Channeling Our Fury Into Power
Watch first. Then read. Then act.
“The vote is the most powerful nonviolent tool we have.” — Congressman John R. Lewis
Dear Sisters,
We need to talk — not just about the Supreme Court, but about how you are doing right now. In your body. In your spirit. In that place where you have been holding things that are getting heavier by the day.
WE CAN sees you. I see you. You are angry. I am angry. And if anger isn’t the appropriate emotion for what is going on right now, I don’t know what is.
Speaking Truth to Power
Gaslighting is one of the ways they try to keep us unsettled and distracted. There’s no gaslighting the very real actions taken by the Supreme Court on April 29, 2026, when it issued its ruling in Louisiana v. Callais — gutting Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 in a 6-3 decision. Civil rights leaders are calling it one of the most devastating setbacks to voting rights since Reconstruction. Justice Kagan’s dissent warned that the ruling has “laid the groundwork for the largest reduction in minority representation since the era following Reconstruction.”
If you were screaming at the TV and were as mad as hot grease at a fish fry when you saw the breaking news announcement and felt something rise up in you that feeling has a name.
That is righteous anger. It is not a flaw. It is not weakness. It is the voice of ancestors who bled and marched and died for a right this Court has spent twenty years methodically dismantling.
You are not too much. The situation is too much. And there is a difference.
The Truth About What Happens When We Swallow It
We — Black women and women of color — have been trained since girlhood to absorb pain without complaint. To carry weight without acknowledgment. To be strong when we are shattered.
And Sisters — that has a cost.
I was a grad student at the University of Michigan School of Public Health when research was just beginning to document the concept of weathering — the premature aging of Black women’s bodies caused by cumulative racial and social stress. When we push anger down and carry on with grace and composure, that anger doesn’t disappear. It metabolizes and metastasizes into anxiety, hypertension, sleeplessness, and a spiritual depletion that no amount of rest seems to fix.
We have watched too many Sisters burn out completely — not because they were weak, but because they were never given permission to be human.
Your anger is valid. Your grief is valid. Your exhaustion is valid.
WE CAN is asking you to do something countercultural: feel it fully, name it clearly, and then decide — on your own terms — what to do with it. Because anger transformed rather than suppressed becomes fuel. It becomes strategy. It becomes the sustained, purposeful power this moment requires.
Rest and Revolution — Both. Always. Together.
There is a false choice being presented to women of color right now: You can rest, or you can fight. Pick one.
We MUST reject that false choice. It’s a lie!
Audre Lorde knew that self-care for Black women is not a luxury or a retreat. It is — in her own words — an act of political warfare. A movement that burns through its people is not a movement. It is a fire that eats itself.
“Caring for myself is not self-indulgence. It is self-preservation, and that is an act of political warfare.” — Audre Lorde
Rest is not surrender. Rest is strategy.
The Sisters who carried this movement before us understood this. Fannie Lou Hamer sang — even in the jailhouse. Ella Baker laughed, and cultivated joy on purpose. Harriet Tubman prayed, every step, every night. They tended to the physical body and their hearts and minds because they knew they could not be effective otherwise.
You are the vehicle. Take care of yourself.
This week, sit with these questions:
- What restores me? When did I last do that thing on purpose?
- Am I in this struggle in a way I can sustain — or am I running on fumes?
What Congress Can Do — And Your Right To Tell Them
Congress has the constitutional authority to restore and strengthen the Voting Rights Act. The John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act (H.R. 14 / S. 2523) is before Congress now. To honor Congressman Lewis and so many others for their sacrifices, we MUST work to grow support for this important legislation that would:
- Restore preclearance — requiring jurisdictions with histories of voting discrimination to get federal approval before changing election laws
- Update the coverage formula the Supreme Court struck down in Shelby County v. Holder (2013)
- Strengthen Section 2 so voters can challenge discriminatory maps in court
- Require 180-day public notice before voting law changes take effect
- Expand federal observer authority to protect voters on Election Day
Your elected representatives work for you. You have the right — and the civic responsibility — to tell them where you stand, ask them where they stand, and hold them accountable.
That is not righteous anger without direction. That is democracy in action.
THREE WAYS TO MAKE YOUR VOICE HEARD 📣
📞 STEP 1: CALL YOUR MEMBER OF CONGRESS
Calls are tallied. Positions are noted. You don’t have to be an expert — just a constituent with something to say.
Congressional switchboard: 📞 1-202-224-3121 (connects to any member’s office) Find your rep: https://live.cicerodata.com/
Share your concerns about the ruling. Ask where your member stands. Speak from your own life and experience. Log your call and share it with #NameYourVote.
✍️ STEP 2: SEND A LETTER — IN YOUR OWN WORDS
We’ve prepared a letter you can personalize and send directly to your representatives. You can add to the letter and make it reflect your own story and beliefs.
👉 Click https://tinyurl.com/WECANJLVRAA to send your letter(s)!
📬 STEP 3: SHARE YOUR VOICE ON SOCIAL MEDIA
Share why voting rights matter to you. Ask your members publicly where they stand. Tag us: @womensequity — we will amplify you.
Hashtags: #NameYourVote #JohnLewisVotingRightsAct #JLVRAA #WeCanMD #GoodTrouble #RestAndRevolution
🏛️FOR OUR MARYLAND COMMUNITY
Senator Chris Van Hollen: 📞 (301) 322-6560 Senator Angela Alsobrooks: 📞 (301) 322-6560 Rep. Glenn Ivey (MD-4): 📞 (301) 773-4522 Rep. Kweisi Mfume (MD-7): 📞 (410) 685-9199 Capitol Switchboard (any member): 📞 202-224-3121
YOUR CIVIC ACTION CHECKLIST
| Action | How |
| 📞 Call Congress | 1-202-224-3121 |
| ✍️ Send an Action Letter | https://tinyurl.com/WECANJLVRAA |
| 📱 Post on Social Media | #NameYourVote #WeCan |
| 💛 Rest on Purpose | You know what restores you. Do that. |
Do one thing this week. Just one. Then rest. Then come back and do one more. That is the rhythm. That is the revolution.
John Lewis called it good trouble. We call it the only way through.
WE CAN — and we will — together.
In solidarity,
Dr. Stephanie, WE CAN Founder/President