We're NOT Doomed: Jan 20, 2026

It happened a year ago today, but we're still here.

A year ago, our world got worse.

A year ago many of us felt like we might not be here today, but guess what, you, reading this, you still are.

This isn’t some sort of motivational speech or anything, but it’s a reminder.

It’s never “too little, too late.”

We have to power to make things better and we have the power to stop them from getting worse.

People were saying it was “too little, too late” to make things less bad a year ago today. They were saying it a year ago next week and a year ago next month.

And guess what?

We still have elections, and we are winning the vast majority of them.

We still have the judiciary, maybe not the Supreme Court, but most things don’t actually get there.

We have Republicans saying that if Trump tries to take Greenland, he will be impeached.

We still have Dems in congressional seats in Republican states.

Imagine if the vast majority of people thought it was “too little too late.” Think we’d have any of that?

Imagine if Trump hadn’t TACOed on so so many things in the last year, and if he hadn’t been shamed and embarrassed, he probably wouldn’t have. Things are bad, but just think about how much worse it could be. And yes, it could be SO much worse.

It can always be so much worse.

But we kept fighting, throughout the whole year, we kept fighting. We fought in elections, in courts, in legislative halls, and in the streets. And every day there are fights we win, and every day there are little incremental changes we make across the country that actually create progress.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s not good. It’s not fine, it’s not even bad, it’s catastrophically horrible, BUT, you are still here, and so are so many things you were convinced wouldn’t be.

It’s going to take a long time to undo this damage (which is gonna be really important to remember when the next Democratic president can’t make the progress you want, but that’s an essay for another day.) But we WILL undo it. As long as we don’t decide it’s too late, and understand that things can ALWAYS get better, and fighting for them to not get worse, or, in may cases only get slightly worse, matters too.

WE

ARE

NOT

DOOMED

It’s been 365 days, and We’re NOT Doomed. We’re still here, we’re still fighting and it’s not going to be easy, we’re not gonna win every battle, but the worst case scenario that everyone had for the first year did not happen. And that’s because we didn’t let it. And we didn’t let it because we didn’t give up and decide our fate was already sealed.

It’s never too late, we always have the time and ability to fight back.

ALWAYS.

So, make this the year you stop saying it’s too late to make things better, and just…do it, and don’t give up.

You know what I’m gonna say, but really read it:

Our voices are our superpower, but, ONLY when we use them!

But it’s not always easy to remember that We’re NOT Doomed, so here are some reminders.

National

Thu, Jan 8 - Climate Central has been a non-profit for around two years. It’s a group made up of “scientists and communicators” who focus on the climate crisis in the US. Their goal is to do so in a way that’s engaging and compelling so the news will cover it and people don’t look away.

Well, obviously, last year, things got worse, and they stepped up.

On Jan 8, they unveiled their “2025 in review: US Billion Dollar Climate Disasters.” This is a series of graphs and explanations for how things have gotten worse. This is data that is normally done by the US government, but, sadly, that’s not a thing right now.

In the video they say:

3 separate events caused $115 billion in damages…the US is experiencing a billion dollar disaster every 10 days on average, compared to every 82 back in the 1980s.

This is real data, made available of everyone, which, we’re not getting a whole lot of right now.

The US government may not be willing to do this work right now, but as long as someone is, and it’s still getting out there, We’re NOT Doomed.

Sunnyside, Washington

Tue, Jan 13 - The first time I heard the term “consent degree” was on Elsbeth, but, they’re a real thing, and in this case, one was used to hold the Sunnyside Police Department accountable for misconduct.

Basically, they abused a city program, called the Crime-Free Rental Housing to evict people, mostly Latina mothers, without any notice or legal recourse.

The state got involved and now Sunnyside must pay $1.1m to compensate these victims.

Washington AG, Nick Brown said:

This resolution will let us provide prompt and meaningful compensation to Sunnyside residents who were ordered to leave or be removed from their homes for no lawful reason. The government denied these people due process and protection from discrimination. I’m proud of my team’s work on the residents’ behalf.

First, its so nice to see a police department being held accountable, and secondly seeing such a blatant example of discrimination being taken so seriously.

Both of these reasons make this an excellent example of why We’re NOT Doomed.

Indianapolis, Indiana

Sun, Jan 18 - Every year the Black Student Union at Indiana University, Indianapolis hosts a dinner in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. And every year the school funds it and helps organize, until this year.

This year the school made up a bullshit excuse that they were canceling it for budgetary reasons and insisted, that even though it was “canceled” this year:

The MLK Dinner is not going away — rather we are in a moment of transition and the work of this task force will help us create its next iteration.

As I said, bullshit.

The BSU wrote a letter back explaining why it wasn’t just the fact that they canceled the event, but also that they did so without speaking to the students, who had been vocally looking forward to it, at all.

In the letter, they said:

For months, beginning before the semester started, we actively sought guidance and confirmation regarding the status of the dinner. Clear answers were not provided during this time. Receiving official notice at the end of the semester effectively eliminated any opportunity for student leaders to meaningfully plan alternatives or prepare our community for this outcome.

And one student took matters into his own hands.

Darrius Avery decided to hold a different event, an eat-in. It was inspired by the non-violent sit-ins of the 1960s. He first tried to set up in the campus center was was kicked out, cause food isn’t allowed, but he found a place anyway, and over 25 people showed up, including a few professors.

Obviously, that was not the ideal situation, but they didn’t just give up either, and that matters. The school did the wrong thing, but the students showed that it’s not up to the school, whether MLK is celebrated in a way that honors his memory. And this honors it in a way no school sanctioned dinner ever could.

As long as we don’t just accept our fate, and keep fighting back and holding events like this, We’re NOT Doomed.

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So I hope, especially on a day like today, you’re reminded why We’re NOT Doomed, and every way we make things just a bit better, or keep them from getting much worse, should be celebrated and give us the strength to continue fighting.

I said it already, but here it is again, our voices are our superpower, but only when we use them!