‘We the people’ are finally waking up

No longer is America viewed by friends and foes alike as the world’s “shining city on a hill.” We are now considered an international pariah on Ukraine, NATO, trade policy and how we have treated our longest and oldest friends, such as Canada, Mexico and Europe.

We are seen as erratic, uncaring and isolationists only interested in “America First” instead of being the undisputed leader and guardian of the financial markets and the free world.

This new year started with a transition of presidential power, and then Americans of all socioeconomic backgrounds and regions faced sudden and damaging draconian cuts to the federal workforce, USAID, federal health agencies, the FAA and government departments that sent shock waves throughout the world. The world’s richest man was given carte blanche to go into agencies, access citizens’ most personal data and fire people at will.

And perhaps, the wildest part of it all is that the American people, and the coequal branches of government, all seemed to stand still, helplessly and quietly, in a state of disbelief and shock. The Democrats seemed lost and out of touch, and the Republicans marched lock, stock and barrel with Trump and defended his policies on the talk shows.

But it looks like this past weekend, the American people finally decided to express their displeasure with the rout of their 401Ks and investment portfolios.

The Hands Off! protests that took place Saturday across America were expected to be robust, but no one expected the hundreds of thousands of people who rallied in cities throughout the U.S. from Salt Lake City to Philadelphia and to the heartland of the Midwest to the southern shores of Georgia and the Carolinas. Estimates are that some 5 million people marched in over 1,200 organized marches.

Perhaps “we the people” are finally waking up to realize that we’ve been sold a bill of goods by a corn huckster carnival barker masquerading as the president of the United States. Since the beginning of this administration, Trump and Elon Musk have been on a whirlwind tour of destruction for seniors, the vulnerable, the sick and the working class.

In less than three months, the dynamic duo turned long-standing executive branch norms into abysmal behavior that everyone was expected to just embrace. Simply put: Trump and Musk seem to have grossly overreached, and this assault on the economy with the tariffs seems to have broken the dam.

Enter former Vice President Kamala Harris.

In a surprise appearance at BET’s “Leading Women Defined” Conference, the former vice president and 2024 Democratic presidential nominee offered the following comments:

“What has changed is that there is a sense of fear that has been taking hold in our country, and I understand it,” she said. “But we’re seeing people stay quiet. We are seeing organizations stay quiet. We are seeing those who are capitulating to clearly unconstitutional threats, and these are the things that we are witnessing each day in these last few months in our country. And it understandably creates a great sense of fear. Because, you know, there were many things that we knew would happen, many things — I’m not here to say, ‘I told you so.‘”

But Harris did warn us. Repeatedly. And Harris offered a solid, economist-supported economic strategy to keep the American economy growing, get prices down and to keep us out of a recession. Trump offered us no details.

We are all now living with the disastrous results.

But here’s the bottom line, folks: Looting the American government is not a strategy. And exacting crippling tariffs on our friends, allies and neighbors is a quick way to drive up costs and hurt American consumers.

The government is not like an American corporation. The government was never meant to be like the private sector. They are different for a reason.

The role of the government is an instrument of the people, by the people and for the people to put in structures that support us all, such as a military for the protection of the national defense. Or the tax system for the collection of taxes to sustain programs in the military, foreign aid and all the other things that helped America become that shining city on the hill.

Now, thanks to Trump, America is more like an old lighthouse, with a dimming beacon leading lost ships and those in need of a pathway forward lost out to sea.

Credit: handout

Credit: handout

Sophia A. Nelson is an award-winning non-fiction author of four books including “Black Woman Redefined: Dispelling Myths and Discovering Fulfillment in the Age of Michelle Obama”. She is an award-winning journalist for her work in Essence Magazine. She is a renowned global women’s conference speaker and corporate DEI trainer.