I’m calling for a revolution of consciousness from the top-down. 

By “revolution of consciousness,” I mean that those who hold the highest political, educational or corporate offices need to reckon with their actions and therefore consequences. Recently, there have been many instances where media sources have referred to a revolution in the streets, primarily due to the Black Lives Matter protests that have erupted across America. That being said, I believe revolution should not just take place in the streets, but also in the blood of our political system. However, you should know when I say revolution I mean reform. 

This “revolution” is indeed already happening in the streets. Grassroots organizing is the primary network that most effectively fights for social and community change and is often spearheaded by working class people who have been virtually forgotten by politicians. 

Therefore I propose a solution: we need to start holding our leaders accountable where they fall short. The revolution needs to happen in the committee rooms and executive offices of the highest political offices; in the school boards and administrative offices of schools and universities and in the largest corporations. It can no longer just be fought in the streets because the offices and boardrooms are where life-changing policies and decisions are made.  

New York City Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez spoke out regarding the repeated and relentless challenges she has faced as a Congresswoman in her first term that made her question whether or not to run for a second term. In an interview with the New York Times Nov. 7, Ocasio-Cortez explained that “It’s the incoming. It’s the stress. It’s the violence. It’s the lack of support from your own party. It’s your own party thinking you’re the enemy. When your own colleagues talk anonymously in the press and then turn around and say you’re bad because you actually append your name to your opinion.” 

Fresh blooded politicians like AOC who have not been seasoned, and refuse to be seasoned, by the “old way of doing things” are the ones fighting for the revolution in the highest offices of government, but they lack support in their work spaces. 

Another Congresswoman-elect who is spearheading the revolution in government offices is St. Louis Representative Cori Bush. Like AOC, Bush is fighting for real people like herself who have endured struggle after struggle. She is going to Congress with experience that is unparalleled to the wealthy representatives in office who are disconnected from their constituents. 

Bush has repeatedly tweeted about her experience saying on Dec. 2, “I’ve survived domestic abuse, sexual assault, police violence, and attempts on my life. Just like so many people across the country. Now I’m taking our stories to Congress. We’ve been through too much to let anyone or anything get in our way in our fight to bring us justice.” 

Representatives like Bush and Ocasio-Cortez, among many others, do not and have proven they will not act out of their own interests, but rather for those in their districts whether it be in the blue state of New York or the red state of Missouri. In a tweet Dec. 4, Bush dedicated her office to her constituents saying, “From being unhoused to finding our new office in the U.S. House. St. Louis, never forget — this office belongs to you.” 

I’m not saying that the revolution needs to stop happening in the streets. However, in order to guarantee that real, working class people everywhere in the United States are seen and heard in the most powerful and influential offices — we need to have a revolution in those spaces that now appear to be untouchable. 

We need to stop making excuses for the lack of progress that is being made, especially when it is desperately needed during a global pandemic. We are now over six months into this pandemic and everyday Americans are still struggling. According to journalist Francesca Mari in a Brown University report, more than 30 million people are in danger of losing their homes after the federal moratorium on eviction expires Dec. 31. 

Politicians, administrators and corporate executives are not gods. A revolution of consciousness would force them to come down from the clouds because real people are the ones who live in the streets, not in their imagination.