Karen Talentino and Barbara Dee are environmental and political activists working with a group of concerned citizens in South Portland to protect democracy and the common good.

A recent  op-ed in the Portland Press Herald by David Stein (“From the dreams of Dr. King to the nightmare that is Donald Trump,” Aug. 2) pleaded with us to “get back to the mountaintop,” as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. urged in 1963 — “not in memory, but in a movement to create a country that finally makes good on its promises.” We couldn’t agree more. It is past time that we challenge the current administration’s tsunami of daily unconstitutional, immoral injustices and cruelty.

We are watching the destruction of the American dream, both here and abroad, as masked ICE agents snatch innocent people off the streets and those in power dismantle our most precious institutions (Medicare, Social Security, education, health care, public broadcasting).

Add to that the outrageous gerrymandering in Texas; the partisan complicity of the Supreme Court; the explicit attack on the rights of women; the blatant censorship of literature, commentary and commentators; and the spectacle of a “president” decompensating before our eyes.

We are suffering under an arrogant president with fawning supporters; elitism, racism, sarcasm, retaliation and dishonesty rule in 2025. The Trump administration is violating the Constitution and Bill of Rights daily, and is destroying the United States’ financial, political, cultural, educational and humanitarian standing in the world.

We need to recall America’s history and respond in ways that echo past triumphs over kings and authoritarians. Remember, 250 years ago:

• Americans fought for the religious freedom that brought the Pilgrims here. The Constitution is clear on freedom of religious expression. But our current leaders are forcing their belief that America should be a purely Christian country.
• Other than Indigenous people, everyone was an immigrant or first-generation American. The 14th Amendment to the Constitution was ratified in 1868 to offer birthright citizenship and equal protection under the law to immigrants and slaves. ICE openly kidnaps and deports immigrants, refugees and anyone with “other” skin color, ethnicity, religious background, or culture, with total lack of due process despite the Fifth and 14th Amendments.
• Thomas Paine published his pamphlet “Common Sense,” calling for independence from England. Despite threats of treason, it dominated the news in an early example of freedom of the press —now protected under the First Amendment in the Bill of Rights. The truth matters to the Constitution. But in the United States today, lies and fabrications resonate from news sources controlled by capitulating and greedy publishing moguls.
• People spoke out boldly against British rule, risking potential injury and even death. The First Amendment to the Constitution now guarantees freedom of speech. But, today, people are silenced by the government via litigation, termination of employment or threats of harm.

In 1776, Revolutionary Americans fought against autocratic rule and created something beautiful and different; not perfect, but an attempt at greatness. They created an independent nation in which all people are created equal and are endowed with certain unalienable rights. They established that the power of government comes from the consent of the governed, and that people have the right to alter or abolish a government if it becomes destructive to their rights.

Supported by our Constitution and inspired by those Revolutionary Americans, millions of us are speaking out and standing up for our rights and liberties. We are revealing what the Trump administration stands for. But millions more must join with us, through whatever means works for them. Inaction enables the unconstitutional and immoral actions of the government.

We can find inspiration from historical figures who encouraged individual responsibility and a call to action to contribute to positive change in the wider community.

We should remember the words of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in a letter from the Birmingham Jail on April 16, 1963: “History will have to record that the greatest tragedy of this period of social transition was not the strident clamor of the bad people, but the appalling silence of the good people.”