Beyond the Spectacle of Elections
Jasmine Butler
This is the second election I’ve been old enough to vote in. I may be young, but if I’ve learned anything as an organizer, it’s that our work must go on no matter who is elected president.
Donald Trump will be the 47th commander-in-chief to sit at the helm of the most powerful—and perhaps one of the most violent—empires.
Contrary to the disingenuous debates that raged this election season, Palestine and the matter of genocide is not a “single issue.” It is a core issue. Imperialism is everyone’s problem. Americans cannot claim that what is happening in Gaza is not our concern when genocide is being supported with our tax dollars, our government’s full support, and our manufactured consent.
Every weapon manufactured in U.S. facilities that gets dropped on families in Palestine or used to fuel the crisis in Haiti entangles us. Every cell phone or diamond ring manufactured with blood entangles us. Every instance in which we choose to accept the oppression of others to delay our own is just that—a delay. The machine of empire will bite us all.
Take the rise of Cop City in Atlanta, Georgia, for example. Or the 1033 program that provides excess military weapons to local police departments—some of whom have been trained by Israeli Defense Forces. Urban riot training facilities are a playground for our police to become even more militarized to squash dissent. Is this the freedom we are promised at the expense of unnamed faces in the Middle East who are bombed out of existence? Is this the freedom our votes promise—contingent on our silence, complicity, and participation?
This election season, billions of dollars were funneled into campaigns by two political parties whose dominance precludes any illusion of true democracy. The people most in need in the U.S. experience very little change with each passing presidential transition. More than 650,000 people in this country are without housing, 25 million people are without health insurance, and more than a third of low-income households are food insecure. I don’t need to live through any more U.S. presidential elections to conclude that we must find ways to care for each other because our government consistently and willfully fails to do so.
While billions are poured into the presidential election every four years, local elections are largely left to languish—even though they determine so much more about our daily lives.
Dangerous far-right groups like Moms for Liberty have taken over school boards to degrade public education. Meanwhile, most people revert back to political inactivity after voting for president every four years. In stark contrast, six million people in Cuba recently attended town halls and contributed to the democratic process of drafting a new family code with over 70,000 meetings and thousands of proposals submitted from around the island. What could our country be if we reimagined mass civic participation beyond election season and instead extended year-round care and commitment to our communities?
As organizers, we don’t have all the answers for how to transition away from a society that puts profit over people, but we have plenty of examples of how to start. Mutual aid is the umbrella term for mutual care initiatives that meet the material needs of the people while also building each other’s political consciousness. Projects like Mutual Aid Disaster Relief and Highlander Center’s rapid response funds are crucial during disaster recovery periods when folks are in immediate need of funds, rescue, healthcare, and infrastructure. Similarly, longtime organizations like Food Not Bombs pride themselves on feeding people in need—no matter how hard the state tries to make this kind of camaraderie illegal. The Black Panther Party’s Free Breakfast Program operated with the understanding that the group’s renowned survival programs could not meet everyone’s needs forever. But by working to meet this urgent need that the government left unfulfilled, the Black Panthers were able to build support, expose the government’s callous neglect, and prove to people that alternatives were possible.
Housing co-ops and community land trusts are more trusted examples of how we can put resources back into the hands of the people. There are currently about 28 empty homes for every houseless person in the country. In a system that allows corporate property owners to hike prices even as the minimum wage remains the same, many of us are only one missed paycheck away from losing housing. Through deep organizing and relationship-building in conjunction with lengthy legal battles, groups like the LA Tenants Union have made life-changing improvements for residents in one of the country’s most expensive cities, inspiring anyone who wants to learn how to take power back from landlords.
Organizing gets the goods, facilitates the formation of strong community bonds, and serves as a vehicle against despair and toward collective liberation. We can show each other the commitment to care our elected officials have yet to deliver on.
We’re often told that the current systems are too powerful to change. At the same time, we’re expected to believe the promise that another administration will usher in the change we want to see in the world. For years, the Democratic party has aimed its rhetoric at improving the “middle class.” This was a regular talking point on the campaign trail for Kamala Harris. Never mind that this willfully ignored the sizable percentage of U.S. residents who are poor, working-class, and otherwise barely scraping by without a strong social safety net. We need a people’s government. In the meantime, we must be the people’s governance.
Generations of organizers have left us roadmaps for how to care for each other. In the words of George Jackson, we must settle our quarrels to “come together, understand the reality of our situation, understand that fascism is already here, that people are already dying who could be saved, that generations more will die or live poor butchered half-lives if you fail to act. Do what must be done; discover your humanity and your love in revolution. Pass on the torch. Join us, give up your life for the people.”
As this year’s election spectacle reaches its fever pitch, I suggest turning to your community to figure out how we will survive another Trump presidency.
**This article previously appeared in Prism Reports**
Jasmine Butler is CODEPINK's Member & Youth Coordinator.
Jasmine (they/them) was born and raised in Memphis by way of deep Mississippi roots. They’re a Black queer writer, cultural worker, and afrofuturist-abolitionist deeply committed to collective liberation through mutual care and education. They are growing as a deeply principled and experienced network weaver, educator, historian, and archivist. Jasmine received a B.A. in Geography from Dartmouth College in 2021.
Very well said.