“I’m still optimistic—I’m still the ‘hope’ guy … It is important to be impatient with injustice and cruelty, and there’s a healthy outrage we should be exhibiting in terms of what’s currently happening both here and around the world.” (President Barack Obama)
Dear Friends,
As President Obama reminds us, we must continue to be impatient with blatant attacks on our justice system as well as attacks on the rights of all individuals. I was struck by a sign a young protester was holding at one of the No Kings Rally which read: “I am no longer accepting the things I cannot change. I am changing the things I cannot accept.” We must not allow ourselves to submit and accept some of the policies that the Trump administration is throwing our way. Continue to do whatever you are doing to help fight for the promise of America. And if you think that you are too old, or too tired, or too young, or too busy or you feel that it is pointless to constantly speak out and take a stand for democracy, then let me share this comment someone posted on Facebook regarding the June 14, No Kings Day Rally. If you read Heather Cox Richardson, she had asked her followers to post pictures of the event. Thousands and thousands of people posted comments and shared pictures, including me. As I was reading some of the comments and enjoying the pictures, I came across a comment by Stacey Griener. She writes, “I didn’t get a picture—we were going 45 miles an hour down the road—but the image is burned into my mind. In the heart of my very red town, we passed one of the local senior living communities. It’s mostly memory care and skilled nursing, with a few residents still semi-independent.
And there she was. An elderly woman, clearly a resident, sitting alone on the sidewalk by the road, perched on the seat of her walker. In her hands, she held a handmade sign: a crown with a bold line slashed through it. “No Kings.” That’s it. No fanfare, no crowd. Just one woman—old, likely underestimated, certainly surrounded by a town and generation still fiercely loyal to 47—holding a quiet, defiant truth. She stood alone. But not small. In that moment, she reminded me that resistance doesn’t always roar. Sometimes, it sits quietly with aching knees and trembling hands, and still refuses to bow. She gives me hope.”
Frankly, I choked up as I read this and I thought, “If someone like this elderly woman can summon up the strength to speak out against what is happening in our country, then surely I can as well. This nameless woman gives me hope as well. I also want to acknowledge the person or persons who work at that facility and who took the time to wheel this woman out to the sidewalk so she could have the opportunity to “stand” for democracy. So here are a few moments of the past week that were inspiring:
Pope Leo XIV helped to sell out a stadium show in Chicago with a promised virtual appearance—scheduled for the same day as a major military parade in Washington, D.C. Within the first 15 minutes of ticket availability, more than 9,000 people requested seats for the Chicago gathering. By the end of the first day, that number had climbed to 20,000. As of Friday [June 13], the $5 tickets were completely sold out. The Pope, in his first address to world diplomats, said the dignity of migrants had to be respected, potentially putting himself on a collision course with the Trump administration, which has stepped up enforcement of immigration law, arguing voters' concerns on the topic have long been ignored (Newsweek, Martha McHardy).
[On Saturday, June 14], we saw inspiring protests from Maine to Hawaii—from big cities like Chicago to the small towns like Dickinson, North Dakota. People wanted to make it clear that we will not allow Trump to succeed at ending our democratic Republic and elevating himself to King! And they did this in numbers too big to deny! The Economic Times’ headline summed it up well, “Trump’s $45 million birthday parade turns into a drowsy disaster.” In fact, as the outlet reported, the 79 year-old Trump not only looked bored, he “appeared to doze” off during the parade. Trump’s military parade went from his dream of looking like America’s all-powerful dictator to something that made him look impotent…. As I wrote last week, “we are at war” —as Trump has launched a multi-front assault on our freedoms and our Constitution. Yet despite these dark times in America, we saw millions on Saturday [June 14] punch Trump in the face “from the mountains to the prairies, To the oceans white with foam.” After seeing that, I’ve never felt more confident that we are going to win this war! (Dean Obeidallah).
A federal judge in Boston said Monday [June 16] the termination of National Institutes of Health grants for research on diversity-related topics by the Trump administration was “void and illegal” and accused the government of discriminating against racial minorities and LGBTQ people. U.S. District Judge William Young said during a non-jury trial that the NIH violated federal law by arbitrarily canceling more than $1 billion in research grants because of their perceived connection to diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives (NBC News, Reuters and Evan Bush).
A federal judge on Tuesday [June 17] ruled that EPA’s termination of $600 million in environmental justice grants issued by the Biden administration for low-income areas and communities of color was unlawful. The ruling over the Thriving Communities Grantmaking Program comes as EPA is separately appealing a ruling that its termination of $20 billion in Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund grants was also unlawful. Congressional Republicans have proposed rescinding funding for both grant programs as part of their reconciliation bills (Politico, Alex Guillén).
The NAACP filed an intent to sue Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence company xAI on Tuesday [June 17] over concerns about air pollution generated by a supercomputer located near predominantly Black communities (ABC News, Adrian Sainz).
Senate Democrats staged a near-total boycott of a Republican-led Senate hearing on Wednesday [June 18] on Joe Biden’s mental decline and its alleged cover-up during his presidency, with only the Vermont senator Peter Welch attending the session. The hearing, titled “Unfit to Serve: How the Biden Cover-Up Endangered America and Undermined the Constitution”, began with the Democratic ranking member, Dick Durbin, launching a counterattack on Donald Trump’s off-kilter comments before walking out of the chamber (The Guardian, Joseph Gedeon).
Former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Bridget Brink, a career diplomat who grew up in Michigan and resigned as ambassador over a break with President Donald Trump over his policies regarding the war with Russia, is running as a Democrat to challenge U.S. Rep. Tom Barrett, R-Charlotte, in next year's election. Brink made the announcement Wednesday, June 18, that she would run for Michigan's 7th Congressional District — a mid-Michigan district that is considered a toss up and was previously represented by Democrat Elissa Slotkin before she was elected to the U.S. Senate last year (Detroit Free Press, Todd Spangler).
A federal judge has temporarily blocked the U.S. Department of Transportation from withholding billions of dollars in funding to states unless they complied with the Trump administration’s demands on immigration enforcement. A coalition of 20 states, most led by Democrats, filed a lawsuit last month arguing that the administration was usurping Congress’s authority over spending and using that power of the purse to try to force states to adopt its policies. Judge John J. McConnell Jr., the chief judge of the United States District Court for Rhode Island, agreed with the states. In a preliminary injunction issued Thursday [June 19], the judge said that their claims “are likely to succeed because the Defendants’ actions here violate the Constitution and statutes of the United States” (The New York Times, David W. Chin).
Juneteenth celebrations unfolded across the U.S. on Thursday [June 19] to mark the day in 1865 when Union soldiers brought the news of freedom to enslaved Black people in Texas. The events include one in Galveston — the holiday’s birthplace — where former President Joe Biden was expected. Juneteenth has been celebrated by Black Americans for generations, but became more widely observed after Biden designated it a federal holiday in 2021. It is recognized at least as an observance in every state, and nearly 30 states and Washington, D.C., have designated it as a permanent paid or legal holiday through legislation or executive action (PBS News, Holly Ramer, Associated Press).
Liberal Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson criticized her colleagues Friday [June 20] in a scathing dissent in a case involving vehicle emissions regulations. In her dissenting opinion, she argued that the court's ruling gives the impression it favors “moneyed interests” in the way it decides which cases to hear and how it rules in them. The court had ruled 7-2 in favor of fuel producers seeking to challenge the Environmental Protection Agency's approval of California clean vehicle emissions regulations. She also said she was concerned that the ruling could have "a reputational cost for this court, which is already viewed by many as being overly sympathetic to corporate interests” (NBC News, Lawrence Hurley).
The Houston Chronicle, Texas's top selling newspaper, has published an editorial fiercely critical of Governor Greg Abbot over his rhetoric and decision to deploy Texas National Guard troops in response to protests against immigration enforcement, saying "we expect better of him” (Newsweek, James Bickerton).
A “Stop the Billionaire Giveaway” Bus Tour starts this weekend, organized by Fair Share America. It’s traveling across 14 states to rally folks against Trump’s evil budget bill.The group's leader, Kristen Crowell, said when people “turn out and demonstrate their opposition, or call or write their member of Congress, that makes a difference … We can still stop this bill.” (Scott Dworkin).
MyPillow CEO, Mike Lindell, has been ordered to pay $2.3m to a former employee of a voting machine company who sued him for defamation, adding to the legal woes the prominent election denier faces. A Colorado jury decided the case and amount after Eric Coomer, who formerly worked in security and voting technology strategy for the voting machine company Dominion, filed a lawsuit against Lindell and a host of others who spread false conspiracy theories that upended his life. Coomer’s attorneys had originally requested $62.7m (The Guardian, Rachel Leingang).
Policies that have banned or imposed fees on plastic bags are leading to significant declines in plastic litter along U.S. shorelines, a new study has found. These state- and local-level regulations have brought about a 25 percent to 47 percent plunge in the proportion of bags in total coastal litter cleanups, in comparison to places that lack such rules, according to the study, published Thursday [June 19] in Science.Thin plastic shopping bags are one of the biggest culprits of plastic pollution on coastlines, as they have low recycling rates and often blow away in the wind — entangling animals and breaking down into harmful microplastics, the study authors noted.But as awareness around this issue has grown, more than 100 nations have implemented either bans or fees on the bags, the researchers explained (The Hill, Sharon Udasin).
Black church leaders are ramping up the pressure on corporate America as companies continue to roll back their diversity, equity and inclusion policies, trying to serve as a counterbalance to President Donald Trump’s aggressive push to end DEI initiatives across the country….Within his first week of returning to office, Trump signed an executive order eliminating DEI practices in the federal workplace. He called such programs “dangerous, demeaning, and immoral race- and sex-based preferences.”But Black church leaders see these boycotts…as a way to push back against the Trump-fueled wave and hold companies accountable. Bryant says his movement has garnered the support of 2,000 other churches and over 200,000 people signed his pledge to boycott Target (Politico, Cheyanne M. Daniels).
A new sculpture mysteriously appeared on the National Mall. It features a golden hand giving a thumbs up, while crushing the head of the Statue of Liberty. A plaque on it reads “dictator approved,” and features a quote from Vladimir Putin praising Trump. The White House called it “ugly,” making the display even more beautiful (Scott Dworkin).
Last week, Rep. Mikie Sherrill won New Jersey’s hotly contested Democratic gubernatorial primary with 34% of the vote in a six-way race. New Jersey is one of just two states holding off-year governor’s races in 2025, the other being Virginia. Sherrill is now the frontrunner heading into November’s election. Her Republican opponent, former state Rep. Jack Ciattarelli came shockingly close to winning four years ago. But like Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin, he benefited from Donald Trump not being on the ballot or in office. This time around, Trump is all in, loudly endorsing Ciattarelli—much to Sherrill’s delight, no doubt….Holding New Jersey’s governorship—and reclaiming Virginia’s—matters. But what’s really exciting is what this says about the 2026 midterms. Conventional wisdom says that the party in the White House gets shellacked in the midterms—especially with an unpopular president….Sure, 2026 is still a long way off. But if these numbers spook enough Republicans in swing districts, Democrats might be able to grind this narrowly divided Congress to a halt. That alone is worth celebrating (Daily Kos).
The Los Angeles Dodgers and the federal government are at odds over what happened on Thursday when federal agents were on or near Dodger Stadium grounds. Reports began to circulate that federal agents were present at the stadium outside downtown Los Angeles, sparking concerns that the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown was coming to the home of the World Series champions hours before a game against the San Diego Padres. Protesters rushed to the area and began chanting anti-ICE slogans at the federal agents. The Dodgers then posted on X that ICE had come to the stadium and requested access to the grounds – a request that the team says it denied. (CNN Sports, Natasha Chen & Priscilla Alvarez)
A barrage of public polling released over the last several days shows that President Donald Trump's standing is in free fall, as Americans turn away from his dictatorial actions, his cruelty toward immigrants, his domestic agenda of slashing the social safety net to fund tax cuts for the rich, and his economic destruction. According to The New York Times polling average, just 44% of Americans approve of the way Trump is handling his job—a number that's fallen since Trump deployed the military in Los Angeles, ramped up deportations against undocumented immigrants who have lived and worked in the United States for years, and pushed his "One Big, Beautiful Bill Act” that strips Medicaid and food stamps from millions of Americans. And each new poll has even worse news for Trump than the last (Daily Kos, Emily Singer).
In the courts, a federal judge finally ordered the release of Columbia University graduate and activist Mahmoud Khalil—who had been unjustly detained by the Trump regime since March. When he was freed, Khalil stated: “Although justice prevailed, it’s … very long overdue. And this shouldn’t have taken three months.” He’s right, and it never should’ve happened in the first place (Scott Dworkin).
North Carolina Democratic Gov. Josh Stein vetoed his first bills on Friday [June 20] blocking for now Republican legislation that would let adults carry concealed handguns without a permit and make state agencies and local sheriffs more active in the Trump administration's immigration crackdown (Huron Daily Tribune, Gary D. Robertson).
Again, we have survived a hectic week filled with both bad news as well as optimistic news. That is to be expected. Know that our story is not over America; be encouraged! In July, there are two rounds of protests currently being planned. One is being led by the Women’s March on July 4th, and the other will be on July 17th--to commemorate the late great John Lewis. There will be rallies, demonstrations, protests, empty-chair town halls and other opportunities in which to make “good trouble.” As President Obama said, "I do believe the most important office in a democracy is the office of citizen, that change happens because ordinary people get together and re-imagine what their lives could be and push on the system."
Onward!