Lately I’ve been thinking about the quote by Martin Niemöller that begins, “First they came for….” Niemöller, who didn’t initially speak out against Nazi Germany, wrote this in 1946 as a confessional. Now, facing the possibility of a second Trump presidency, it feels like a cautionary tale.
Women’s reproductive rights are already under attack, and if Project 2025 happens, I fear we may lose other long-established rights, such as accessing birth control or even voting. Immigrants, people of color, transgender people, and the separation of church and state are also under attack, but it likely won’t stop there. All this worries me, but I’m also encouraged by remembering Maine in 1924, when those in Biddeford blocked the Ku Klux Klan.
Remember this history come November. Speak up by voting for those who will preserve our freedoms and push back against hatred. Speak now, while we still can.
Erica Bartlett
Portland
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