Nearly 1,000 people lined the Oak Ridge Turnpike to defend something too many take for granted: the right to speak up when power goes unchecked. This was a response to fear. To intimidation. To Trump-style politics that treat dissent as disloyalty.

But East Tennessee showed otherwise.

When a resolution to support ICE’s 287(g) program quietly appeared on the Norris City Council agenda, the community didn’t stay quiet. They showed up, filled the room, and made it clear: not in our town. The result? A unanimous vote to remove the resolution from the agenda - and a powerful reminder of what happens when people pay attention.

We believe no one is powerless when we stand together. That’s why we’ve launched our Community Boost Form—a new way to amplify local efforts that lift up equity, justice, democracy, and community care. Because this work isn’t about credit, it’s about connection. Let’s build something that lasts—together.

It isn’t glamorous. It doesn’t happen all at once. It rarely earns headlines or hashtags. But the work we’re doing in Anderson County — the organizing, the listening, the relentless showing up — it’s moving something.
If you stop and feel the ground beneath you, and you notice a low, steady rumble…That movement you feel?
It’s us.

Here’s what they don’t want you to know: the government’s definition isn’t just DEI—it’s DEIA. That last letter stands for Accessibility.

And now, as Trump’s Education Department prepares for its final days under Linda McMahon, that “A” is being erased right along with everything else.