THIS IS  HOW WE DO IT: In These United States, September 2025 by Marie Cartier

Poem:

Part I

We didn’t want to believe we had lost so much, so fast-

Our dignity perhaps and certainly our ability to speak entirely freely

We didn’t want to believe that we had lost so much so fast—

          Our ability to be connected to each other, to form a more perfect union

We didn’t want to believe that we had lost so much so fast—

But when they took away the comediennes whose job it was to help us make fun of ourselves…when they took away the gatekeepers of clean water and renewable energy and when they took away the scientists working to cure children’s cancer…

when they took away took away took away

You see we didn’t want to believe that we had lost so much so fast

Our flag for instance didn’t make sense and our statue of liberty and justice for all,

her torch reaching into a sky littered with planes of those being deported to cages without due process

It happens so fast –the loss it happens so fast
We learned that it takes a long time to build good
We realized it doesn’t take long to tear it down meaning the failure to keep the good
The holes in the flag were gaping and we could see through them
we saw images of the sick, the old and …women and children always go first.
We didn’t realize we had lost so much… until it was gone

Part II

But hold on a minute- we’re not there yet
Right? Right.
There’s still time—to hold hands like Hold Hands Across America
Like shoulder to shoulder
Like pink pussy hats
Like ACTUP—like acting up and laying in front of traffic
Like we can overcome
Like we shall not be moved
Like a woman’s right to choose
Like love is love is love is love is love
Like TELL ME WHAT DEMOCRACY LOOKS LIKE

THIS IS WHAT DEMOCRACY LOOKS LIKE

Like WHOSE STREETS? OUR STREETS!

Like all the chants… all the people stepping forward, together,
like shoulder to shoulder…
arm in arm, linking arms, sitting down, laying down…

we are all in this together like we can do this like all the voices of all the people who know their rights matter enough.

Enough to be on the top of the bridge draping the banner we dropped
over the overpass a few weeks ago:

BE BRAVE WITH US- WE WILL STAND WITH YOU
BE BRAVE WITH US- WE WILL STAND WITH YOU
BE BRAVE WITH US- WE WILL STAND WITH YOU

This is how social change happens
Communities come together. They form groups.
Groups put pressure on the elected officials
They then put pressure on the apparatus of change and the wheel inevitably
Turns towards justice as MLK said the arc of the universe
Is long but it bends towards truth

Part III

We didn’t want to believe we had lost so much
and so we
Decided not to have lost so much and then we wouldn’t have to believe that
Because it wouldn’t have happened – yet.
And so, we fought back.
And we won.

-Marie Cartier
September 23, 2o25

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To join your local Indivisible:  Homepage | Indivisible https://indivisible.org/

To join your local NO KINGS: No Kings protests near you on October 18 https://indivisible.actionkit.com/mailings/view/120402

To join your local ONE MILLION RISING: One Million Rising – Indivisible National Call to Action — Indivisible Charlotte https://indivisibleclt.org/thelatest/2025/8/3/one-million-rising-indivisible-national-call-to-action

To donate to ACT BLUE: ActBlue: Elevate Your Fundraising – Create Campaigns for Political Offices, Charities & Nonprofits https://www.actblue.com/

To donate to MOVE ON: MoveOn: People Powered Progress https://front.moveon.org/

To write postcards for social change: See VOTE FORWARD: Vote Forward https://votefwd.org/

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Note: To see yourself as strong look in the mirror and smile—you are the change you’ve been waiting for. <3 M.