Do You Hear the People Sing?

It's the song of our time

A friend sent me the video early yesterday morning, while I was rushing around the house trying to get my son ready for school. I was shoving schoolwork into a backpack and balancing the laundry hamper on my hip when I clicked on the link.

Music. Choral music. A familiar tune – one that stopped me in my tracks.

Do you hear the people sing?

I dropped the hamper.

The video was of the US Army Chorus performing the epilogue from Les Miserables at the White House Governor’s Ball this weekend. It’s one of the most recognizable melodies – an ear-worm if there ever was one. And that’s appropriate, because the message underlying the melody needs to stick with us now, more than ever.

I took a few minutes I didn’t have to listen and to watch. If you’ve not yet seen it, I hope you do, too.

As they sang, choir members fanned out through the ballroom – each person taking their collective song to every corner of the room. As of the time I write this, the video of the US Army Chorus singing Les Mis has been viewed over 240k times.

I spent the rest of the day with a song about revolution and community and fortitude and hope stuck in my head.

It’s exactly what I needed.

Will you join in our crusade? 
Who will be strong and stand with me? 
Somewhere beyond the barricade 
Is there a world you long to see?

Right now we’re bombarded with messages about what’s going wrong – about what’s breaking, being torn asunder. About hopelessness and despair. About whose leadership is lacking, what messages are missing, and who is not rising to this moment.

But there’s something emerging, too. There’s something rising.

It’s not just the US Army Chorus serenading an autocrat with a song about revolution. It’s more. It’s bigger. It’s broader.

There are examples every day, everywhere you look:

• Last week at a meeting welcoming governors to the White House, Donald Trump asked whether Maine would cooperate with his anti-transgender policies – outright threatening “You better do it, you better do it because you’re not going to get any federal funding at all.” Governor Janet Mills simply responded: See you in court.

• When Missouri Congressman Mark Alford went to a small-town coffee shop in-district for a “coffee chat,” he was met by protesters crowding the door and chanting “Hey Hey, Ho Ho, Elon Musk has got to go!” One woman screamed to Alford – “Coward!” Missouri activist Laura Burkhardt commented in a Bluesky post sharing the video: Not a moment of peace.

• On the day federal workers had to report back to the office, hackers broke into A/V systems at the Department of Housing and Urban Development to display an AI video parody of Donald Trump kissing Elon Musk’s feet. The video played on a five-minute loop on screens throughout the agency – from the lobby to the cafeteria. They couldn’t figure out how to turn off the screens (perhaps they fired the people who would know…) so building staff had to go floor to floor unplugging them.

• Google maps users changed the name of Mar-A-Lago to Kremlin Headquarters.

• This afternoon, 21 civil service tech staffers resigned en masse rather than be part of helping DOGE “dismantle critical public services.” In their joint resignation letter, they explained: “We swore to serve the American people and uphold our oath to the Constitution across presidential administrations … However, it has become clear that we can no longer honor those commitments.”

• When Elon Musk demanded that federal workers email a list of what they accomplished last week by midnight Monday, non-government workers flooded the Office of Personnel Management email with ‘very rude’ spam.

• Law professors banded together to write a public legal memorandum explaining why common DEI initiatives are legally defensible – giving their colleagues at universities throughout the country top-notch resources to fight back (and hopefully the backbone to do so).

• Disinformation researcher Joan Donovan, inspired by a small protest in front of a Tesla charging station in Maine, took to BlueSky to connect with others and amplify the concept. Due in large part to her efforts, protesters organized 42 individual anti-Musk/Tesla events throughout the U.S., including California, Florida, Texas, and New York. More are planned. (See this map.)

The more I looked for these stories, the more I found. They’re literally everywhere – from every corner of our country and from every sector of society. People like you who understand that this moment demands urgent action are responding in ways that are as unique as they are as people.

The variety and creativity inspires me. And I hope just reading through a few of them here has inspired you, too. Because we can all hear and heed this call to action in our own way, in our own style, in our own voice.

Frankly, we have to.

Whether (like the US Army Choir) it’s the song you choose to sing, or the article you choose to write, or the mural you paint, or the sign you make, or the protest you attend, or the march you organize, or the billboard you design, or the postcard you write, or the call you make, or the candidate you recruit, or the expertise you lend – fill in these blanks with your own life’s experience and expertise.

You were made for this moment, friend. So in whatever creative ways you can find to lend your uniqueness to this movement, our chorus is stronger for it.

Last week, in his State of the State speech Illinois Governor JB Pritzger reminded us all: Tyranny requires your fear, your silence, and your compliance. Democracy requires your courage.

But lost in the broader coverage of Pritzger’s speech was a story he shared about the power of people. In 1978, Nazis planned to march in Skokie, Illinois – a suburb of Chicago that at the time had the largest number of Holocaust survivors in the world. People fought back – and the legal battles about that proposed march went all the way to the Supreme Court.

Eventually the Nazis got to have their march – but not in Skokie. Instead, it was held in the vastly larger city of Chicago.

At the end of the day, just 20 Nazis turned out. They were met by 2,000 counter-protesters.

We can’t stop the bad people from existing, friend. They’ve always been there. But the good people have always outnumbered them.

Friend, our job right now is to fan out throughout the country – each of us taking our collective song, with our unique voice, to every corner of the nation.

Do you hear the people sing?

I do.

~Let’s get to work.

Les Miserables, Epilogue (Chorus Section)

Do you hear the people sing?
Lost in the valley of the night. 
It is the music of a people
Who are climbing to the light. 

For the wretched of the earth 
There is a flame that never dies. 
Even the darkest nights will end 
And the sun will rise.

They will live again in freedom in the garden of the lord
They will walk behind the ploughshare
They will put away the sword

The chain will be broken 
And all men will have their reward!

Will you join in our crusade? 
Who will be strong and stand with me? 
Somewhere beyond the barricade 
Is there a world you long to see?

Do you hear the people sing?
Say do you hear the distant drums
It is the future that they bring
When tomorrow comes!

The time is now.
The day is here
One day more!

Actions for the Week of February 25, 2025

Friend, things may be heavy – but you can lighten that load by doing something small – a “small deed” – to bring about the world that you want to see.

In doing so we tell the world, the universe, our leaders – and most importantly, ourselves – that we will not go quietly into that good night.

I call it Action Therapy.

That’s why in each Tuesday post I share a few “small things” – usually a Small Thing to Read, a Small Event to Attend, and a Small Call to Make or Action to Take. My intention here is to give you actions you can tuck into your week with ease – and know that you’re doing something today to make tomorrow better.

Join me in doing so. It matters.

Small Action to Take: SAVE Act/50501 Day of Action Next Tuesday

First, friend, I know I’m getting this out late on Tuesday – and word just came through that the budget resolution narrowly passed the House. This is not what we wanted, of course, but it is just the beginning of the fight – not the end. I’ll have more for us on this topic next week.

Second, the so-called SAVE Act would disenfranchise millions of voters, and as early as next week the House could vote on it. It would require voters to show proof of citizenship documents that match their current legal name. Tens of millions of Americans simply don’t have that – and would especially challenge married women, trans and nonbinary people who have changed their names, and would disproportionately impact people of color. Indivisible has a great resource (including what key Members of Congress are needed to stop the bill) here. Call your Representative and tell them to vote against the SAVE Act.

Script: Hi, my name is [your name] and I’m calling from [zip code]. I’m calling to tell the Congress[wo]man to vote against the SAVE Act. This act would disenfranchise tens of millions of eligible voters while providing no benefit.

Third, hat tip to Rogan’s List for this one!:

“The movement against Trump will take a variety of tactics, including taking to the streets – and folks are taking notice of the burgeoning protest movement. The 50501 Movement has called for another day of action on TUESDAY, MARCH 4TH. Let’s check out this list of scheduled protests and attend if they’re in our area – and if nothing is on the calendar yet, consider hosting our own.”

Small Event(s) to Attend: Blue Missouri/Sister District

First, if you are in Missouri (or are interested in Missouri politics) join me and Jessica Piper on Thursday night for our monthly virtual Blue Missouri meeting. This month we’ll be joined by three truly exceptional activists who are excellent at monitoring legislation. They’re going to demonstrate how it’s done! And of course it’s always wonderful to visit and vent. Thursday at 6pm central. Register here.

Second, Sister District is hosting a new State Bridges program on Wednesdays. On February 26, they’ll be joined by a slate of grassroots organizations from Arizona and Pennsylvania:

• Arizona Center for Empowerment (ACE) develops and mobilizes undocumented working youth and adults, students, and LGBTQ+ individuals to strategically take ownership and responsibility to advance economic, social, and racial justice.

• Rural Arizona Engagement (RAZE) educates, advocates and coordinates in rural communities to provide civic education, engagement opportunities, and voter registration.

• PA Stands Up Institute is building a multiracial movement of working-class people dedicated to winning a Pennsylvania that works for everyone.

• Pittsburgh United is a coalition of community, labor, faith, and environmental organizations committed to advancing the vision of a community and economy that works for all people.

This is an excellent way to learn about the work being done by some great community groups. Register here.

Small Thing to Read: The Death of Competition

On February 24, the NYT published a new analysis of races across the country, proclaiming that competition in American elections is dead. Here’s a gift article: The Death of Competition in American Elections.

I have many thoughts on this issue, largely because I work day-in and day-out to provide resources and direct support to Democratic nominees running in some of the reddest places in the country. In other words, I am out there trying to help the very races that the NYT proclaims to be uncompetitive.

Bottom line is this: there are huge numbers of uncontested and “uncompetitive” races in the US, and the NYT article does a good job describing this problem.

The article is thin on solutions, which is fine because that’s what I’ve been working on and I’m happy to fill that gap. If after reading the NYT article you are wondering: how can we make races more competitive? How can we encourage people to run in red districts so that we make progress there? Then I hope you’ll support our efforts at Every State Blue. We crowdfund for underfunded Democratic nominees running for state legislature. Right now, we have active projects in three states (Blue Ohio, Blue Missouri, and Blue Tennessee) and collectively we raised and distributed well over a half a million dollars to down ballot nominees in those states last cycle alone.

But the way we do that is unique and ensures our efforts go where they’re most needed and aren’t diluted. We fund from the bottom up. That means our community funds go first to nominees that raised the least. Then we continue filling everyone’s buckets as they reach parity with one another – raising everyone’s water level until we have created a funding floor below which no nominee falls.

We’re already building for 2026! (You can support our efforts to make sure Democrats are fighting everywhere here.)

Thanks for reading, friend – I’m glad to see you here! You’re making a difference, I promise.

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