Following the U.S. presidential election, Cornel West wrote: “For us in these times, to even have hope is too abstract, too detached, too spectatorial. Instead we must be a hope, a participant and a force for good as we face this catastrophe.”
That’s what we have committed to do together: Be a hope.
And that hope is needed. Since the election, Trump has devastated millions of people’s lives and threatened the planet, all to expand corporate power. He’s ordered the largest rollback of environmental protections in the Environmental Protection Agency’s history, installed fossil fuel and finance executives to run our government, and moved to privatize public services so giant corporations can extract even more profit from our communities. We know that while Trump’s policies are extreme and enraging, they are the manifestation of a decades-long push to elevate corporate power.
That is what we are taking on together, by standing in the way of corporate destruction. We are not merely saying no to corporate abuse. We are saying yes to a world where all people can thrive where democracy reflects people’s needs and lives, not corporate interests.
This work has never been more challenging. But for 40 years, Corporate Accountability has achieved progress and victories that seemed impossible to many. Reining in Nestlé and the infant formula industry. Moving GE out of nuclear weapons. Securing precedent-setting international law that reins in transnational corporate power. The list is long.
The story of this organization is made up of a thousand moments where millions of people like you took action, made a gift, or spoke truth to power not because it was easy, and not because breakthrough seemed imminent, but because it was necessary, and it was strategic.
After the election, we drew strength from those moments, and stepped back to assess the situation. We determined we needed to build on all that we had accomplished to make even more happen, even more quickly, in even deeper partnership with our allies. That assessment led us to create a blueprint for transformation, one that would move our world from breakdown to breakthrough to flourishing. And every day, thousands of us take action to bring these plans into reality.
Every day, we build toward a world where everyone has safe, clean water. Where water privatization is no longer an option and policymakers invest in water for all. Every day, we build toward a world that moves beyond fossil fuels. Where the fossil fuel industry is no longer in control and we make a just transition to clean energy. Every day, we build toward a world where all people have access to food that nourishes them instead of making them sick. Where Big Tobacco can no longer addict people to its deadly products. And every day, we build toward a world full of people trained to move their communities to action. We build this world through the Corporate Accountability Action League, Network for Accountability of Tobacco Transnationals, Real Food Media, and other formal projects, coalitions, and partnerships.
The world continues to call on us to go beyond ourselves. To go beyond what we thought was possible yesterday and to do what is necessary today. We can do it, but only in partnership. Thank you for taking action — and doing so with us — here at the edge of transformation.
