Can We Build a New Populist Movement? (Letter 6)
From Despair to Defiance: Building a Movement Rooted in Fairness, Truth, and the Will to Win
This is the last in a six-letter exchange between Lukium, author of The American Manifesto, and Lady Libertie of The American Pamphleteer.
Last Letter:
Dear Lady Libertie,
If your last letter was a torch, then consider this one a bonfire.
You’re right—the movement isn’t coming. It’s already here. And it didn’t wait for a permission slip from Washington.
It rose with millions across the country in the HandsOff protests. It’s alive in city squares, union halls, college campuses, church basements, group chats, and Discord servers. It’s marching, organizing, confronting power—and proving, with every step, that the people are still the heartbeat of this democracy.
But protest is only the first step.
It’s great to be heard—but those hellbent on turning the American Dream into the American Nightmare will not simply cede the power they’ve captured through decades of corruption and collusion. So long as they remain in charge, nothing will change.
No—we must do better than be heard.
We must do better than protest.
We must take back that power—so that government may once again be of the people, by the people, and for the people.
That means seeking out, today, the people with the courage, conviction, and commitment to lead tomorrow—and lifting them up:
Into neighborhood councils and school boards.
Into courtrooms and city halls.
Into local media, college provost offices, and chambers of commerce.
Into state legislatures, governors’ mansions, the federal bench, Congress, and yes—eventually, the White House.
Because this time, we’re not just going to build back what’s been broken.
No, this time we’re laying down a foundation so strong, no amount of greed, bigotry, or demagoguery will ever scratch it again.
And as we do that, we must reach across the divide—not to those leading the fascist charge, but to those caught in its current.
To our brothers and sisters who’ve been disillusioned—whether by decades of broken promises, by economic despair, or by culture-war propaganda—we say this:
The people who sold you that nightmare are the real enemy.
Stand with us—and let’s dismantle their grip on our future.
We’re not here to tell you what to believe—we’re here to show you what can be built, together.
Not a fantasy of the past, but a future worthy of the country we were promised and the people we’ve always been.
And here’s the truth: we don’t need a hero.
We need a wave.
A million leaders rising from the ground up.
So let this morning be your moment.
Don’t scroll past. Don’t say “someday.”
Join something—today.
Find your local chapter of Indivisible. Or 50501. Or the group that’s doing the real work in your community. Join them—and bring your fire with you.
Don’t just show up just to protest.
Show up to build.
Show up to find the leaders of tomorrow—and to become one.
Because the wishful “hope.”
Makers do.
And we’re not here to dream about the future anymore.
We’re here to make it happen—together, today.
Onward,
Lukium
The American Manifesto