Power to the People!!

“Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will. Find out just what any people will quietly submit to and you have found out the exact measure of injustice and wrong which will be imposed upon them, and these will continue till they are resisted with either words or blows, or with both … —Frederick Douglass

These historic words of the great abolitionist, orator, publisher, and former slave Frederic Douglass rings loud and clear. This excerpt from Douglass’ speech on August 3,1857 at the West India Emancipation event aptly illuminates the struggles between power—albeit political power, class elitism, economic power, and white privilege—and those who seek their fare due.

As the United States continues to fail to live up to its promises and ideals of a just society free from economic dispair, social injustice, racial oppression, gender inequality, and class superiority, thousands of US citizens and global comrades have poured into the streets demanding an end to injustice and domination by the cultural and economic elites. And it took the brutal murder and yes, you could even say the public lynching of a working-class African American, George Floyd, to take the lid off the bubbling cauldron of dissatisfaction and unrest, unleashing an energized cacophony of voices demanding justice and liberation.

While a few, confused individuals took this surge of dissent as an opportunity to pillage and destroy, the vast majority of protesters understood and seized this moment as the critical turning point in not only the future of America, but the entire planet.

Let the melodious voices of dissent inspire you to examine the inequities in our society and with agency use your power and passion to be a part of the solution. As Frederick Douglass so brilliantly stated, “Power concedes nothing without a demand.” And we demand justice, respect, and equality. Resist, resist, resist!! Power to the people!!

—William S. Gooch