I rode the bus yesterday to a -count every-vote rally at Independence Mall in Philadelphia, when someone gave us the news-Joe Biden won Pennsylvania, the Electoral College, and the Presidency! People were honking their horns, hugging each other, and cheering. I got to the rally, it was more like a big block party, and did we celebrate! We deserve to celebrate our victory over trump and his minions, and all they represented. There was another big gathering down South Broad Street, down to Locust Street. There was still the rally at 12th and Arch streets, between the reading Terminal and the Convention Center, where the votes were being tallied; the trump freaks were still there, inside their little pen, venting.

We deserve to celebrate and congratulate ourselves for our victory-but after we recover from the hangover, let’s get to the real grassroots work of organizing workers, low-income people, communities of color, women, and LGBTQ+ people to advocate for their rights. The party lost some seats in the House, but there have been great progressive victories, with more LGBTQ+ people elected in congressional and state legislative seats, along with more Native American people elected to Congress.

Our opponents will be bullying and insulting to us; we now that from our experience with the Obama years, with the Tea Party AstroTurf “movement” financed by wealthy donors, which brought the racist fringe elements into the the Republican mainstream, with their verbal and physical violence and their willful ignorance. We should not turn the other cheek and tolerate it; like all other bullies, they understand nothing but brute force. Let’s not hesitate to stand up for our rights.

You know trump will not surrender power gracefully, after his disgraceful regime; we must continue to organize against him while he and his demon brood are in the White House.

But for now, rejoice, Americans, at our victory-the world rejoices with us.