Intermixed with the important lawgivers of history in that marble frieze in the Supreme Court gallery are engraved winged personifications of "Peace," "The Rights of Man," "History," "Authority," "Fame," and more. Those winged characters form what looked to me like a Greco-Roman "choir of angels," proclaiming "law and order" at the expense of rights and dignity for us all.
Sitting there, I reflected on just who was not in that room listening to those arguments or forcing the Supreme Court justices to face the very lives impacted by their decision. I thought about all those who will never have access to that courtroom, or justice of any sort for that matter, the millions of people struggling to fight for their communities and a future where everybody is in and nobody is out.
Those people are -- or at least should be -- our hope. They are the true "choir of angels" who came out for the recent No Kings Day demonstrations and are standing up for the rights and dignity of communities all over the country. They are also the people who are increasingly giving Donald Trump historically low approval ratings. And here's the truth of these times: this administration has nothing to offer everyday people, other than hardened borders and wars that nobody wants.
At such a moment in history, a movement that connects the dots between our many struggles is certainly the way forward. Therefore, it seems fitting that the coalition that came together to fight this case and protect the rights of asylum seekers calls itself "No Turning Back." It reminds me of a song by Emma's Revolution that I've sung many times at protests and gatherings. Its key lines are a reminder of what we all need to keep in mind in this deeply disturbing Trumpian moment of ours:
"Gonna keep on moving forward
Keep on moving forward
Keep on moving forward
Never turning back
Never turning back"
Because indeed, there can be no turning back for any of us. Either we get there together or we never get there at all.
Copyright 2026 Liz Theoharis
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