Today is a little different because I can’t do business as usual when Sen Cory Booker (NJ) spent his 56th birthday with House Minority Leader Rep Hakeem Jeffries (NY-08) holding a 12-hour sit-in on the steps of the Capitol.
So this is gonna be a list. A list of all the incredible people who spoke, politician or otherwise. Because every single one of their names matters, every single one of their stories matter, and I don’t want a single person who spoke today to not get the attention and praise they so rightfully deserve.
I hope seeing all these names in one place feels empowering.
It’s already 8:24, but maybe tomorrow I’ll go through and add their socials. So keep checking back.
In chronological order
Sen Chris Coons (DE)
Sen Angela Alsobrooks (MD)
National Education Association prez Rebecca Pringle
Rep Andre Carson (IN-07)
Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights CEO Maya Wiley
Former Prez of American Federation of Teachers, Randi Weingarten
George Washington University Dems showed up at this point
Every Person Run Club
Presbyterian Church (USA) Office of Public Witness director Jimmy Hawkins
Poor People’s Campaign co-chair Rev William Barber
Reproductive Freedom For All Mini Timmaraju
Sen Brian Schatz (HI)
Mom’s Rising Vice Prez Ruth Martin
Parent advocate Lindsay Latham
Rep Robin Kelly (IL-02)
Rep Gil Cisneros (CA-31)
Sen Amy Klobuchar (MN)
Food Research & Action Center (FRAC) director LaMonika Jones
New Jersey School Nutrition Association Public Policy Chair Sal Valenza
Alliance to End Hunger President Eric Mitchell
FRAC Interim Prez Crystal FitzSimons
Rep Gabe Amo (RI-01)
DNC’s People’s Cabinet Social Security Secretary Martin O’Malley
Little Lobbyists Founder Elena Hung
Sen Adam Schiff (CA)
Rep Marilyn Strickland (WA-10)
Rep Greg Landsman (OH-01)
Rep Maxine Dexter (OR-03)
Rep April Delaney (MD-06)
Unidos US President Janet Murguía
National Council of Churches COO Dr. Rev Leslie Copeland Tune
Rep Maxwell Frost (FL-10)
AFL-CIO President Liz Schuler
Legal Defense Fund Associate Director of Council Todd Cox
Rep Emily Randall (WA-06)
NAACP DC Prez Carmel Henry
Sen Rev Raphael Warnock (GA)
Sen Lisa Blunt Rochester (DE)
Rep Sarah Elfreth (MD-03)
The Nation’s Mosque Imam Talib Shareef
Rep Suhas Subramanyam (VA-10) who brought Booker vegan chicken wings for his birthday
Rep Steven Horsford (NV-04)
Rep Tom Suozzi (NY-03) just came back from the Pope’s funeral in Rome, as in this was his first stop after landing.
Rep Sarah McBride (DE)
Georgetown Center on Policy and Inequity Executive Director Lelaine Bigelow
Rep Sydney Kamlager Dove (CA-37)
Rep Laura Friedman (CA-30)
Rep Mark Takano (CA-39) apologized for being too dressed up, he had just come from the LGBTQ Victory Fund Gala
Rep Stacey Plaskett (Virgin Islands) had her daughter on FaceTime so she could show her that she was standing up even while scared.
American Conference of Cantors and Cantor at Beth El Hebrew Congregation Jason Kaufman and he led the crowd in one of my favorite songs Olam Chesed Yibaneh
Rep Rev Emanuel Cleaver (MO-05)
The Persist Network’s Nola Haynes, Suzanne Lambert, and Monique Pressley
Voters of Tomorrow founder Santiago Mayer
Reps Yassamin Ansari (AZ-03) and Jamie Raskin (MD-08) arrived too late to speak but they were there too
Moral Voices Choir Member, Catina Copeland Rosemond
Overall 7 Senators (Plus Booker) and 20 Reps (Plus Jeffries) spoke.
And this is just one of the many ways our Dems were fighting today, but it didn’t feel right to just treat it like business as usual.
I hope, if you didn’t watch, you at least take some time to listen to some of the speeches, you can’t go wrong with any of them.
And, pay attention to how many times they say “I’m here because my constituents keep calling” “I’m here because I need to show up for my constituents”
If you think for ANY reason your calls and emails and DMs and comments go unnoticed, think again.
If you made it to the end, comment with 🎤 (a microphone)
OUR voices are OUR superpower, but ONLY when we use them!
I was one of the first to arrive at 6:15am and stayed for a couple of hours. Quite fun to be a little part of that piece of history. Thank you for that list!
🎤 Thank you for doing this. I had no idea it was happening. Many of the same names keep showing up and I'm going to thank each of them. And seeing so many organizations show up is heartening. Especially the students - it sounds like they rushed right over as soon as they got wind of what was happening.