It’s never lawsuits, OR voting OR mutual aid, it’s always all three
We're NOT Doomed: Tue June 23, 2026
I constantly see posts about people asking where the Black Mamdanis and AOCs are.
And every time I hear that, I just kinda stop and stare at a wall wide eyed.
Cause I don’t know how to answer that question.
Because, to ask that question in the first place means the person asking is ignoring our incredible Black elected officials.
It has to.
They can’t ask that question if they know who Mayor Brandon Scott is or Reps Lauren Underwood, Joyce Beatty or Sydney Kamlager Dove. And those are just four of hundreds, and I do mean HUNDREDS of examples.
But I don’t want this to be a dissertation, you probably wouldn’t read it if it was, so let me focus on these four.
Mayor Brandon Scott leads Baltimore, Maryland. He has been in office six years now, and the homicide rate is going down every single month. May was the first time in five decades that homicide rate was in the single digits.
He did this through new programs like Group Violence Reduction, which launched in 2022 and established ones like Safe Streets which has been around since 2007.
And he’s not done. He barely considers this an accomplishment because homicides are still happening.
And he’s not going to rest till they aren’t.
Rep Lauren Underwood (IL-14) is 39 years old, but she has been in office since she was 31. At the time she was the youngest Black woman to ever be in Congress. And she ran with that.
Her longest fight has been working to get the Black Maternal Health package to pass the House. And she hasn’t stopped fighting for it. She was a nurse and is disabled herself and that informs everything she fights for.
And she won’t stop fighting for that package till it passes.
Rep Joyce Beatty (OH-03) may be 76, but she is the reason that Trump’s name is off the Kennedy Center, and when the tarp comes down, she will be the reason for that too.
She has been on the Kennedy Center board as an ex officio member (a board member from Congress) since 2019 and when the phone call happened to rename the Center, her line was muted. So she sued, and won.
This is one of the biggest wins against Trump coming from our Democrats in Congress. Cause it didn’t just stop something, it reversed it.
And she will keep filing these lawsuits till the Kennedy Center is restored in full.
And last but certainly not least, Rep Sydney Kamlager Dove (CA-37) is one of my favorite Reps. She is loud and dramatic in the best way possible. She’s not afraid to swear and is constantly trying to raise awareness about how much damage Trump is causing.
She will walk out of hearings to make a point when she thinks they’re unfair, like the June 3 hearing with Marco Rubio.
One of my favorite things from her is her “Is this Shit Legal?” series, where she reminded her audience time and time again of all the illegal things Trump was doing, and highlighted what Dems are doing to stop them.
She explains what’s going on in Congress in words everyone can comprehend, and I will never understand how she’s not one of the people everyone talks about the most.
So, where are the Mamdanis and AOCs? They’re right there. They’re elected already. They’re doing incredible work every single day.
I just wish more people knew their names.
If you wanna change that, the call to action is really simple. Follow more Black electeds on social media and spread their work.
Because they are here and they are Progressive and they are loud and they are fighting.
Pine City, Minnesota
Thu, May 28 - On June 19, 2005, East Central Minnesota Men’s Group hosted their first Pride picnic in Voyageur Park. Why does this matter?
Well, it sounds unimaginable, but that picnic was the first rural Pride event in the country. And now, they’ve unveiled a historic marker commemorating the event.
Aaron Bombard, the current head of the East Central Men’s Group led the project. His husband, Kent Bombard also became the first openly gay mayor of Pine City when he was elected in 2024.
Aaron explained to MPR News that it took a long time to get the marker. They had to work with the Minnesota Historical Society and historical societies around the country to verify that they really were the first.
The project was funded through the Clean Water Land and Legacy Amendment which passed with 56% of the vote during the 2008 presidential election. Yet another reminder of why voting in every single race on your ballot matters.
It’s easy to think things have always been better than they are now, but 22 years ago, there had never been a rural pride event. We ARE making progress, even if it doesn’t feel like it most days.
Richmond Virginia
Sat, May 30 - Richmond Pride partnered Richmond Region Tourism and OutRVA at Richmond Community ToolBank to build and paint five pride picnic tables.
These tables have been donated to this city and will be placed in five parks.
You can find them at the Alice Fitz Community Garden, Broadstreet Pollinator Park, Bill Robinson Park, Fonticello Park and Midtown Green, where they will stay as long as the paint holds up.
This might not seem like a big deal, but as Richmond Pride said in their Instagram post, “visibility is a crucial tool in fighting for equality.”
Bigotry comes from ignorance, and ignorance is a lot harder when queerness just exists in the spaces around you. And more representation always gives me hope.
New York City, New York
Wed, June 3 - Callen-Lorde is an LGBTQ+ Community Healthcare clinic that has been around, in one form or another, since Stonewall. This year, for pride, they are handing out pride safety kits, called “Party Packs” at their Chelsea clinics.
Dr. Demetre Daskalakis, Chief Medical Officer explained:
Pride is about joy, community—and taking care of each other. The Party and Prevention kit from Callen-Lorde is exactly what that looks like in action: easy HIV testing thanks to OraSure, HIV PrEP-on-Demand to stay protected on your terms, DoxyPEP to reduce the risk of some bacterial STIs, overdose prevention tools that save lives, and a huge list of other sexual health supplies. However you celebrate, make prevention part of your plan—because loving our community means showing up authentically for our health, too.
We have to protect each other in so many different ways right now. And it’s important to remember that it’s not just political, it’s personal and local too. This is a form of mutual aid and it saves lives. If you are in Chelsea there is still a change to pick one of these kits up on the 26th.
It’s never lawsuits, OR voting OR mutual aid, it’s always all three. Voting gives us the first Rural Pride historic marker, while mutual aid keeps queer people safe in NYC today, and of course we’re winning lawsuits every day.
Our fight is never just about the big things, these small local stories matter too. It’s the little things that change the narrative the big things just solidify those impacts that were made locally first.
So remember, our voices are our superpower, but only when we use them!
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