In Our Own Voice Responds to President Trump’s Joint Address to Congress

“Yesterday evening, President Trump addressed the nation to brag about the chaos and cruelty that have defined the first month of his presidency. He took credit for tearing apart immigrant families and eliminating critical environmental protections. He lauded Elon Musk’s work slashing the federal budget at the expense of Americans living on low income and the protection of global public health. He celebrated ending diversity, equity and inclusion efforts that made our government and workforce stronger. President Trump has implemented the most dangerous of his campaign promises and he just took a victory lap.

Black women, girls and gender-expansive people tried to sound the alarm on what a second Trump administration would look like because we knew these actions would disproportionately affect us. Now that the second term is here, we know we were right. We are the ones more likely to be impacted by Medicaid cuts, bans on gender affirming care, removal of discrimination protections and future attacks on abortion access.

In Our Own Voice and our partners are prepared to mobilize for policies that protect and serve our communities. There are tangible wins we can achieve and we will not give up. State by state we are already fighting for bills that address the Black maternal health crisis, improve economic mobility, expand access to health care and address climate change. We will double down our efforts until we achieve Reproductive Justice that protects our bodily autonomy and ensures we have the right to make decisions about our lives.”