10.6 million less people voted than compared to 2020, and 2.6 million voted third party in the presidential race. Candidates who spoke out against apartheid secured their seats in Congress by wide margins. Millions of Americans have taken a stand against genocide, and we see the hope in this. Even though the outcome of the election has not matched our highest hopes for our country’s future, we hope that all who participated in the movement to Vote No Evil in the 2024 election found some comfort in this act of solidarity.

Given that both of the corporate sponsored candidates were bound to continue taking our country in the wrong direction, surrender was never an option. Yet, it is undeniably discouraging to see so many people voted for more of the same.

After a year of live streamed genocide, forced starvation, grief, displacement, and suffering. Even after bearing witness to all that, many embraced and gleefully voted for Trump. Albeit less than the numbers that voted for him when he lost in 2020, but still. Our country was founded on the genocide of Indigenous Americans and built by the labor of enslaved African Americans. It is very hard to accept that many people still knowingly embrace and glorify this tragic history, rather than view it with shame. We had hoped the U.S. electorate was ready to show up on the right side of history in this election but, undeniably, many people sympathize with colonizers in 2024, and are committed to continuing U.S. support for apartheid, mass displacement, and genocide.

Millions of other voters found justifications to cast their votes for a candidate who is part of the administration that is actively supporting and perpetrating a genocide right now, still to this day. They were promised nothing, and are now reaping nothing. If that’s not a wake up call, perhaps nothing will be. Our highest hopes were for electing different leadership, not this.

There is much to grieve, after the year we’ve witnessed and the outcome of this election, it is a healthy and rational response. Yet we must not despair. Let’s offer each other a bit of extra grace and space in this moment. As we search for our footing, and then steady ourselves for the fight ahead, let’s find ways to come together and cultivate our hopes.

As we prepare for this next season, let’s remain uncompromising and steadfast in our commitment to divest from and boycott apartheid states. We must not only take but also collectively support direct actions by sheltering and caring for those who the system seeks to punish for standing against genocide. This will mean building many small, local, decentralized systems of care, and helping to provide for each others’ material needs. It will mean careful planning, legal and bail support, and sponsoring anonymous actions that can help keep each other free from the carceral systems’ grip.

We all feel called to plant ourselves firmly on the right side of history and are preparing to do what we must. If we all continue doing our small part, we will inevitably change our country’s course. We are committed to not surrendering, not abandoning ship, and not settling for the scraps this current system offers us while glorifying colonizers and funding mass death.

People who step away from the two-party merry-go-round of alternating corporate-funded fascist political leaders do so at different times and for different reasons. We imagine this moment is that moment for many. We’re here for the long haul and we are in it to force a permanent change. Look for future updates on our site to stay informed and join us in our next actions.  

We’re also leaving this petition open for all who decide to answer the call. Please consider sharing your experiences in this election by completing the anonymous poll on our site.

It has been a rough week. Let’s try to be a soft place for each other to land.

We hope you feel empowered to show up in these perilous times authentically and approach things differently, knowing you are not alone. It will take a sea of direct and creative targeted actions to end this genocide, and we’re not giving up. We’ve vowed to hold our leaders accountable, and we’ll keep protesting, and speaking up, and doing all we can to stop the bombs.

A better world is possible, and we’ll build it together for each other.

Sending you and yours much love as we carry on.

Thank you for taking a stand in solidarity,

Vote No Evil