This weekend, I joined over 20 thousand others in Atlanta for the Hands Off march – a peaceful demonstration in defense of democracy. We gathered at Piedmont Park and marched three miles south along Peachtree Road to Liberty Plaza, right next to the Georgia State Capitol. Along the way, the crowd was calm, determined, and unified in its message: hands off our democracy, our rights, and the institutions that protect them.
The message couldn’t come at a more critical time.
The U.S. Constitution creates a system of checks and balances – three branches of government that are meant to push and pull against each other to prevent any one from dominating. But that system only works when each branch actually tries to do its job. When Congress, for example, gives up its role as a check on the executive, the balance starts to fall apart. That’s exactly what we’re seeing now. Republicans in Congress have largely surrendered their power, going along with whatever Trump wants. By refusing to object to outrageous behavior, they’ve made themselves irrelevant. A branch that won’t stand up doesn’t balance anything – it just goes along for the ride.
But democracy isn’t completely broken yet. As long as people show up, speak out, and protest peacefully, the system still has a chance. That’s what this march was about: showing that the public is paying attention, and we’re not okay with where things are heading.
Elon and Trump are moving fast – and that’s the point. The speed isn’t a mistake; it’s a strategy. Whether it’s gutting institutions, making reckless policy moves, or amplifying disinformation, the goal is to overwhelm the system before it can react. We’ve seen this with Trump’s attacks on the DOJ and courts, and with Elon’s gutting of Twitter (now X), turning it into a megaphone for chaos and conspiracy. They’re not just making miscalculations – they’re undermining public trust, disabling regulatory safeguards, and sabotaging agencies that were designed to serve the public. We need stronger oversight, real accountability, and ironclad protections for privacy and democratic norms before these damage-doers blow past the point of repair.
The Constitution gives us a framework, but it doesn’t enforce itself. If elected officials won’t do their jobs, then we have to do ours. Peacefully. Consistently. Before it’s too late.
