Hannah from PASU here with an important question:

What’s at stake for you this election? 

Last week, I had the opportunity to attend an organizer boot camp with Organizing Lab in Kansas City. I can’t say enough good things about them, and I learned so much that I can apply to my day-to-day community building. 

Growing up, I was the parentified child. I was forced to set a good example for and basically be a second mother to my brother. I quickly learned that my needs & feelings were inconvenient, unwelcome, and punishable. I wasn’t allowed to have negative or nuanced feelings or emotions, and that’s a recipe for the fear of and discomfort with vulnerability that I have today.

That shows up in my organizing in a negative way. Because I wasn’t able to be vulnerable with myself or others for so long, I didn’t fully understand my stake in our work, and that means I can’t explain it to others. So how will anyone else understand their own stake? How can I encourage others to dig deep & uncover their own self-interest if I can’t identify, explain, and ground my work in my own? 

My coach at the training explained the power of vulnerability as a practice. Vulnerability makes us stronger and ultimately more powerful. When I level with you about my own experiences and what’s at stake for me, it’s a lot easier and more comfortable for you to dig into why it’s important to you, too. Practicing vulnerability is like strengthening a muscle. The more you do it, the easier and more comfortable you get. So I’m committing to vulnerability as a practice and a way to show up in my power, starting with this newsletter.

I do this work because I want, for myself and my community, to have autonomy, agency, safety, & the resources we need to thrive free from financial insecurity. I want to be able to get an abortion if I need one. I want to be able to move in with my partner one day without fear that we’ll be discriminated against for our queerness. I hope to get married one day. I want to be able to walk around any town holding hands with my girlfriend without fearing for our safety. I want to live comfortably without fearing that I won’t be able to afford or access the resources I need to thrive. I want to build the just and equal future that we all deserve together. My liberation is intertwined  with yours; it’s all connected. None of us are free until all of us are free, and that’s why I do this work. 

Even if it feels like an issue doesn’t affect you directly, it will. When the rich and powerful come for one group of working people, they come for all of us. They try to divide us in the hope that we won’t work together to build power, so they can continue to exploit us. We won’t let them. That’s why it’s so important to get involved, and vote in this November’s local & state elections! You can find all important dates related to the Fall 2025 election here.

With a hostile federal government, we recognize the need to protect and defend one another at the state and local levels. The November 4th Supreme Court of PA elections determine whether we retain judges who will protect and defend vital freedoms we have at the state level, such as tenants’ rights, abortion rights, voting rights, and many more. Their decisions impact all of us, our communities, and our entire state. They’re the last layer of protection we have when the Trump administration and the Supreme Court of the United States take away our rights and freedoms. 

I’m voting in this election because I know this may be my only chance at statewide queer civil rights and queer marriage rights. I’m voting to protect my right to reproductive freedom. I’m voting to further the long-term fight for collective liberation. I’m voting for my neighbors who can’t because we all deserve to live with safety, dignity, and the resources we need.

We won’t let the greedy billionaires and corporations pay for an election that works in their favor at the expense of working people like us. We have agency, and together, we have collective power. It’s up to each and every one of us to build that power together. Get involved today! Find your place in the fight by attending our Statewide mass call on Sunday, September 28, at 7 pm!

Will you join us in this fight for a PA that works for all of us?

In community, 

Hannah