Monique Pressley says Black communities should meet this summer’s political moment by getting outside, getting organized and getting back to one another.
In a conversation with Lurie Favor Daniels, Pressley said the work ahead cannot be reduced to election checklists, even as voting remains critical.
“I was going to say outside,” Pressley said. “That was going to be my one-word answer. And then if I had to stretch it to two words, I would say in community.”
Daniels asked how people should prepare for summer, the elections and “this new era that we seem to be barreling toward.” Pressley insists that preparation must include face-to-face connection.
“Person to person, eye to eye conversations,” she explained. “We need to be that kind of outside,” noting that joy, cookouts, gatherings and community events are not distractions from the work. They are part of it.
“Joy is part of freedom,” she declared. “It is defiant.”
Preelsey also urged people to connect with civic organizations and voter engagement efforts, naming groups including Black Voters Matter, the National Coalition on Black Civic Participation, NCNW, the NAACP and NAN as entry points.
“You should make sure you’re registered to vote and register people to vote. But then you should go outside and find out how much fun advocacy and activism and liberation fighting really is,” she continued.
Daniels agreed, saying community work cannot survive without trust.
“We’re trying to organize without relationship,” Favor Daniels chimed in. “If the community ain’t healthy, none of them other things get a chance to work.”
Pressley also challenged public voices who call people to action without showing up themselves.
“In war, you cover it from the front lines,” she said. “I’m not going to ask you to do nothing I don’t do,” going on to say that this summer, “We outside.”
Watch the full clip below.
