Happy Friday!
I'll be back next week
The sun has set and the weekend is here. Instead of a comprehensive post on pluralism, I have 11 pages of notes and a head full of ideas. I’m going to give it time to settle—and I’ll be back next week with #7 of 10 in my series on DEI, Democracy, and Education: What about Pluralism?
For now, I will leave you with this week’s honorees for #CourageIsContagious:
This week I honor Neil Makhija and Jamila Winder, both Montgomery County Commissioners in Pennsylvania (just outside of Philadelphia) where I live. These two commissioners co-edited an article this week in the Philadelphia Inquirer, stating that Montgomery County will not deputize its officials as ICE agents. They root their statement in law, judicial precedent, and constitutional principle.
These two brave commissioners are hyper-local in their influence. They cannot change the federal government’s illegal mandates. But they can resist those mandates on legal grounds in their own community. They can uphold democracy with the power they have in the region they were elected to protect.
We go to the ballot box this Tuesday, May 20th in an off-season election that most people are likely unaware of. It is this Tuesday when we vote in local races, including for judges and commissioners like Jamila and Neil. I encourage you to take this Tuesday’s election seriously and recognize the tremendous power that local officials can have.
If we are to maintain democracy in the United States, it will be because of thousands of local officials who insist upon it--and are brave enough to stand up for it.
