The Frontlines
Live your life in a way that Donald Trump wants to eliminate your job.
Just shy of 3 months into this abomination of an administration, and we've seen exactly where they stand. We've seen who they perceive as being enemies to their fascist worldview. We've seen them target public health, public education, and environmental sectors. We've seen them go after institutions and businesses for implementing DEI practices and standards. We've seen them target USAID for having the audacity to support global health and wellbeing. They've gone after law firms who had the courage to go against the previous Trump administration and represent Dominion in its case against Fox News. They've removed multiple women in military leadership positions, including the commander of the Pituffik Space Base in Greenland this past week. As Republicans begin to unveil their budget, we can clearly see who they don't see as part of "their" America.
Like LL, I am in a field that has been in the crosshairs of this administration. While community development corporations have yet to be specifically targeted in the nonprofit sector, we know likely cuts are coming to those who are our primary funders. We know this because we are in the anti-White supremacy business. We work in the most diverse neighborhoods in the city, providing housing and wealth-building for historically marginalized communities. We help increase credit scores and connect community members to downpayment assistance programs. In doing this, we create a pool of first-time homebuyers who wouldn't otherwise have had the opportunity to purchase, and help them begin creating generational wealth. Our crime is simple: we are doing work that undermines this administration's current efforts to turn back the clock to the 1950s. Because of this, those of us in our field are seen as a threat to the rich oligarchs who want nothing better than to buy up as much land as possible and flip it around for profit that benefits themselves and nobody else.
Like LL, I am in a field that has been in the crosshairs of this administration. While community development corporations have yet to be specifically targeted in the nonprofit sector, we know likely cuts are coming to those who are our primary funders. We know this because we are in the anti-White supremacy business. We work in the most diverse neighborhoods in the city, providing housing and wealth-building for historically marginalized communities. We help increase credit scores and connect community members to downpayment assistance programs. In doing this, we create a pool of first-time homebuyers who wouldn't otherwise have had the opportunity to purchase, and help them begin creating generational wealth. Our crime is simple: we are doing work that undermines this administration's current efforts to turn back the clock to the 1950s. Because of this, those of us in our field are seen as a threat to the rich oligarchs who want nothing better than to buy up as much land as possible and flip it around for profit that benefits themselves and nobody else.
It's absurd that we are forced to live this way. Whether we're in the nonprofit sector, teachers, scientists, or park rangers, we shouldn't have to wake up every morning wondering whether or not our job will be there at the end of the day. But this is the reality we face. The work that we do prevents a fascist takeover of the country, and for that, we are being targeted. Donald Trump and his authoritarian entourage need the people of this country to live in poverty. They need people to be uneducated. They need people to be sick and unvaccinated. They need people to not have resource librarians helping them with resumes, job interviews, and other critical free services. And they need to prevent historically disadvantaged communities from achieving peace and stability by accessing affordable housing.
What's preventing all of this is the work we're doing and will continue to do. The courts so far have had our backs. So too have the communities we serve. As Joe Biden frequently mentioned, "This is a battle for the soul of this country." Donald Trump and Elon Musk will continue their assault on our work. But we wear these attacks as a badge of honor. It means that we are in a field that runs contrary to everything Donald Trump and present-day Republicans believe in. To be in the crosshairs of this administration means that you are actively working to make the world a better place. It means that you are helping those who wouldn't otherwise have help. It means that you are creating opportunities for historically disadvantaged populations. And it means that you are firmly standing against the first fascist regime in American history.
That alone makes all the pain and struggle worthwhile.
What's preventing all of this is the work we're doing and will continue to do. The courts so far have had our backs. So too have the communities we serve. As Joe Biden frequently mentioned, "This is a battle for the soul of this country." Donald Trump and Elon Musk will continue their assault on our work. But we wear these attacks as a badge of honor. It means that we are in a field that runs contrary to everything Donald Trump and present-day Republicans believe in. To be in the crosshairs of this administration means that you are actively working to make the world a better place. It means that you are helping those who wouldn't otherwise have help. It means that you are creating opportunities for historically disadvantaged populations. And it means that you are firmly standing against the first fascist regime in American history.
That alone makes all the pain and struggle worthwhile.