John,

At a recent event in Nashville, Tennessee, a young Democratic organizer from Chattanooga asked what he can do to recruit more organizers right now.

My answer was simple: Don’t look up to leaders like me to answer — look within.

One of my favorite chapters in one of my favorite books, Parting the Waters, begins with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in jail, in Birmingham, Alabama, at a pivotal moment in the struggle for civil rights. Once he comes out, his tactics are failing in Birmingham. They called it the city that would never integrate.

James Bevel and Dorthea Cotton, two young organizers at the time, went up to Dr. King and said, “You need to change tactics. You need to let us do something that you haven’t let us do before.” Dr. King relented and let these two young activists organize kids across Birmingham, from ages 8 to 18, who stood up to Bull Connor and his racist tactics to suppress the movement for equality.

They stood up to fire hoses, dogs, and police violence, and the images of that movement shocked the consciousness of this country. Americans who were watching the struggle for rights from the sidelines were no longer bystanders and took to Birmingham. Within a matter of days, thousands of people stood behind these young organizers, and within 12 days, the racism that they said would never fall, fell.

When young people bring their creative genius and their own ideas to bear, we can find bold and new solutions to the challenges we’re facing.

Now, more than ever, we need young leaders to stand up, use their voices, and tell their stories — the pressure of the people does make an impact, and we can’t ever lose sight of that.

I’m committed to supporting the infrastructure we’ll need nationwide that will defeat the MAGA movement and Donald Trump’s agenda to attack everyday Americans. Will you make a grassroots contribution right now to invest in the coalition that will defeat right-wing extremism and make progress for working people?

If you've saved your payment information with ActBlue Express, your donation will go through immediately:

Some folks believe that leadership is all titles and positions with no thought behind it, and that right now is on full display in the Trump administration. I’m here to tell you, John, true leadership is action and example — whether standing up and speaking out at a town hall, registering voters in your neighborhood, or chipping in a few bucks to support the good fight.

I can’t thank you enough for standing up and continuing to speak out.

With love and gratitude,

Cory