COLUMBIA, MISSOURI, USA — On a bitter January afternoon, hundreds of citizens crowded into a community room in this college town, their winter coats piled in corners, their breath still visible from the cold. They had come to weave their resistance to an administration about to take power in Washington – though inside, the atmosphere was anything but chilly.

“I took a drive into the woods looking for a piece of property where I could hide in a blue state,” former teacher and activist Jess Piper told the assembled crowd, describing her reaction to November’s election results. “But I drove back home to Missouri because this is what we have to do. We have to fight. We have to stay where we are.”

The scene was notable not just for its location – a progressive gathering in a conservative state – but for how it illuminated the intersecting crises facing America. Over several hours, speakers addressed issues ranging from housing inequality to healthcare access, from immigrant rights to international conflicts, crafting a portrait of a nation grappling with fundamental questions about democracy and human rights.

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To read the entire transcript of the rally, click HERE. To see the full video by @MizzouYDSA, click HERE.

Democracy and Resistance: No Place Left to Hide

Piper’s speech captured the mood of both desperation and determination. “People tell me all the time, you don’t belong in Missouri, you belong in California, you belong in New York. Well, where am I going to go now? They have got California, they have got New York,” she said, her voice rising. “This is the most important time that we have been alive.”

Drawing historical parallels, she compared current political dynamics to Confederate-era manipulation of poor whites during the US Civil War of the 1860s. “If you know your history, you know that poor white folks took up arms to fight on behalf of wealthy plantation owners. Who in their right mind would do that? They’re Trump voters, friends, the Confederates are Trump voters, that’s who these people are.”

She noted Missouri’s recent progressive victories – higher minimum wage and reproductive rights – were already under attack in the state legislature. “This time they know what they’re doing, and they’re going to start it on Tuesday,” she warned, urging resistance to anticipated policy changes. (Follow Jess Piper here)

Climate Crisis: Finding Hope in Action

The gathering opened with Carolyn Mathews acknowledging the Osage, Tonka, Omaha, and Kaw Nations whose ancestral lands they stood upon, her drum beating a slow rhythm through a moment of silence.

The rally’s focus shifted to environmental action as Carolyn Amparan, chair of the Mid-Missouri Group of the Sierra Club, took the microphone. “What I want to talk about first is hope, something that we might not very much be feeling today,” she began. “Hope is the idea that things could get better. We don’t know what the future holds, and because of that, our actions matter.”

Amparan painted a picture of climate change as a crisis that transcends political divisions. “No one wants the extreme weather disasters that are currently being experienced in our country. No one wants the future that the climate scientists are predicting if we don’t drastically reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the next decade,” she explained. “Some people, they may say they don’t believe it, but they don’t want it in any case.”

She connected climate change to every other issue raised at the rally: poverty, homelessness, healthcare, immigration. “Climate change makes poverty and homelessness worse. High insurance rates and more demand for air conditioning, plus illness, means universal health care is more critical,” she said. “Climate change is causing immigration. People are on the move because some areas have already been devastated by extreme weather.”

Despite the challenges, Amparan pointed to concrete victories. “Wind and solar supplied more power than coal in the U.S. last year,” she noted. “A generous 84% of American voters support expanding clean energy investments. And 65% are concerned about the effects of climate change in their communities.” She urged the crowd to support Columbia’s commitment to 100% renewable energy by 2035, demonstrating how local action could address global challenges. Sign up for Sierra Club action alerts at the national level HERE.

Songs of Resistance

Between speakers, local singer-songwriter Violet Vonder Haar and organizer of the Sovereign Singers, transformed the atmosphere with collective song. “Everybody can be a Sovereign Singer,” she announced, leading the ad-hoc choir and then the crowd in “Stand in My Power”: “I stand in my power, I own it with grace. In my darkest hour, I still know my place.”

The musical interludes of the group, which Violet organized as a community initiative in the days leading up to the rally, served as more than entertainment – they became poignant moments of community building and shared purpose. When Luke Jensen led call-and-response chants, the room thundered: “The people, united, will never be defeated!”

Global Justice, Local Impact

Fresh from visiting hospitals in Cairo, humanitarian aid worker, researcher and adjunct professor Rasha Abousalem brought international perspective to the gathering. “For 15 months, we have watched a genocide be live-streamed,” she said, describing Palestinian casualties in Gaza. Her critique of the recently announced ceasefire was scathing: “How dare we applaud after 15 months of hell? What are we celebrating exactly? Tens of thousands dead? Tens of thousands missing?”

She rejected what she called “crumbs” of temporary peace: “I want the walls of apartheid to crumble. I want the violent Israeli occupation to end. I want the colonization of my homeland to cease to exist.”

Healthcare: A Question of Rights

Dr. Robin Blake, a retired family physician, drew stark contrasts between American healthcare and international standards. “The World Health Organization recognizes that healthcare is a fundamental human right,” he said, his hands shaking slightly from a neurological condition. One of the activists stepped up to hold his microphone as the crowd urged him on. “But in the United States, healthcare is not a human right. It is a commodity.”

The statistics he presented were damning: $5 trillion spent annually on healthcare – nearly 18% of GDP and $3,000 more per person than any other nation – yet Americans face worse outcomes. “Having health insurance does not guarantee access to health care and does not necessarily protect you from serious financial and emotional harm,” he explained. Learn more about Physicians for a National Health Program, at Dr. Blake’s suggestion, HERE.

Dr. Brittany Fatoma, a perinatal doula, made these abstractions devastatingly personal. “Black women are four times more likely to die in giving birth or pregnancy-related issues within that first year,” she said, her voice breaking as she looked at her daughter in the front row. She shared the story of her niece Amari, whose mother showed clear signs of preeclampsia but received inadequate care. “The ambulance then and there, without even thought of how it might impact my brother and my sister-in-law, let them know that Amari was no longer with them.”

Housing Crisis: “One Missed Paycheck”

Housing activist Kinetta Crisp laid bare the mathematics of inequality in Middle America. Average rental rates in Columbia now reach $1,000 monthly, requiring wages of about $24 per hour – far above Missouri’s sub-$14 minimum wage. Even more challenging, landlords typically demand income three to five times the rent amount.

“Even with the federal government ensuring rent to some of these landlords, they are refusing to house those who are most in need,” Crisp said, describing how even federal housing vouchers are frequently rejected. When an audience member asked why landlords refuse vouchers, Crisp was direct: “They’re really just stereotyping these folks who need that government support.”

The Crisis of Militarism

Mark Haim, a veteran peace activist with the local nonprofit Peaceworks, connected local struggles to global militarism. “The United States spends an enormous sum on the military, almost a trillion dollars a year,” he explained. “$916 billion in 2023 – more than the next nine largest spenders combined.”

Leading the crowd in chants of “What do we want? Peace! When do we want it? Now!” Haim outlined how military spending undermines domestic programs. “Our tax dollars enrich the coffers of military contractors by leaving programs that improve our lives to go begging.”

Local Power, Global Vision

The politicians in Jefferson City might control the statehouse, as several speakers emphasized, but grassroots victories in Missouri were proving that local organizing still works.

“We can’t forget the reproductive justice fight that we fought. We can’t forget raising the minimum wage this past November. These victories don’t happen by accident – they happen because we work for them,” McKenzie Ortiz declared, her voice carrying the authority of someone who had been in these trenches. As communications director for Mid-Missouri Democratic Socialists of America, she wasn’t interested in abstract theory. “I am a lifelong poor person and someone who doesn’t own a car, and I make sure everyone knows about it. I show up to meetings. I let them know what it’s like being a pedestrian having to walk alongside snow sludge.”

Her focus on concrete action energized the room. “Economic justice is not limited just to policy. It’s about recognizing that our struggles are interconnected. Whether it’s housing, healthcare, climate justice, or racial justice, these are all intertwined struggles.” She emphasized the need for mutual aid alongside political action: “We need to be showing up for each other, doing mutual aid, and having each other’s back in this fight, because we can’t rely just on government, sadly. We have to rely on one another, too.”

Andrew Hutchinson, representing Laborers Local 955, offered practical strategies for resistance through workplace organizing. “Everything that folks are afraid of when it comes to their wages, their benefits, their working conditions – you do actually have the power to change it,” he said, describing recent organizing victories.

May Hall, a transgender activist, emphasized the urgency of local support networks. “The queer community at large, but especially the trans community – we’re in a rough spot,” she said. “The trans people in your life are going to rely on you, they’re going to rely on the people they know, and it is life or death whether or not you support them.”

As the afternoon wound down, the Sovereign Singers led one final song: “We shall be known by the company we keep… In this great yearning we shall learn to live in love.” The lyrics captured both the spirit of the gathering and its central message: that in preparing for difficult times ahead, building community might be the strongest form of resistance.

For these activists in America’s heartland, the challenges ahead are both local and global, immediate and long-term. Their response suggests that effective resistance might depend less on dramatic confrontations than on patient, persistent organizing at the community level – a lesson with relevance far beyond Missouri’s borders.

“Power panics in the face of sincerity,” May Hall had told the crowd. “And I haven’t seen a more sincere group of folks than the trans community. So we’ll get through this. We’ll make some very good art. We’ll have a good time. There will be a lot of good jokes, and we’ll love each other. But we have to remember that it can’t stop there.”

As the voices of the Sovereign Singers faded away, Jess Piper’s early words echoed through the room: “We have to fight. We have to stay where we are.” On this cold January afternoon in Missouri’s heartland, staying and fighting looked like this: hundreds of citizens joining voices in song, sharing strategies for survival, and weaving together the connections that might sustain them through the challenges ahead. They had come seeking direction for resistance; they left with something more valuable – a reminder that they weren’t fighting alone.