Members of the MVA Community,
January 6th, 2021 was a moment that will live in the minds and memories of all who were alive to witness it. A stunning image of violence aimed at preventing the hard fought progress and change that the American people had demanded unfolded on the steps of our nation’s capital. The sheer brutality of that day wouldn’t be known until much later but the impact of the insurrectionist violence will be felt by the American people for generations to come.
Those who intended to overturn the will of the American people that day didn’t just attack a building, they attacked our democracy and our freedoms and threatened our republic.
This attack wasn’t about a stolen election, it was the physical manifestation of white supremacy losing its power.
The minority veteran community is acutely aware of how the violence at the capitol lives on in our local communities and of the fact that a few thousand rioters in DC are just the tip of the proverbial iceberg of hate that exists in our country and in our laws. After all, minority veterans have been the target of hatefully motivated and identity-based violence throughout history.
This violence and these attacks have never stopped minority veterans from leading the fight for our rights and for our values, today is no different.
Minority veterans have served as the torch bearers of the fight for a brighter future both in and out of uniform throughout history – it is our community’s legacy. It can be seen in the bravery of veterans like Maceo Snipes who was the only Black person to cast his ballot in Taylor County, Georgia on July 17, 1946 and was lynched just one day later for it. It can be seen in the actions of Isaiah Nixon who defied threats of violence to vote in the 1948 Georgia Democratic primary and was murdered in his front yard in front of his wife and six children just hours later. It can be seen in the life of civil rights leader Medgar Evans who fought to end segregation in Mississippi after returning from service after World War II and was assassinated in 1963 at the young age of just 37 years old.
Minority Veterans of America, like many other organizations and communities, exists because of those who came before us. We are a part of a community who have pledged their lives to democracy and all it represents and who are willing to die for those ideals. This insurrection attempted to dismantle and disregard the blood, sweat, and tears of our predecessors – but we are still here. We understand that we are the torchbearers of our democracy.
Though we are tired, it is our time to take that torch. This violent attack is a call to action for us all. Over the last five years, MVA has worked to build a foundation – a community for us to call home. Now is the time to mobilize our base and get active in our communities. We must make our voices heard at the polls, in our state and local legislatures, and in Congress. While we have seen the power and resilience of minority veterans during and after the insurrection, we face very real threats to our rights in the coming years. The thing they fear most is an organized base and community power among those they’d prefer to remain voiceless.
We are the momentum keeping the fires of democracy burning. We will continue to fight, we will continue to organize, and we will directly confront any threat to the equitable systems and the just world that we dream of. We will honor our community’s legacy through action and a renewed resolve to the fights ahead.
In the coming year, you can expect information regarding how to get involved in the fight for voting rights in your state and nationally as well as tangible ways you can mobilize your neighbors, community, and locality to make your voices known in the upcoming elections. This is how we will continue to combat hate and usher in a new world for the next generation.
Please stay safe, stay healthy, and keep fighting. I’ll see you out there soon.
In solidarity,
Lindsay Church (they/them)
Executive Director