After leading last year’s attacks on our public libraries, Commissioner Anthony Allen now wants to chair the Anderson County Library Board — the very institution he tried to undermine. If selected, he would control the meeting agendas, lead discussions, and steer the future of our libraries. This isn’t about good governance. It’s about power and control. We have two chances to stop this — and the first is July 10.

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.