The only truly individual part of voting happens when we step into the voting booth.
Everything before and after is the result of collective effort. And in 2026, that could not be clearer.
Generations of Americans organized, marched, went on strike, and risked their lives to win the rights we have today. Women organized for decades to win the right to vote. Black Americans organized to win the Voting Rights Act. Formerly enslaved Africans who led a general strike that ended the Civil War turned around and fought for the 14th Amendment, which guaranteed birthright citizenship afterwards.
Those victories weren’t handed down by people in power. Regular people organized to win them and generations since then have had to organize to defend them.
Today, millions of people are showing in race after race that they want a country they can afford and a government that puts workers over billionaires. This November, millions more will have the chance to make their voices heard.
There’s more of us than there are of them and organized power beats organized money every time. That’s why the Trump regime is working overtime right now to undermine the vote. And it’s why we won’t let him.
After Tennessee Republicans dismantled the state’s longtime majority-Black congressional district, splitting Memphis into three GOP-leaning districts, Justin Pearson ran anyway and went on to win the Democratic nomination for the newly redrawn 9th District. He is still in the fight, and so are the people Republicans tried to shut out of political power.
We will have massive numbers of us turning out to the polls. But to safeguard voting and make democracy work, there’s more we’re called on to do this year. We need to protect the right to vote in the first place and organize for the affordable country working people deserve.
With partners across the country, we’re building both electoral power and organized power through the solidarity schools and other events happening across the country this Labor Day weekend.
Earlier this year, the more than 500 organizations that make up May Day Strong put together over 5,000 protests, strikes, walkouts and other actions across the country. Now, we’re building the bigger and more skilled movement we need to confront all the billionaire attacks and build the unity we need this fall and beyond.
Solidarity schools are about getting more people involved and giving them the skills to organize others, take nonviolent collective action, and respond together when our communities come under attack.
The goal isn’t just a bigger movement. It’s a more skilled one.
We don’t know what the coming months will bring, including whether the Trump administration will respect the results of the midterm elections. But we know we have to be more ready than we are right now. None of the rights generations before us fought for can be taken for granted and all of them need our active defense.
The power we have when we step into the voting booth by ourselves is made possible by what we do together before we get there and after we leave.
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Previously Published on inequality.org with Creative Commons License
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