ACC Dems’ Gen Z Chair
I’m new to politics, though you could probably say that about most people in their 20s. We quite literally haven’t had the time, the years, to be engaged in politics. The Democratic Party had a devastating national loss in November 2024; a few weeks later, the Athen-Clarke County Democratic Committee elected new leadership. I became the chair. In December 2024, our committee hosted a holiday party. I talked to a man for a few minutes before he asked me what I was doing there. I jokingly replied, “Well, I’m the chair now, so I thought I’d show up.” He responded, “The chair of what? The social committee?” I smiled, and said, “No, I’m THE chair.” We actually do not have a social committee, but I suppose it’s easier to imagine me planning some socials than it is to imagine me leading a county party. I don’t fault him; I look young because I am young, and I don’t think I possess a lot of the characteristics that most people associate with political leaders.
I have never run for office. I like my privacy. I’m not an incredible public speaker. My political networks are limited. There are folks who are more knowledgeable about politics than I am. I get nervous when I canvass. I made a list of all the reasons why I shouldn’t do this, but at the end of the day, I really just decided to step up when the community needed to step back after the November election. So no, I don’t have all of the answers. I’m just a young woman with a vision who needed to lead when the Democratic committee needed her, and I will happily step back when the next idealist comes along.
Until then, I will wrestle with what it means to be a leader in this space. Currently, I do a lot of listening. Folks are hurting, grieving, angry, impatient and scared. I hear that; it’s valid. I do a lot of thinking: How do I give folks opportunities to be engaged while also trusting that they are already doing what is within their own capacity? How do I make the committee more diverse when the Democratic party has a history of breaking their promises to marginalized groups? How do you have a “big tent” and also maintain a brand? How do I ask folks to be more in unity without asking them to set aside their critical thinking abilities? How do I meet this current moment with a sense of urgency without being too aggressive, too impatient? How can I learn and also not come across as young and naive?
For a lot of reasons, my America is different from the average person in the local committee. One of the reasons is certainly rooted in my age and generation. I wasn’t in school until the 21st century. I don’t remember 9/11. I have been doing gun drills since elementary school. I was in middle school during the Great Recession. Trump has been on the ballot for every presidential election I’ve voted in. I was in college during the Black Lives Matter and Me Too movement. I was in graduate school when the pandemic started. I was 25 when my right to an abortion was taken away. Those experiences naturally shape a generation—how we perceive our society, our government and our political parties. Each generation has a unique worldview, and the Democratic party has to account for all of them. But at our core, Democrats share a common dream: a world free from oppression, discrimination and authoritarianism. If we remember that shared vision, it will fuel our fight for a nation and future that truly belongs to all of us.
Are you also dreaming of a better world? Join us the fourth Thursday of every month at 6 p.m.; find our location on social media.
Shelby Branch
Athens
Political Undesirables
As we watch the current administration’s dismantling of American ideals and democracy, the true intent of this government becomes more and more clear. In order to “purify the blood“ of our nation, the goal is to eliminate undesirables. It begins with deporting illegal immigrants, but goes well beyond that in fact. It slowly morphs into deporting legal immigrants and even naturalized U.S. citizens. The ultimate goal is to ensure the disappearance of millions of undesirables. Unlike what happened in Nazi Germany, the use of gas chambers and firing squads isn’t necessary. Today the president can liberally use the power of executive orders.
We see the government slashing programs that are designed to aid the poor, the elderly, the sick, the infirm, the unhoused, veterans and those who are hungry. Education is now denounced, considered to be radical and dangerous, while vital medical and scientific research is curtailed and criticized.
The billionaires are creating an economic environment where they can get rich, while impoverishing tens of millions of Americans by having the government deliberately crash the economy, wiping out the life savings of millions of Americans, and threatening to cut safety net programs that we have paid into, such as Social Security. Much of this is being done in the name of rooting out fraud, waste and abuse in government, but upon closer inspection much of it is being done in the name of retaliation against personal enemies and out of a purely mean spirit.
Initiating policies that are designed to make life harder and more expensive for everyone, the billionaires are determined to eliminate anyone who is unlike them or disagrees with them. They are hoping that all of these people will just die off. And to help them along in that direction, they are implementing their plan of abandoning, disenfranchising and silencing.
When we see actions and policies that are designed to alienate our longtime allies in a movement toward befriending our longtime foes we have to wonder whether there isn’t a push on to start World War III? A march toward full-blown treason on a mass scale.
The goal of this slash and burn process is to divide and demoralize the citizenry, to make them acquiescent and apathetic so that our leaders can continue to pillage without interference. Some will fall into despair. Many will accept and capitulate. But others will speak out to defend our rights and our nation from tyrants. Normally we would turn toward our elected representatives for guidance and action, but sadly, they seem to be either incapable of a response or complicit in the conspiracy to destroy America. Every day we see actions bordering on unconstitutional with no response from what should be the system of checks and balances. Unfettered by the law, an American dictator is being created. Where do you stand?
Matt Alexander
Athens
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