2020 will be a year that none of us will forget. Looking back at all that has happened in our communities, across our state, and throughout the nation, we remember the countless moments that took our collective breath away. We’ve existed in crisis mode as the relentless events of the past year have exposed deep rooted problems, exacerbated inequities, and shown us just how divided we have become.

Fortunately, amidst the chaos there have also been moments of awakening and hope as people came together in common cause to make a change. The crises brought the clarity and urgency to stand up and address what’s broken and shined a light on the importance and effectiveness of organizing.

At home and across the country, we saw examples of ordinary people getting involved in organizing; from local mutual aid groups to innovative get-out-the-vote efforts that resulted in recordbreaking voter turnout.

As you read through the articles in this issue of the Clarion, I hope you will be both inspired and invited to act in the many ways our Alliance continues to organize for positive change right here in our West Slope communities. For even more inspiration, I lift up the words and wisdom of Amanda Gorman, the nation’s first-ever National Youth Poet Laureate, in the final lines of her poem, “The Hill We Climb” that she read at this year’s inauguration ceremony:

We will rebuild, reconcile and recover
and every known nook of our nation and
every corner called our country,
our people diverse and beautiful will emerge,
battered and beautiful.
When day comes we step out of the shade,
aflame and unafraid,
The new dawn blooms as we free it.
For there is always light,
if only we’re brave enough to see it.
If only we’re brave enough to be it.