like ours across the country are jumping on the bandwagon aiming to inflict the same chaos and uncertainty locally and statewide. 

This effort will also bring the same results. Mass firings without cause, increased unemployment, damage to small businesses, stressed non profits struggling to provide services. People being hurt. 

The question now is: Is it too late to stop this?

I say it is not. But we can’t stop it doing what we did last year, we can’t stop it if we keep criticizing each other for what we are or aren’t doing, we can’t stop it if we aren’t working together with common purpose, we can’t stop it by ravenously reading And commenting on social media, and we can’t stop it alone. There are almost 200 people in this room today. Just imagine how much power we have right here, if we were able to mobilize and harness it all?.

This is what we will tackle on April 5 at the summit we are calling Solidarity Greenville ‘26. 

I’ve been active in Democratic politics in the county for just 10 years but I do not remember seeing as broad a gathering of all Democratic organizations – all focused on finding the path forward together. This is the first step in a bigger process that will include our community groups and issue-aligned organizations. 

This is not a think tank. The end goal is to develop strategies for ‘25 and ‘26 that will effect change, to elect Democrats and move toward a more balanced and responsive government. And to become a better member of our own community, helping during the tough times, and working to build better, safer, stronger futures.

We have a huge election in 2026. Lindsey’s seat is up, Henry’s seat is up, the entire statehouse, and the US Congress. Success in this state is crucial to protecting us from visiting the worst of DC on South Carolina, and flipping important seats in Congress to be a bulwark to Project 2025.

Conversations like these are happening in every state. Can we do it? We have no choice but to try. My email address is demwomen@greenvilledemocrats.com. Email me and tell me how you want to get involved. What you can do. And I or a member of the board will get back to you with ideas and options. 

That’s how we drive change. That’s how we win. All of us together.