This article is a part of Left Out: The Missing Election narratives, a collection of unreported histories by publications inside of the Movement Media Alliance.
In the spirit of collaboration that these times demand, In These Times, The Forge, Convergence and The Real News Network have joined forces to produce “Left Out: The Missing Election Narratives.” This package brings together essays, reporting and conversations by and with organizers, writers and cultural workers across the country. All of our outlets belong to the Movement Media Alliance, and we offer this collection in the name of movement journalism, knowing that no one will tell our stories for us. No one will honor the hard work of organizing and rigorously examine our challenges and blunders, our successes and progress. Lost in the froth over the national election were major local wins and worthy efforts. Beyond the immediate results there are always lessons learned, perspectives and connections built, and those are the stories we’re here to tell. With this sampling of voices, we’re hinting at the many ways we can respond, push back and build. All have their place and necessity. Our job is to understand how they relate and pick up the right tool for the moment. Tell our stories to each other and slingshot them around the world. Refuse to believe the shifts we’re seeing will ruin us. At the 2023 People Get Ready 4 Conference, scholar, activist and writer Barbara Ransby counseled that we need to both defend against the fascist threat and build a radically democratic, anti-capitalist future. “The will to change is a material force. … We should not lose confidence in our agency,” she said. It’s even truer today. —MARCY REIN, CONVERGENCE
Writer Jia Tolentino describes how digital media exploits our longings for connection to encase us in personalized feeds that keep us locked in a solitary world. “Algorithmic entombments,” the writer Jenny Odell calls it. Cracks in those entombments emerged during the 2024 election. Many of us looked at the popular vote and wrestled with the question of “Who close to us voted for Trump?” Whether it was the Latinos voting conservative, the white women opposing abortion, the creep of fascism or the insidiousness of antiBlackness and misogyny, a ripple of shock hit many voters as the full spectrum of the world was brought to light. As the fractures of November 5 splinter outward, it felt crucial to gather the stories that were left off the timeline. As journalists, we went out to find the missing pieces. We see what occurred as data to hold and reorganize to better understand the core values and needs of the American public. We refuse to allow corporate media to tell the only story of what got us here. As collectors of history, we take pride in the fractures and refuse the isolating idea that resistance isn’t worth it. It always is, and it always will be. — CLARISSA BROOKS, THE FORGE
Uncertainty was the one constant in 2024, despite pundits now claiming our present was always our future. This collaboration attempts to recall 2024 as it actually unfolded, not as a story of inevitability, but of individuals who cared deeply, who grappled with the way forward. On these pages, we tell their stories, from a Palestinian American in Michigan (page 8) to a pro-abortion doorknocker in Arizona (page 12) to a union get-out-the-vote effort in Pennsylvania (page 20) to a young voter turning the page on the Obama era (page 15). Looking ahead, the weight of uncertainty can feel crushing (see In Conversation, page 4). What we know for sure is that 2025 will not be 2017, and 2028 will not be 2024. There’s strange comfort in that. Uncertainty is frightening, but it is also possibility. — JESSICA STITES, IN THESE TIMES
