This moment feels historic in so many ways. We have over 100 women elected to Congress for the first time. We have the first Muslim women in Congress, we have the first Native American women in Congress. We have the first openly LGBTQIA+ Congress member from Kansas and the first openly gay Governor. We have the youngest women ever to serve in Congress coming from Iowa and New York. There are barriers being broken, glass ceilings being shattered, and history being made. There is so much to celebrate.
But there is also so much more to do. Voting is a critical Constitutional right. It is a right that our ancestors fought for, bled for, and died for. But voting is the beginning, not the end. Voting is the starting gun signaling the beginning of a marathon where we must stay active and vigilant in protecting our rights and the rights of our neighbors. We voted for our representatives, now we must hold them accountable to the promises they made. We find the injustice and oppression around us and we work to uproot it. We find the hate in our country and we work to overwhelm it with love. We fight for the most vulnerable: for children, for survivors of violence, for the LGBTQIA+ community, for immigrants.
We have to live our lives every day with the same passion, courage, and conviction we felt as we cast our ballot. And then and only then will we see true change.
I’m Lynnea Erickson Laskowski and that’s my perspective.
