Stay in the fight, join the class struggle
We must stand shoulder to shoulder against oppression and build a society that serves the many, not the few. This is not the time to stand down; our work begins now.
By ZACHARY SHREWSBURY
Most of you know me because I ran against Joe Manchin in the primary this year before he dropped out. I want to share a deeper story about how I got started in activism, and why I’m calling on all of you to reach out and organize. We need each other now more than ever. It’s time to build connections, dig in, and to work together in ways that go beyond any one election.
I started exploring socialist politics back in 2011, while I was still in the USMC. It was a wild time to figure out what I believed, but it gave me a foundation I never let go of. When my contract ended, I went looking for others who thought like I did. I was making buttons for Kshama Sawant in Seattle, selling newspapers like my life depended on it, showing up to protests, and trying to ignite something in everyone I met. I even started a socialist club at my college because I knew this struggle was bigger than me. I wanted to plant seeds that could grow and spread.
When I came back home to WV, I started paying attention to the problems I saw around me. I connected with local folks who wanted to help, who felt the same fire to build something that could make a real difference. Soon, I was organizing all over the state, driving from town to town, learning about the unique needs in each community, and connecting people who could support each other. I did it all in my spare time, behind the wheel of a beat-up 2001 Dodge Ram, working for $12 an hour in retail, the best I could find in WV. That old truck became my lifeline, my means of making real change happen.
Since then, this work has taken me all over: from passing out NARCAN in the coalfields of Appalachia, to organizing in Pittsburgh and Philly, feeding the unhoused, and making sure sex workers in Chattanooga had what they needed to survive. Everywhere I went, I talked about why the working class has to show up for each other, why we have to fight for each other, because we are all we’ve got.
You already know people in your area who share your values. Find them. Build something with them. We need to go beyond just voting every few years. Yes, supporting candidates can help, but we have to be out there, boots on the ground, standing up for those who are most at risk in this country. Go into your communities. Help your neighbors. And be unapologetic about where you stand. You don’t have to play nice or pretend that both sides are the same. I tell people exactly who is failing them. This isn’t about one election. It’s about standing up for the values that matter, without compromise.
There are so many talented people in Appalachia already doing this work keeping people alive, offering mutual aid, organizing for survival. Find them. Support them. Volunteer, share their posts, donate if you’re able, spread the word. This isn’t a competition, it’s a movement, and we’re only as strong as the network we build together.
We each have our own stories, our own paths, but if we want a working class movement that can stand in solidarity against the ultra-rich, against the racists, and against the authoritarians who’d love nothing more than to keep us divided, then we have to step up. This work doesn’t pause between election cycles. It’s relentless, and it’s going to take everything we’ve got.
We cannot stop fighting. We can’t. In the years ahead, we are going to see attempted persecution of marginalized communities. The working class will suffer. We will suffer, but we cannot let this result put a fire out. Use that emotion to ignite that flame instead. People are going to need us soon to be in the streets and organizing, training, defending. Stay in the fight.
Trump’s victory is devastating, and the roots of neo-fascism have pushed even deeper into the landscape of America. But while many are feeling discouraged, this is not the time to let fear silence us or stop us from fighting. This is the time to act.
Now more than ever, we must look to each other to join and build organizations that stand firmly on the left, to lean into our own power, and rise together against this growing threat. This election outcome is a battle cry, a call for us to organize, to strengthen our resolve, and to prepare ourselves for the fight ahead.
We have long known this system prioritizes profit over people, that it caters to the wealthy and powerful, leaving countless lives vulnerable. But as we stand on the precipice of this new era, it is on us to protect our communities; to look out for those most at risk: our undocumented friends, our marginalized neighbors, and everyone who now feels unsafe in the place they call home.
Together, we can build networks of mutual aid, solidarity, and community defense. Together, we will lay the foundation for a future rooted in justice and equality. Our strength lies in our unity, our shared struggle, and our unwavering commitment to collective action. This moment is what we on the left have prepared for. I know I have.
We must stand shoulder to shoulder against oppression and build a society that serves the many, not the few. This is not the time to stand down; our work begins now. Together, we become radicalized, we organize, we defend, we empower. We rise with unbreakable resolve for a just and equitable future.
If you want to learn how to organize, become an activist, run for office, or understand socialism, community defense, and more…. REACH OUT. Message me. We’ll build this movement one voice, one action, at a time, because in the end, all we truly have is each other.
Now’s the time you need to take this anger and join organizations like the Party for Socialism and Liberation, and learn how to organize and fight back. Do not waver in the face of fascism.
Solidarity, always. Join us in the class struggle.
—
Zachary Shrewsbury is a community organizer, former U.S. Senate candidate, and the executive director of BlueJay Rising.