We Are Powerful

A lot of people forget that collectively, we are powerful.

A lot of people tell us that we aren’t. Our government doesn’t want us to know we are. This varies by state, but is still true in nearly all of them. Billionaires and their corporations don’t want us to know this. Many times our bosses don’t want us to know this. Any review of labor law will show you this!

But when we look back at history, we get a glimpse at what we can do.

If you had told Martin Luther King, Jr. that people aren’t powerful, he would have shown you were wrong by any of the marches he led or the speeches he gave.

If you had told Mahatma Gandhi that people aren’t powerful, he would have shown you were wrong by organizing the people and liberating India.

If you had told Rosa Parks that people aren’t powerful, she would have shown you were wrong by sitting in that bus seat and sparking the Montgomery bus boycott. Without the thousands participating in that boycott, our country might have maintained segregation for decades longer.

Unfortunately, I didn’t get as thorough of a history background as I would have liked since I pursued science collegiate degrees. So my off-the-cuff examples are limited. There are soooooo many examples of collective action making extremely important change happen.

There are so many examples of oppressed people standing in unity and throwing off the shackles of their oppressors.

I am part of a labor union. I have seen collective action work. Not just historically, but in front of my eyes. I have actively worked to make it happen.

But so many of my colleagues live in fear, and they feel powerless. They think of them, alone, standing in front of their boss taking the heat. But whether you have a union or not, if we choose to work collectively, no one is ever alone! No one goes into meetings alone. If someone is unjustly accused and/or punished, we can stand together and demand justice for that person. Because if we help that person we help ourselves.

Now is a time when we must help others to help ourselves. It might be standing up for our rights to health, protection, and saftey on our jobs. Or it might be standing up for our rights to healthcare, regardless if we are working or have preexisting conditions. I could be standing up for our right to a healthy planet and green technologies so that our children have a planet to inherit.

We are powerful together! If each of us chooses to cower in the shadows, we are indeed powerless. But if we join together and demand our human rights, whether on the job or not, be honored. Damn if we won’t change the world.

So join AND be active. Join your union. Join a group working towards Medicare for All or the Green New Deal. Work to make it happen. If we work together against the billionaire elites, who have their fingers in basically everything, we can do so much.