Latest news with #CivilRightsActof
San Francisco Chronicle
26-04-2025
- Politics
- San Francisco Chronicle
Trump's attack on diversity takes center stage as Boston remembers 1965 Freedom Rally led by MLK
BOSTON (AP) — As a Black teenager growing up in Boston, Wayne Lucas vividly remembers joining some 20,000 people to hear the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. speak out against the city's segregated school system and the entrenched poverty in poor communities. Sixty years on, Lucas will be back on the Boston Common on Saturday to celebrate the anniversary of what became known as the 1965 Freedom Rally. This time, though, Lucas expects much of the focus will be on President Donald Trump and concerns that the commander-in-chief is exploiting divisions and fears about race and immigration. 'There's different forms of, how do we say it, racism and also I have to include fascism, what's going on in this country,' said Lucas, a social activist and retired postal worker who was standing on the Boston Common near the site of 20-foot-high (6-meter) memorial to racial equity, 'The Embrace,' where the rally will be held. The rally will be preceded by a march mostly along the route taken to the Boston Common in 1965 and feature up to 125 different organizations. 'People gotta be aware and say something." he continued. 'We can grumble (and) stuff like that, but we need to take part and do something." 1965 protest brings civil rights movement to the Northeast The original protest rally in 1965 brought the civil rights movement to the Northeast, a place King knew well from his time earning a doctorate in theology from Boston University and serving as assistant minister at the city's Twelfth Baptist Church. It was also the place he met his wife, Coretta Scott King, who earned a degree in music education from the New England Conservatory. In his speech, King told the crowd that he returned to Boston not to condemn the city but to encourage its leaders to do better at a time when Black leaders were fighting to desegregate the schools and housing and working to improve economic opportunities for Black residents. King also implored Boston to become a leader that other cities like New York and Chicago could follow in conducting 'the creative experiments in the abolition of ghettos.' 'It would be demagogic and dishonest for me to say that Boston is a Birmingham, or to equate Massachusetts with Mississippi,' he told the crowd. 'But it would be morally irresponsible were I to remain blind to the threat to liberty, the denial of opportunity, and the crippling poverty that we face in some sections of this community.' Rally followed Civil Rights Act signing in 1964 The Boston rally happened after President Lyndon Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and months ahead of the enactment of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 signed in August. King and other civil rights movement leaders had just come off the Selma to Montgomery march in Alabama, also referred to as Blood Sunday, weeks before the Boston rally. The civil rights icon also was successful in the 1963 Birmingham campaign prompting the end of legalized racial segregation in the Alabama city, and eventually throughout the nation. This time in Boston, King's eldest son, Martin Luther King III, will be the keynote speaker. He and other speakers are expected to touch on some of the same issues that have plagued communities of color for decades including the need for good jobs, decent health care and affordable housing. DEI comes under threat by Trump administration His visit also comes at a time when the Trump administration is waging war on diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives in government, schools and businesses around the country, including in Massachusetts. Since his Jan. 20 inauguration, Trump has banned diversity initiatives across the federal government. The administration has launched investigations of colleges — public and private — that it accuses of discriminating against white and Asian students with race-conscious admissions programs intended to address historic inequities in access for Black students. The Defense Department at one point temporarily removed training videos recognizing the Tuskegee Airmen and an online biography of Jackie Robinson. In February, Trump fired Air Force Gen. CQ Brown Jr., a champion of racial diversity in the military, as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Brown, in the wake of Floyd's killing, had spoken publicly about his experiences as a Black man, and was only the second Black general to serve as chairman. The administration has fired diversity officers across government, curtailed some agencies' celebrations of Black History Month and terminated grants and contracts for projects ranging from planting trees in disadvantaged communities to studying achievement gaps in American schools. Trump also wants to force changes at the Smithsonian Institution with an executive order targeting funding for programs that advance 'divisive narratives' and 'improper ideology." Massachusetts also impacted The efforts also impact Massachusetts. The state has pushed back against threats from the Trump administration to cut funding if the state doesn't comply with an Education Department order to certify local school systems' compliance with a race-neutral interpretation of civil rights laws. The Museum of African American History in Boston also announced earlier this month that a $500,000 federal grant received last year has been terminated. 'Make no mistake, these efforts are designed to marginalize and destabilize the Museum of African American History, and African American public history institutions like us," the museum wrote in a statement. 'We are all in danger of being erased.' Martin Luther King III told The Associated Press that the attacks on diversity make little sense, noting, 'We cannot move forward without understanding what happened in the past." 'It doesn't mean that it's about blaming people. It's not about collective guilt. It's about collective responsibility,' he continued. 'How do we become better? Well, we appreciate everything that helped us to get to where we are. Diversity hasn't hurt the country.' King said opponents of diversity have floated an uninformed narrative that unqualified people of color are taking jobs from white people, when the reality is they have long been denied opportunities they deserve. 'I don't know if white people understand this, but Black people are tolerant,' he said. 'From knee-high to a grasshopper, you have to be five times better than your white colleague. And that's how we prepare ourselves. So it's never a matter of unqualified, it's a matter of being excluded.' Imari Paris Jeffries, the president and CEO of Embrace Boston, which along with the city is putting on the rally, said the event is a chance to remind people that elements of the 'promissory note' King referred to in his 'I Have A Dream' speech remain "out of reach' for many people. 'We're having a conversation about democracy. This is the promissory note — public education, public housing, public health, access to public art,' Paris Jeffries said. "All of these things are a part of democracy. Those are the things that are actually being threatened right now.'
Yahoo
26-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Trump's attack on diversity takes center stage as Boston remembers 1965 Freedom Rally led by MLK
BOSTON (AP) — As a Black teenager growing up in Boston, Wayne Lucas vividly remembers joining some 20,000 people to hear the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. speak out against the city's segregated school system and the entrenched poverty in poor communities. Sixty years on, Lucas will be back on the Boston Common on Saturday to celebrate the anniversary of what became known as the 1965 Freedom Rally. This time, though, Lucas expects much of the focus will be on President Donald Trump and concerns that the commander-in-chief is exploiting divisions and fears about race and immigration. 'There's different forms of, how do we say it, racism and also I have to include fascism, what's going on in this country,' said Lucas, a social activist and retired postal worker who was standing on the Boston Common near the site of 20-foot-high (6-meter) memorial to racial equity, 'The Embrace,' where the rally will be held. The rally will be preceded by a march mostly along the route taken to the Boston Common in 1965 and feature up to 125 different organizations. 'People gotta be aware and say something." he continued. 'We can grumble (and) stuff like that, but we need to take part and do something." 1965 protest brings civil rights movement to the Northeast The original protest rally in 1965 brought the civil rights movement to the Northeast, a place King knew well from his time earning a doctorate in theology from Boston University and serving as assistant minister at the city's Twelfth Baptist Church. It was also the place he met his wife, Coretta Scott King, who earned a degree in music education from the New England Conservatory. In his speech, King told the crowd that he returned to Boston not to condemn the city but to encourage its leaders to do better at a time when Black leaders were fighting to desegregate the schools and housing and working to improve economic opportunities for Black residents. King also implored Boston to become a leader that other cities like New York and Chicago could follow in conducting 'the creative experiments in the abolition of ghettos.' 'It would be demagogic and dishonest for me to say that Boston is a Birmingham, or to equate Massachusetts with Mississippi,' he told the crowd. 'But it would be morally irresponsible were I to remain blind to the threat to liberty, the denial of opportunity, and the crippling poverty that we face in some sections of this community.' Rally followed Civil Rights Act signing in 1964 The Boston rally happened after President Lyndon Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and months ahead of the enactment of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 signed in August. King and other civil rights movement leaders had just come off the Selma to Montgomery march in Alabama, also referred to as Blood Sunday, weeks before the Boston rally. The civil rights icon also was successful in the 1963 Birmingham campaign prompting the end of legalized racial segregation in the Alabama city, and eventually throughout the nation. This time in Boston, King's eldest son, Martin Luther King III, will be the keynote speaker. He and other speakers are expected to touch on some of the same issues that have plagued communities of color for decades including the need for good jobs, decent health care and affordable housing. DEI comes under threat by Trump administration His visit also comes at a time when the Trump administration is waging war on diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives in government, schools and businesses around the country, including in Massachusetts. Since his Jan. 20 inauguration, Trump has banned diversity initiatives across the federal government. The administration has launched investigations of colleges — public and private — that it accuses of discriminating against white and Asian students with race-conscious admissions programs intended to address historic inequities in access for Black students. The Defense Department at one point temporarily removed training videos recognizing the Tuskegee Airmen and an online biography of Jackie Robinson. In February, Trump fired Air Force Gen. CQ Brown Jr., a champion of racial diversity in the military, as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Brown, in the wake of Floyd's killing, had spoken publicly about his experiences as a Black man, and was only the second Black general to serve as chairman. The administration has fired diversity officers across government, curtailed some agencies' celebrations of Black History Month and terminated grants and contracts for projects ranging from planting trees in disadvantaged communities to studying achievement gaps in American schools. Trump also wants to force changes at the Smithsonian Institution with an executive order targeting funding for programs that advance 'divisive narratives' and 'improper ideology." Massachusetts also impacted The efforts also impact Massachusetts. The state has pushed back against threats from the Trump administration to cut funding if the state doesn't comply with an Education Department order to certify local school systems' compliance with a race-neutral interpretation of civil rights laws. The Museum of African American History in Boston also announced earlier this month that a $500,000 federal grant received last year has been terminated. 'Make no mistake, these efforts are designed to marginalize and destabilize the Museum of African American History, and African American public history institutions like us," the museum wrote in a statement. 'We are all in danger of being erased.' Martin Luther King III told The Associated Press that the attacks on diversity make little sense, noting, 'We cannot move forward without understanding what happened in the past." 'It doesn't mean that it's about blaming people. It's not about collective guilt. It's about collective responsibility,' he continued. 'How do we become better? Well, we appreciate everything that helped us to get to where we are. Diversity hasn't hurt the country.' King said opponents of diversity have floated an uninformed narrative that unqualified people of color are taking jobs from white people, when the reality is they have long been denied opportunities they deserve. 'I don't know if white people understand this, but Black people are tolerant,' he said. 'From knee-high to a grasshopper, you have to be five times better than your white colleague. And that's how we prepare ourselves. So it's never a matter of unqualified, it's a matter of being excluded.' Imari Paris Jeffries, the president and CEO of Embrace Boston, which along with the city is putting on the rally, said the event is a chance to remind people that elements of the 'promissory note' King referred to in his 'I Have A Dream' speech remain "out of reach' for many people. 'We're having a conversation about democracy. This is the promissory note — public education, public housing, public health, access to public art,' Paris Jeffries said. "All of these things are a part of democracy. Those are the things that are actually being threatened right now.'
Winnipeg Free Press
26-04-2025
- Politics
- Winnipeg Free Press
Trump's attack on diversity takes center stage as Boston remembers 1965 Freedom Rally led by MLK
BOSTON (AP) — As a Black teenager growing up in Boston, Wayne Lucas vividly remembers joining some 20,000 people to hear the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. speak out against the city's segregated school system and the entrenched poverty in poor communities. Sixty years on, Lucas will be back on the Boston Common on Saturday to celebrate the anniversary of what became known as the 1965 Freedom Rally. This time, though, Lucas expects much of the focus will be on President Donald Trump and concerns that the commander-in-chief is exploiting divisions and fears about race and immigration. 'There's different forms of, how do we say it, racism and also I have to include fascism, what's going on in this country,' said Lucas, a social activist and retired postal worker who was standing on the Boston Common near the site of 20-foot-high (6-meter) memorial to racial equity, 'The Embrace,' where the rally will be held. The rally will be preceded by a march mostly along the route taken to the Boston Common in 1965 and feature up to 125 different organizations. 'People gotta be aware and say something.' he continued. 'We can grumble (and) stuff like that, but we need to take part and do something.' 1965 protest brings civil rights movement to the Northeast The original protest rally in 1965 brought the civil rights movement to the Northeast, a place King knew well from his time earning a doctorate in theology from Boston University and serving as assistant minister at the city's Twelfth Baptist Church. It was also the place he met his wife, Coretta Scott King, who earned a degree in music education from the New England Conservatory. In his speech, King told the crowd that he returned to Boston not to condemn the city but to encourage its leaders to do better at a time when Black leaders were fighting to desegregate the schools and housing and working to improve economic opportunities for Black residents. King also implored Boston to become a leader that other cities like New York and Chicago could follow in conducting 'the creative experiments in the abolition of ghettos.' 'It would be demagogic and dishonest for me to say that Boston is a Birmingham, or to equate Massachusetts with Mississippi,' he told the crowd. 'But it would be morally irresponsible were I to remain blind to the threat to liberty, the denial of opportunity, and the crippling poverty that we face in some sections of this community.' Rally followed Civil Rights Act signing in 1964 The Boston rally happened after President Lyndon Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and months ahead of the enactment of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 signed in August. King and other civil rights movement leaders had just come off the Selma to Montgomery march in Alabama, also referred to as Blood Sunday, weeks before the Boston rally. The civil rights icon also was successful in the 1963 Birmingham campaign prompting the end of legalized racial segregation in the Alabama city, and eventually throughout the nation. This time in Boston, King's eldest son, Martin Luther King III, will be the keynote speaker. He and other speakers are expected to touch on some of the same issues that have plagued communities of color for decades including the need for good jobs, decent health care and affordable housing. DEI comes under threat by Trump administration His visit also comes at a time when the Trump administration is waging war on diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives in government, schools and businesses around the country, including in Massachusetts. Since his Jan. 20 inauguration, Trump has banned diversity initiatives across the federal government. The administration has launched investigations of colleges — public and private — that it accuses of discriminating against white and Asian students with race-conscious admissions programs intended to address historic inequities in access for Black students. The Defense Department at one point temporarily removed training videos recognizing the Tuskegee Airmen and an online biography of Jackie Robinson. In February, Trump fired Air Force Gen. CQ Brown Jr., a champion of racial diversity in the military, as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Brown, in the wake of Floyd's killing, had spoken publicly about his experiences as a Black man, and was only the second Black general to serve as chairman. The administration has fired diversity officers across government, curtailed some agencies' celebrations of Black History Month and terminated grants and contracts for projects ranging from planting trees in disadvantaged communities to studying achievement gaps in American schools. Trump also wants to force changes at the Smithsonian Institution with an executive order targeting funding for programs that advance 'divisive narratives' and 'improper ideology.' Massachusetts also impacted The efforts also impact Massachusetts. The state has pushed back against threats from the Trump administration to cut funding if the state doesn't comply with an Education Department order to certify local school systems' compliance with a race-neutral interpretation of civil rights laws. The Museum of African American History in Boston also announced earlier this month that a $500,000 federal grant received last year has been terminated. 'Make no mistake, these efforts are designed to marginalize and destabilize the Museum of African American History, and African American public history institutions like us,' the museum wrote in a statement. 'We are all in danger of being erased.' Martin Luther King III told The Associated Press that the attacks on diversity make little sense, noting, 'We cannot move forward without understanding what happened in the past.' During Elections Get campaign news, insight, analysis and commentary delivered to your inbox during Canada's 2025 election. 'It doesn't mean that it's about blaming people. It's not about collective guilt. It's about collective responsibility,' he continued. 'How do we become better? Well, we appreciate everything that helped us to get to where we are. Diversity hasn't hurt the country.' King said opponents of diversity have floated an uninformed narrative that unqualified people of color are taking jobs from white people, when the reality is they have long been denied opportunities they deserve. 'I don't know if white people understand this, but Black people are tolerant,' he said. 'From knee-high to a grasshopper, you have to be five times better than your white colleague. And that's how we prepare ourselves. So it's never a matter of unqualified, it's a matter of being excluded.' Imari Paris Jeffries, the president and CEO of Embrace Boston, which along with the city is putting on the rally, said the event is a chance to remind people that elements of the 'promissory note' King referred to in his 'I Have A Dream' speech remain 'out of reach' for many people. 'We're having a conversation about democracy. This is the promissory note — public education, public housing, public health, access to public art,' Paris Jeffries said. 'All of these things are a part of democracy. Those are the things that are actually being threatened right now.'
Associated Press
26-04-2025
- Politics
- Associated Press
Trump's attack on diversity takes center stage as Boston remembers 1965 Freedom Rally led by MLK
BOSTON (AP) — As a Black teenager growing up in Boston, Wayne Lucas vividly remembers joining some 20,000 people to hear the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. speak out against the city's segregated school system and the entrenched poverty in poor communities. Sixty years on, Lucas will be back on the Boston Common on Saturday to celebrate the anniversary of what became known as the 1965 Freedom Rally. This time, though, Lucas expects much of the focus will be on President Donald Trump and concerns that the commander-in-chief is exploiting divisions and fears about race and immigration. 'There's different forms of, how do we say it, racism and also I have to include fascism, what's going on in this country,' said Lucas, a social activist and retired postal worker who was standing on the Boston Common near the site of 20-foot-high (6-meter) memorial to racial equity, 'The Embrace,' where the rally will be held. The rally will be preceded by a march mostly along the route taken to the Boston Common in 1965 and feature up to 125 different organizations. 'People gotta be aware and say something.' he continued. 'We can grumble (and) stuff like that, but we need to take part and do something.' 1965 protest brings civil rights movement to the Northeast The original protest rally in 1965 brought the civil rights movement to the Northeast, a place King knew well from his time earning a doctorate in theology from Boston University and serving as assistant minister at the city's Twelfth Baptist Church. It was also the place he met his wife, Coretta Scott King, who earned a degree in music education from the New England Conservatory. In his speech, King told the crowd that he returned to Boston not to condemn the city but to encourage its leaders to do better at a time when Black leaders were fighting to desegregate the schools and housing and working to improve economic opportunities for Black residents. King also implored Boston to become a leader that other cities like New York and Chicago could follow in conducting 'the creative experiments in the abolition of ghettos.' 'It would be demagogic and dishonest for me to say that Boston is a Birmingham, or to equate Massachusetts with Mississippi,' he told the crowd. 'But it would be morally irresponsible were I to remain blind to the threat to liberty, the denial of opportunity, and the crippling poverty that we face in some sections of this community.' Rally followed Civil Rights Act signing in 1964 The Boston rally happened after President Lyndon Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and months ahead of the enactment of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 signed in August. King and other civil rights movement leaders had just come off the Selma to Montgomery march in Alabama, also referred to as Blood Sunday, weeks before the Boston rally. The civil rights icon also was successful in the 1963 Birmingham campaign prompting the end of legalized racial segregation in the Alabama city, and eventually throughout the nation. This time in Boston, King's eldest son, Martin Luther King III, will be the keynote speaker. He and other speakers are expected to touch on some of the same issues that have plagued communities of color for decades including the need for good jobs, decent health care and affordable housing. DEI comes under threat by Trump administration His visit also comes at a time when the Trump administration is waging war on diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives in government, schools and businesses around the country, including in Massachusetts. Since his Jan. 20 inauguration, Trump has banned diversity initiatives across the federal government. The administration has launched investigations of colleges — public and private — that it accuses of discriminating against white and Asian students with race-conscious admissions programs intended to address historic inequities in access for Black students. The Defense Department at one point temporarily removed training videos recognizing the Tuskegee Airmen and an online biography of Jackie Robinson. In February, Trump fired Air Force Gen. CQ Brown Jr., a champion of racial diversity in the military, as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Brown, in the wake of Floyd's killing, had spoken publicly about his experiences as a Black man, and was only the second Black general to serve as chairman. The administration has fired diversity officers across government, curtailed some agencies' celebrations of Black History Month and terminated grants and contracts for projects ranging from planting trees in disadvantaged communities to studying achievement gaps in American schools. Trump also wants to force changes at the Smithsonian Institution with an executive order targeting funding for programs that advance 'divisive narratives' and 'improper ideology.' Massachusetts also impacted The efforts also impact Massachusetts. The state has pushed back against threats from the Trump administration to cut funding if the state doesn't comply with an Education Department order to certify local school systems' compliance with a race-neutral interpretation of civil rights laws. The Museum of African American History in Boston also announced earlier this month that a $500,000 federal grant received last year has been terminated. 'Make no mistake, these efforts are designed to marginalize and destabilize the Museum of African American History, and African American public history institutions like us,' the museum wrote in a statement. 'We are all in danger of being erased.' Martin Luther King III told The Associated Press that the attacks on diversity make little sense, noting, 'We cannot move forward without understanding what happened in the past.' 'It doesn't mean that it's about blaming people. It's not about collective guilt. It's about collective responsibility,' he continued. 'How do we become better? Well, we appreciate everything that helped us to get to where we are. Diversity hasn't hurt the country.' King said opponents of diversity have floated an uninformed narrative that unqualified people of color are taking jobs from white people, when the reality is they have long been denied opportunities they deserve. 'I don't know if white people understand this, but Black people are tolerant,' he said. 'From knee-high to a grasshopper, you have to be five times better than your white colleague. And that's how we prepare ourselves. So it's never a matter of unqualified, it's a matter of being excluded.' Imari Paris Jeffries, the president and CEO of Embrace Boston, which along with the city is putting on the rally, said the event is a chance to remind people that elements of the 'promissory note' King referred to in his 'I Have A Dream' speech remain 'out of reach' for many people. 'We're having a conversation about democracy. This is the promissory note — public education, public housing, public health, access to public art,' Paris Jeffries said. 'All of these things are a part of democracy. Those are the things that are actually being threatened right now.'
Yahoo
16-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Is Cory Booker the Fighter Democrats Have Been Waiting For?
When Sen. Cory Booker took to the Senate floor for a marathon 25-hour speech earlier this month, he didn't just break records — he grabbed the nation's attention. The New Jersey Democrat's historic stand set a new benchmark for the longest continuous speech in Senate history. Could it become a rallying cry in his party's growing resistance to President Donald Trump's flood of executive orders? For frustrated Democrats, the timing couldn't have been better. The party's base, simmering over what they viewed as a timid response to Trump's agenda, found in Booker the fighter they'd been waiting for — and the response was swift. Some clips of the speech pulled in over a million likes. And for Booker's longtime supporters, it felt like poetic justice: He shattered a nearly 70-year-old record set by the late segregationist Sen. Strom Thurmond, who had once used a marathon speech of his own to protest the Civil Rights Act of 1957. 'The Democratic base and Democratic voters are looking for fighters,' leftist strategist Raj Goyle told Katie Couric Media. 'They realize so much is under assault right now — and what Cory did was effectively meet that moment.' Republican strategist Jeanette Hoffman offered a similar take from the other side of the aisle. '[Booker] is framing himself as a fighter and a reformer, and I think that's what people want from the Democratic Party right now.' That headline-grabbing speech wasn't the first time Booker drew public attention for an unconventional approach. The year after he won a 1998 runoff election for a seat on Newark's city council, he launched a 10-day hunger strike, camping out in a tent at a housing project to draw attention to rampant drug dealing. But his latest round of activism didn't stop at the Senate floor. He's taken a version of his record-breaking speech on the road, appearing at town hall meetings in New Jersey and, more recently, Arizona. It's part of a broader Democratic push to engage directly with voters — particularly in red districts — on issues like the economy and affordability. 'Town halls and listening tours are our chance to cut past the headlines and sound bites,' said Jonae Wartel, a partner at political consulting firm Arc Initiatives. 'They allow us to really hear people and understand what they're concerned about in this moment.' Now, whispers of another White House run are growing louder for the New Jersey senator. In his first presidential bid, during the 2020 race, Booker campaigned on a message of unity but struggled to gain traction, hampered by sluggish fundraising and single-digit polling. But could the odds be shifting in his favor? An unofficial 'Cory Booker for President 2028' webpage has already surfaced, fueling the speculation. He's also climbing in early primary polling, coming in second behind former Vice President Kamala Harris with 11 percent support. 'People have looked at Cory Booker for quite some time,' Sara Sadhwani, an assistant professor of politics at Pomona College, tells Katie Couric Media. 'Even if you go back to 2016, there was chatter about whether or not he would make a good vice presidential pick along with Hillary Clinton.' Still, Goyle urged caution, warning that it's far too early to draw conclusions. 'Frankly, we're only now getting our sea legs' in Trump's second term, he said. Others echoed that sentiment — Wartel noted that Booker's move is just the beginning of what could be a long journey for Democrats as they work to define their path forward. 'The Democratic Party has a lot of work to do to regain its footing with voters,' she said. 'That means real soul-searching — and making sure we're prioritizing listening to both the people who turned out in this election and those who stayed home.' Even if Booker doesn't end up running for president again, the strategists we spoke to agree that his Senate floor speech injected much-needed momentum into a Democratic Party still reeling from losses of the White House and both chambers of Congress. The very next day, liberal candidate Susan Crawford decisively defeated conservative Brad Schimel for a seat on the Wisconsin Supreme Court in a race that was closely watched around the nation. And while Republicans held onto two House seats in Florida, Democrats nonetheless outperformed expectations. Booker also isn't the only one drumming up Democratic enthusiasm. Progressives like Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez have been touring the country, speaking directly to communities about Trump's policies. According to Sanders's communications director, Anna Bahr, the pair drew a crowd of 36,000 in Los Angeles alone — and they've even attracted big turnouts in deep-red states like Idaho, where more than 12,000 people showed up. Sadhwani believes Ocasio-Cortez, Sanders, and Booker represent specific sectors of the Democratic Party — ideological divides that could come to a head before the next presidential election, or even as soon as next year's midterms. 'AOC and Cory Booker represent different wings of the Democratic Party,' she said. 'So there will need to be a reckoning between those factions by the time we get to 2028.' While Wartel acknowledged those internal differences, she emphasized that what matters most is that Sanders, Ocasio-Cortez, and Booker are working to reconnect with voters. 'It's less about factions and more about the unifying message behind these concerns over what the Trump administration is doing,' she said. 'This isn't just a progressive issue or a moderate one — it's an American one.' The post Is Cory Booker the Fighter Democrats Have Been Waiting For? appeared first on Katie Couric Media.
