📢 Resist & Rising: Good News
Resist & Rising Good News for August 16, 2026: Voting Rights, Immigrant Due Process, Clean Energy, Reproductive Freedom, and Worker Power
March on Washington 2026 Updates:
Join Us for the March on Washington: Defend the Vote
You’re invited to stand with people from across the country at the March on Washington: Defend the Vote on Friday, August 28, 2026, at 8 AM ET at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C.
Hosted by Reverend Al Sharpton, the National Action Network, and the Drum Major Institute, and joined by Martin Luther King III and other civil rights leaders, this historic gathering will mark the 63rd anniversary of the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech.
📍Attend in person, 📺watch the virtual livestream, 🙋 volunteer, or become a 🤝 partner. We are not gathering simply to remember history—we are gathering to make it.
***Additional Bus information*** If you are interested in riding with a bus to the March on Washington, please complete the March on Washington Bus Interest Form so we can better understand where transportation is needed and help bring people power to Washington, D.C.
🗽 America at 250: Liberty, Justice, and Building Power to the People
Power belongs to the people — and together, we can make sure they hear us.
This moment belongs to all of us. Join us, stay connected, and help power the movement forward.
Your support — whether as a free subscriber, paid subscriber, or someone who gifts a subscription to others — helps us keep showing up, telling the truth, and holding leaders accountable to the will of the people.
Resist & Rising Together Weekly: Good News and Progress from the Resistance
Wins for Democracy
Federal judge blocks Trump’s mail-voting restrictions nationwide - A federal judge expanded an earlier injunction and blocked key parts of Trump’s executive order restricting mail voting across all 50 states ahead of the November midterms. This is a win for freedom over fascism because presidents do not get to rewrite election rules on the eve of an election, and millions of voters can continue relying on the mail without a last-minute federal roadblock. Axios
Court protects Mississippi’s only majority-Black judicial district - A federal court rejected an effort to stop DeSoto County’s majority-Black judicial subdistrict from being used in November, preserving the county’s only judicial district where Black voters have a meaningful opportunity to elect candidates of their choice. This is a win for freedom over fascism because democracy works only when communities have a fair chance to be heard and attempts to erase representation are challenged and stopped. ACLU
Reproductive Freedom for All
Federal judge blocks Idaho from punishing doctors for health-protecting abortions - A federal judge blocked Idaho officials from enforcing the state’s criminal abortion ban when a physician determines abortion care is necessary to protect a patient’s health or prevent death from self-harm. This is a win for reproductive freedom because patients should not have to deteriorate to the brink of death before doctors are legally allowed to provide the medical care they need. CBS2 Idaho News
Wins for Immigrant and Refugee Rights
Appeals court upholds bond-hearing rights for thousands detained by ICE - The First Circuit upheld a ruling finding that the Trump administration was unlawfully denying bond hearings to thousands of people arrested by ICE in New England, becoming the seventh federal appeals court to reject the administration’s detention theory. This is a win for immigrant rights because the government cannot simply lock people away indefinitely without giving them a chance to ask a judge for release while their immigration cases proceed. ACLU
Wins for Protecting Our Planet
Court forces the Pentagon to restart reviews of more than 100 wind projects - A federal court ordered the Defense Department to end its blanket freeze on wind-energy project reviews, reopening the process for more than 100 proposed projects representing roughly 46,000 megawatts of potential power generation. This is a win for our planet because clean-energy projects deserve lawful, project-by-project review instead of an across-the-board political blockade that keeps renewable power off the grid. Clean Air Task Force
Appeals court tosses approval for massive Gulf Coast oil export project - The Fifth Circuit threw out the federal government’s approval analysis for the proposed Texas GulfLink deepwater oil-export project, finding that regulators violated the Deepwater Port Act when approving it within the same application area as another port. This is a win for our planet because massive fossil-fuel infrastructure does not get a free pass around the law, and the ruling could force the developer to halt initial construction while the project’s future is reconsidered. E&E News
Wins for Labor Rights
NYC Ferry workers vote to form a union - Sixty-five marine diesel technicians and welders working on New York City’s ferry system voted to form a union with the Transport Workers Union, giving them a collective voice as they head toward negotiations for their first contract. This is a win for labor rights because when workers organize, they gain real power to demand fair wages, stronger benefits, safer workplaces, and dignity on the job. AFL-CIO
💥Your Power in Action: What You Can Do Today
The movement for freedom over fascism, progress, and power to the people starts here.
🫶🏿Take Action» Tell Congress to protect more than 350,000 Haitian refugees from deportation
📹 Take Action» Tell Congress to defund Flock’s totalitarian camera network
💵 Take Action» Tell Congress to deliver tariff refunds to working families
🧸 Take Action» Submit a public comment to stop the Trump administration from dismantling Head Start
✊ Take Action» Tell Congress to pass the resolution to protect voting rights
🌱 Take Action» Become a citizen co-sponsor of the Green New Deal for Health
Go Further
Volunteer to Help Protect Democracy
Support efforts to elect leaders who believe in safe, secure elections and who are committed to protecting democracy.Support Organizations Doing the Work
These groups are helping defend rights, freedoms, and democracy in communities across the country:
Why the Grassroots Resistance Can’t Wait
People Power United members believe change is possible because we have seen ordinary people rise, organize, and be a force for progress. Real change does not come from waiting politely, staying quiet, or hoping those in power suddenly grow a conscience. It comes when people speak out, show up, and demand action—because our communities and families cannot wait, and every moment we delay gives injustice more room to tighten its grip on our communities.
Thanks for taking action!
Power to the People
Today, we lift up the courage of the American people — the neighbors, workers, families, organizers, advocates, and everyday heroes who refuse to let fear have the final word.
Each week, Resist & Rising Together Weekly by People Power United shares proof that people power is alive and rising. These are stories of courage, creativity, solidarity, and collective action — people pushing back against fascism, defending democracy, protecting one another, and building the future we deserve. While authoritarians try to divide us, exhaust us, and silence us, we keep rising — community by community, courtroom by courtroom, picket line by picket line, and action by action.
From victories for voting rights and wins for workers to climate progress, reproductive freedom, immigrant justice, and acts of bold solidarity, this movement is sending a clear message: America belongs to the people — not kings, billionaires, extremists, or authoritarians.
Because resistance is not only about stopping harm. It is about choosing hope, building power, and moving forward together. We are writing the next chapter of American democracy — one act of people power at a time.
Together, we can defend our rights, freedoms, the rule of law, and democracy, hold leaders accountable to the people’s will, and inspire voters to make a meaningful difference.
People Power United champions freedom over fascism, progress over fear, and power to the people. We believe change is possible, and we do the work to make it happen. Join us to build people power.
Laurie Woodward Garcia
(paid with hugs and kisses, not bought by special interests)
Leader, People Power United
🗽 America at 250: Liberty, Justice, and Building Power to the People
This moment belongs to all of us. And I am asking you personally: join us, stay connected, and help power this movement forward.
People Power United does no fundraising. We have no corporate donors, no wealthy special interests, and no fancy paid communications team. We are powered by people — by members who read, share, comment, take action, call Congress, invite friends, and refuse to look away.
Your support — whether as a free subscriber, paid subscriber, or someone who gifts a subscription to others — helps us keep showing up, telling the truth, and holding leaders accountable to the will of the people.
Power belongs to the people — and together, we can make sure they hear us. Join us, stay connected, and help power the movement forward.
Not rise to finish the work. The work of defending democracy will never finish.
RISE TO CONTINUE THE WORK OF DEFENDING DEMOCRACY.
Trump's cowardly escape from danger on a smaller plane while dozens of people on AF1 were used as decoys is now, according to The Worst Person On Earth, an act of heroism on his part! He's now saying: "The plane I was on was much more likely to be attacked!" So I guess we all owe him a great big apology and should show our appreciation by buying his fake meme coin?