For a year or more, our concern has been the future of the presidency; in particular, the question of whether Americans could actually re-elect Donald Trump, a convicted felon and fascist (the opinion of his former advisers) wordsnot just mine) who attempted to stage a violent coup when he lost his 2020 re-election bid. We now know how the majority of Americans feel, and we know what will happen. With President-elect Trump having secured a mandate, our priority in the near future must be to protect each other, recognize who is most vulnerable among us, and find strength in community.

This is the antithesis of what Trump and his wealthy backers like Elon Musk represent. Their vision of America is a top-down inversion of society in which rights and freedoms are granted to an untouchable class of overlords and stolen from women, racial minorities, and immigrants. So for the next four years or more, our guiding vision must be based on three essential elements: direct action, mutual aid and, as Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.) once said, centering the experiences of those who are “closest to the pain” as we work for a better world.

It’s a very good thing that Massachusetts voters gave State Auditor Diana DiZoglio the power to shine a light on our opaque, unresponsive and unproductive legislature, by vote “yes” to question 1— which asked voters to decide whether the auditor should be able to investigate our legislative branch. If we are to have any hope of protecting the Commonwealth from the most destructive and extractive policies unleashed by the Trump-Vance administration, we will need publicly accountable state leadership that can meet the moment. disastrous situation we find ourselves in. If House and Senate leaders oppose DiZoglio’s audits, then all of us who voted for the audits should be ready to fight back.

We cannot allow despair or grief to siphon our energy, because we are going to have to do a lot of grassroots mobilizing and lobbying over the next four years. By January, each of us should have the numbers of our senator and representative in our phone contact list, because we will be calling and stalking them regularly. We will urge them to use every lever of state power to save lives, because these are the issues of the moment. Under plans announced by Trump, immigrants, including asylum seekers, will be targeted for deportation. Women and LGBTQ+ people risk losing access to essential health services. And Trump will undoubtedly try to take away what few resources the poor and homeless currently have.

If our leaders prove incapable of doing this job, we must fire and replace them. This is no small feat in a state with some of the least competitive elections in America, but it’s part of the work we now share at the local level.

Local policies that strengthen the rights and lives of state residents are not something we can hope to see happen or maintain. Consider the recent speech by House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.). slide about Republicans pledging to destroy the Affordable Care Act if Trump wins. We can prepare now, by engaging with our state leaders and demanding a plan for what would happen if people with pre-existing conditions were suddenly stripped of their health coverage. This demand can be expressed at public meetings and in public assemblies, and in the streets if necessary, through emergency demonstrations in the places where our legislators operate.

Just as Americans mobilized at airports in 2017 when the Trump-Pence administration banned Muslim travelers from entering the United States, we must be prepared to bring that mobilization back to other places, like health centers. detention or police stations – in case Trump makes a good show. on his cruel promise to execute “the largest deportation in American history» – or in health care facilities in the event of a much-feared federal ban on abortions and other reproductive health services.