By Pious Ali
America is at a crossroads, pulled apart by division, fear, and extremism. The progress we fought for over decades is at risk. Rights are being stripped away, institutions of democracy are under siege, and too many citizens are left feeling voiceless and powerless. From immigrants and people of color to LGBTQ communities, women, children, elders, and people with disabilities, far too many of us are uncertain about our place in this nation and our future within it.
The gravest danger we face is being divided against one another. When African Americans push for racial justice, when immigrants work to build new lives, when Indigenous peoples fight to protect their sovereignty, or when Latinos and Asian Americans confront discrimination, they are often left to carry these struggles in isolation. LGBTQ communities, women, elders, children, and people with disabilities face barriers of their own, frequently siloed from one another. This separation is not accidental and has long served those who benefit from keeping us apart, weakening our ability to bring about change.
Our struggles are not separate. They are deeply interconnected. When voting rights are undermined, they affect African Americans, immigrants, Indigenous peoples, elders, and those with disabilities. When affordable housing slips further from reach, families from every racial and economic background suffer together. When LGBTQ individuals are singled out and attacked, the same structures of hate that fuels racism and xenophobia are at work. When schools fail for lack of resources, immigrant children, Black children, poor children, and children with disabilities carry the burden. And when climate change worsens, the weight is borne first and hardest by the working poor in both urban neighborhoods and rural towns.
No community can thrive in isolation. History teaches us this truth. The civil rights movement was victorious not because African Americans stood alone, but because they built coalitions with other groups too, including faith leaders, union workers, Jewish Americans, and students of every race. Together, they fought for and secured the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act, laying the foundation for a broader democracy.
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The victories of that movement also transformed immigration. The Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 dismantled discriminatory quotas that had shut out many communities, opening the door to immigrants from Africa and Asia. My own journey as an African immigrant, now serving as an elected official, is one of the countless testaments to the power of those coalitions. Without them, I would not be here. For that, I carry immense gratitude.
It is time to rekindle that spirit of unity. African Americans, African immigrants, Latinos, Asian Americans, Indigenous peoples, LGBTQ people, women, children, people with disabilities, and working-class families must now stand shoulder to shoulder, not in competition, but in solidarity.
Divided, we are vulnerable. Together, we are powerful. United, we can ensure that the descendants of enslaved people do not continue to carry democracy’s greatest burdens alone, and we can give future generations a country that allows every child to reach their fullest potential. Nowhere is this call for unity more urgent than in relation to immigration.
Disturbing actions by federal authorities, including detaining legal immigrants in our communities, separating families, and at times denying individuals access to legal representation, threaten both families and the rule of law. These practices destabilize communities and create mistrust in government. America has always been strongest when it welcomed immigrants, when it celebrated diversity, and when it allowed newcomers to contribute their talents and hard work. Strength has never come from fear; it has always come from fairness and opportunity.
But none of these struggles can be won alone. We need allies. Businesses, institutions, faith communities, and ordinary citizens must join in. Just as the civil rights movement reached across divides, we must call upon all who believe in democracy and justice to stand with us. Allies have power, the power to amplify marginalized voices, to invest in leadership, and to resist policies designed to divide us.
The work of building a better America will not happen by chance. It requires a deliberate choice and an active commitment. It demands that across race, across class, across gender, and across identity, we choose to stand together instead of retreating into division.
The time has come. Let us choose unity over division. Let us choose courage over silence. And let us choose each other, for the sake of a better America.
The challenges before us are daunting. But if we come together as communities, as coalitions, and as allies, we can overcome division and build a nation in which every person, regardless of background, can flourish. That is not only possible, it is necessary.
Pious Ali is an immigrant advocate, Portland City Councilor, and founder of African Elected Leaders in America
