"The time for all of us to speak up and join forces to protect each other is now"

In the words of the German pastor and theologian Martin Niemöller, who wrote:

“First, they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a socialist. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a trade unionist. Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—because I was not a Jew. Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.”

The words reflected his early complicity in Nazi Germany and later change of heart. It seems like an extreme example. But they are coming for the judges. And not just the judges. Already they have come for federal employees, transgender people, immigrants, lawyers, the press, epidemiologists, scientists, and more. The time for all of us to speak up and join forces to protect each other is now, before it is too late.

We’re in this together,

Joyce Vance