Speech at Stand for Democracy: Rally for Unity and Justice

Acton, MA - State Senator Eldridge gave a speech at the Acton Boxborough Regional High School at the Rally for Unity and Justice held for Massachusetts residents concerned about the direction of the country.

I want to start off with a few questions:

Are we going to stand against Donald Trump?

Are we going to stand with democratic nations like Ukraine?

Are we going to fight for a more perfect union for our country?

Are we going to protect our vulnerable neighbors?

Are we going to oppose the oligarchy?

Thank you so much for being here, this is an incredible turnout. What I know is that there are residents from across Massachusetts, who are deeply concerned about the direction of our country. This morning, I was in the basement of the Unitarian Church in Littleton, meeting with congregants, deeply concerned about protecting their LGBTQ friends and family members, about protecting immigrants, about making sure that the federal support that helps make Massachusetts such a special place continues to go on. And those conversations are happening in every home, in every business, in every community across Massachusetts. And I want to thank residents not just in Acton, but all over my Senate district for being here, please give yourselves a hand.

Thank you so much to the Acton Democratic Town Committee for organizing’s today’s Stand for Democracy, Rally for Unity and Justice. It’s heartwarming and encouraging to see so many constituents, friends and activists in attendance, and I’m grateful for all of the incredible work you have done, especially since January 17th of this year. I want to give a special thank you to Sahana Purohit, the Chairwoman of the Acton Democratic Town Committee, and members Bob Ferrara, Bob Van Meter, Stella Ko, Miriam Lezak, Sam Fieldman, Ellen Valade, Adrian Hancock, Glen Cote, and Matt Liebman.

You are part of what makes Acton, and Massachusetts, so special. I am so grateful for the work you are doing, to not just fight back on the destruction of American institutions, the gutting of our federal workforce, and the weakening of our social safety net, but fighting for a more equitable society.

If I look back on the past eight years, Acton residents, and people in every community across the Commonwealth, have been active in fighting for a better life for all of our residents – on fully realizing our state Constitution’s declaration of a right to an excellent education, of protecting our immigrant neighbors from unjust laws, improving the quality of healthcare we have access to, reforming our criminal justice and public safety laws to combat racial injustice, and tackling the greatest existential threat to the world, climate change.

 I have seen you fight for these bold goals not just at rallies and demonstrations, whether gathering at the common at the Isaac Davis Monument in Acton Center or the halls of the Massachusetts State House, but in the meetings room of libraries, schools and coffee shops, in your homes, and over social media, to fight for the true implementation of the Preamble:

“We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.”

In just six weeks, we are witnessing a wholesale, unilateral gutting of justice, tranquility, general welfare, and liberty. The United States of America, one of the most optimistic nations in this world, a beacon of light for democracy for people around the world, now has a president who is turning away from the values that a nation should be striving for, towards a more perfect union.

A daily barrage of well-intentioned federal agencies being nearly eliminated, attacks on all Americans who are not wealthy, cisgender white males, bringing federal intimidation and interference into our daily lives, “flooding the zone” with chaos designed to break us down into individual silos, and casting off alliances from a wide array of allies, from labor unions to research institutions, emergency relief to places of refuge, allied nations and increasingly our judicial system, is deeply anti-democratic and authoritarian, and ultimately seeks revert to America to some Middle Ages era where every man, woman and child are on their own, and a nation where we are turning on each other.

With full acknowledgement that Massachusetts, before we helped forge our nation, and as a Commonwealth since, has had its fits and starts on the historical scale of justice, equality, and true liberty, we are a state that has continued to strive for a better world. As Massachusetts Unitarian Minister and abolitionist Theodore Parker wrote, “The Arc of the Moral Universe is Long, But It Bends Towards Justice”.

Massachusetts has a special place in our nation’s history for aspiring to expand that arc, and this region even more so. In May 1774, the British Parliament passed a law which made it illegal for colonists to hold Town Meetings and to legislate their own affairs. In defiance of this law, the people of Acton held a series of Town Meetings where they elected a representative to the illegal Provincial Congress. This act of resistance continues to be celebrated in Acton every October as Crown Resistance Day.

Channeling the words of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., in his April 16th, 1963 Letter from Birmingham Jail,

“One has not only a legal but a moral responsibility to obey just laws. Conversely one has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws,” Massachusetts residents  in the 18th century initiated a series of acts of defiance, and organized opposition, that led to our own state’s Constitution, which I believe needs to guide us at this deeply disturbing moment in our nation’s history: “The end of the institution, maintenance, and administration of government, is to secure the existence of the body politic, to protect it, and to furnish the individuals who compose it with the power of enjoying in safety and tranquility their natural rights, and the blessings of life: and whenever these great objects are not obtained, the people have a right to alter the government, and to take measures necessary for their safety, prosperity and happiness. The body politic is formed by a voluntary association of individuals: it is a social compact, by which the whole people covenants with each citizen, and each citizen with the whole people, that all shall be governed by certain laws for the common good. It is the duty of the people, therefore, in framing a constitution of government, to provide for an equitable mode of making laws, as well as for an impartial interpretation, and a faithful execution of them; that every man may, at all times, find his security in them.”

 How, I ask, do we return as a nation to pursuing these ideals?

 First of all, I want to lift up that you have taken the political and civic actions to keep Massachusetts pursuing the ideals to realize this vision, in your elected officials. We ARE supporting migrants and immigrants, investing in education, protecting our LGBTQ neighbors, moving away from fossil fuels and embracing clean energy, combating racial inequities, and ensuring that all residents have a roof over their heads. We are seeking to reduce the economic inequality that, upon deep reflection is part of how America is back to Donald Trump being back in the oval office, eight years later. And we need to do much more.

But what are all of us, elected officials, residents, activists and advocates, federal, state and municipal workers, labor unions and small business owners, lawyers and social workers, government agencies and all forms of media, going to do, with our current federal government, and American society?

I do not have all of the answers. But looking at many of you here in attendance, I remember that in 2008, less than two decades ago, we saw and participated in a watershed moment in our nation’s history, with the election of Barak Obama. And let’s remember that many of the voters who cast their votes in 2024 for change, also cast their vote for change in 2008, for the first major Black American candidate for President, the son of an immigrant from Kenya. During President Obama’s tumultuous terms as our President, he said, “I believe that for all our imperfections, we are full of decency and goodness, and that the forces that divide us are not as strong as those that unite us”.

As the Dalai Lama said,

“Whether one is rich or poor, educated or illiterate, religious or non-believing, man or woman, black, white, or brown, we are all the same. Physically, emotionally, and mentally, we are all equal. We all share basic needs for food, shelter, safety, and love. We all aspire to happiness and we all shun suffering. Each of us has hopes, worries, fears, and dreams. Each of us wants the best for our family and loved ones. We all experience pain when we suffer loss and joy when we achieve what we seek. On this fundamental level, religion, ethnicity, culture, and language make no difference.”

 Beyond the fights for keeping the protections we still have in our country, the belief that the forces of government DO help people, the opposition to the breaking down of society for the selfish purposes of making the rich richer, and instituting oligarchy, we must find a way to connect with those who have made different conclusions on how to achieve peace and security in our society, we must break through the skepticism and cynicism to ensure that all people can have a better life, and we must find a way to come together with the 99% of people who will see the quality of their life decline under this President, to reach common ground over fear, solidarity over division and prejudice, and progress over regression.

 I’m honored to tackle these challenges with you, remembering our nation’s past crises, at a time when every day seems more crushing than the next. Onward to the Resistance, to organizing, to educating, and liberating all Americans from the idea that somehow we cannot continue to make progress in this great country, for all. Thank you!