Why This Petition Exists

Governments speak with power. But in moments of crisis, it is the people who must speak with conscience.

This petition exists because the United States is undergoing a dangerous transformation. A presidency that governs by executive fiat, a Congress unwilling to check it, and a judiciary being reshaped to serve power—together form what our founders warned us about: the accumulation of all powers in the same hands.

But what the world sees on its screens is not the whole of who we are. The image projected by our government does not represent the voices of millions of Americans who have not given up on democracy, pluralism, or the rule of law.

This letter is not partisan. It is not a campaign. It is not a plea for charity or pity. It is a civic act of witness—and a moral call to international solidarity.

We are gathering signatures to show that the American conscience is not dead. That our republic, though wounded, still lives in us. And that we will not allow authoritarianism to speak in our name without reply.

By signing this petition, you affirm that the people of the United States still carry the ideals of liberty, justice, and human dignity—and that we are reaching across borders to say: we are still here.

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To Our Friends Across the Waters: A Message from the American People

Dear Friends,

I write to you as winter light breaks across the eastern seaboard and the rest of the nation sleeps. In quiet moments like these, the distance between us seems both vast and paper-thin. Your faces come to mind—memories of shared meals, passionate debates, and laughter that needed no translation.

The View from Here

You’ve seen our headlines. You’ve watched our political theater unfold on global stages. But headlines capture explosions, not foundations; they document fractures, not the quiet repair work happening in their wake.

The America I inhabit today exists in this tension—between what is breaking and what is being built. In college towns and farming communities, in urban neighborhoods and suburban cul-de-sacs, Americans are navigating a profound reckoning with who we are and who we aspire to be.

We feel the weight of this moment. When I walk through my neighborhood, conversations pause at the mention of politics. Old friends carefully test the waters before diving into once-casual topics. Parents debate what history their children should learn. These are not abstract concerns but lived realities that have transformed kitchen tables into battlegrounds of ideas.

Beneath the Surface

What foreign media often misses is happening in the spaces between headlines:

The retired conservative judge and young progressive activist finding unexpected common ground at a community forum on election integrity. The rural church opening its doors to shelter climate refugees. The high school students organizing across racial and economic lines to demand better mental health resources.

These moments won’t make international news. But they are as much America as any presidential speech or Supreme Court ruling.

Hard Truths

I won’t sugarcoat our reality. Our democracy faces its most serious stress test since the Civil War. Trust in institutions has eroded like coastal shorelines during storm surge. The gap between those thriving and those merely surviving has widened into a chasm that threatens to swallow our shared sense of possibility.

The wounds of our history—particularly our original sins of genocide and slavery—remain unhealed and raw. We have not fully reckoned with their legacy, and until we do, we cannot truly become the nation we claim to be.

But I reject both blind patriotism and cynical despair. The America worth fighting for has always existed more in aspiration than achievement, more in the streets than in the halls of power.

What We’re Learning

This crucible has taught us lessons written in scar tissue:

• That democracy is not an inheritance but a practice requiring daily renewal.
• That freedoms once taken for granted can dissolve like morning fog under the heat of fear.
• That plurality—our beautiful, maddening plurality—is both our greatest vulnerability and our greatest strength.
• That history is not a steady march forward but a contested territory where progress and regression battle continuously.
• Most importantly, that what happens here reverberates everywhere. When American democracy catches cold, global democracy develops pneumonia. We carry this responsibility not as a point of pride, but as a sobering reality.

My Request

I ask not for your pity—we have not earned that—nor for your uncritical support. Instead, I ask for your clear-eyed witness. Hold us accountable to our highest principles when we falter. Amplify the voices working toward justice when they’re drowned out by authoritarian thunder.

Remember that America contains multitudes. When you speak of “Americans,” know that you speak of the immigrant doctor working overtime in rural hospitals and the coal miner worried about his economic future. You speak of the teacher stocking her classroom with supplies bought from her modest salary and the organizer working to protect voting rights.

Share your own struggles toward democracy and justice. Your successes inspire us; your setbacks remind us we’re not alone in this difficult work.

Our Commitment

From across these waters, I promise you this: Many of us remain committed to building an America worthy of its promises. Not through blind allegiance to founding documents or leaders, but through the hard, daily work of creating a more just society.

We recognize the profound responsibility that comes with America’s global influence. Many of us are working tirelessly to ensure that our nation’s power serves humanitarian rather than imperial ends—that we become better neighbors and more thoughtful stewards of our shared planet.

The Bridge Between Us

In a world fragmented by algorithm and divided by fear, our human connections become radical acts of hope. Your friendship has been my window into worlds beyond my own, expanding my understanding of what’s possible.

There will come a time—soon, I hope—when we will again break bread together, when the theories we debate will give way to the simple pleasure of being in each other’s presence. Until then, let this letter serve as a bridge between us.

Whatever storms gather on our horizons, I believe in the power of these connections—not as sentimental comfort but as practical infrastructure for building a more just world. Not through grand declarations alone, but through the stubborn insistence that our shared humanity matters more than the borders between us.

With resolve and abiding friendship,
EA Mercer and signatories

P.S. When you think of America in the coming months, remember not just our power but our possibility. Remember not just our failures but our fierce determination to overcome them. And know that your voice, your perspective, your solidarity matters profoundly to those of us working toward a more perfect union.

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What We Hope to Achieve

• Gather 10,000+ signatures from across all 50 states.
• Send this letter abroad, translated and published in international media (The Guardian, Le Monde, El País, etc.).
• Demonstrate global solidarity, distinguishing the conscience of the people from the conduct of their government.
• Push back against normalization of tyranny, both at home and globally.

Share This Petition Twitter / Threads

I signed this letter from ordinary Americans to the world. We refuse to be represented by tyranny. We are still America.
✍️ Sign here: https://chng.it/nDR6C66DwX
#WeAreStillAmerica #DefendDemocracy #PeoplesLetter

Facebook / Instagram

In a time of executive overreach, the people are speaking. This open letter to the world says what our government won’t:
🇺🇸 We do not consent to tyranny.
✍️ Sign and share: https://chng.it/nDR6C66DwX
💬 “Let the tyrants fear their midnight. The people of the world are wide awake.”
#WeAreStillAmerica #OpenLetter #CivicSolidarity

Email to Friends & Family

Dear friends,

I’ve signed a civic letter addressed to the world—not from any party, but from the people. It’s a call to affirm our shared commitment to democracy, even when our institutions falter.

If you believe the soul of America is not defined by its rulers, but by its people, I invite you to sign it.

Sign here: https://chng.it/nDR6C66DwX

In hope and resolve,
[Your Name]