The Power We Ignore: Why Community Action Is Our Best Defense Against Trump’s Authoritarian Agenda

When Donald Trump won the presidency in 2016, Candace Silver was just sixteen. She volunteered tirelessly for democracy, canvassing and phonebanking, but couldn’t vote. Fast forward to 2024: she’s still fighting, now alongside her eighty-year-old grandfather, yet the country has slipped further backwards. Trump’s administration, emboldened by plans like Project 2025, has unleashed a wave of authoritarian policies targeting women, people of color, and LGBTQ+ communities. The result? Billions cut from vital HIV programs, gender-affirming healthcare, housing assistance for LGBTQ+ and veterans, and mental health services — all while the president dismisses housing insecurity as unimportant.

Silver’s story is a wake-up call. The problem isn’t just bad leadership — it’s our misplaced faith in individualism over community. “Somewhere along our way, we focused too much on individualism instead of building community,” she says. This lack of collective action has left us vulnerable to the rollback of hard-won rights and protections. But Silver refuses to give up. She’s on the ground, empowering young people of color to run for office, organizing voter registration drives, and building networks of mutual aid. She knows progress is slow and setbacks are painful, but history shows that change happens when people come together.

The federal government, once a protector of rights and jobs, is now “hanging on by a thread,” with court battles providing only temporary relief. Trump’s cuts to federal programs have hit Black women hardest, shattering the myth of job security in government roles. Yet, Silver insists, the fight is not over. “There is strength in our struggle and power in making it through adversity,” she says. The path forward lies in talking to neighbors, volunteering, and joining forces in local politics and community organizations. Churches, mosques, and philanthropists are stepping up where government fails, proving that collective action can fill the gaps.

Silver’s experience is a blueprint for resistance in dark times. It reminds us that democracy isn’t just about elections or individual votes — it’s about the relationships and communities we build every day. The road ahead is tough, but the people before us paved the way by fighting together. Now it’s our turn to keep walking it, side by side. Only then can we hope to reverse the damage and reclaim our democracy from the grips of authoritarianism.