Hi John! It’s Adam Conover, writing to you on behalf of Sunrise Movement.

You’ve probably heard some version of this lately: “We’re cooked”.

To hear some people talk about it, our planet is doomed, our democracy is crumbling, and it’s too late to do anything about it.

Well, you know how this works. I’m here to debunk that idea.

Historically speaking, this claim is nonsense, and it’s something people often believe right up until the moment things change for the better.

They said it before the civil rights movement fought and won against legalized segregation. They said it before the labor movement won the right to a weekend. And they’re saying it again now, but organizing is still one of the most effective forces on Earth.

When people say that the arc of history bends towards justice, it’s too often taken to mean that progress happens all by itself. It doesn’t. The arc of history only bends because organized movements PUSH it until that bend is FORCED to happen.

Yes, organizing is hard. It’s slow. It’s messy. Honestly, organizing often looks like it’s failing…right up until the moment it breaks through and wins.

But if organizing didn’t work, powerful interests wouldn’t spend so much time trying to stop it.

They wouldn’t criminalize protest. They wouldn’t make it so hard to vote, or gerrymander ridiculous districts. And they certainly wouldn’t pour millions of dollars into convincing you that caring is embarrassing and trying is pointless.

Here’s the truth they don’t want you to internalize: The future isn’t decided yet. It’s contested.

And every movement that has ever won anything? Their first hurdle was rejecting the idea that they couldn’t possibly win.

Right now, students across the country are organizing their campuses, defending educational institutions from authoritarian overreach, and as they win, building real power together.

What they need from you is to believe in them.

So if you’re tired of being told that nothing matters, here’s something concrete you can do that really does:

Chip in $25 and help Sunrise Movement continue to grow the youth movement necessary to bend the arc of history away from climate collapse.

The work is still worth doing, the story is still being written, and no, we’re not cooked.

Donate $25 

- Adam Conover