After the 2024 election, most Black Americans have been on strike when it comes to politics. This is especially true of Black American women, who were the largest voting bloc for Kamala Harris, and have been the most consistent voting bloc and organizing bloc for Democrats for decades. I genuinely believe that the chaos within the Democratic Party in the past four months has been about the political strike – white Democrats can’t figure out what to do next because they’re so used to Black Democrats picking up the pieces, organizing and setting the post-election agenda. The 2024 election was a moment of: white people got us into this catastrophe, white people are going to have to find a way to get us out of it.
I bring this up because Cory Booker’s historical marathon speech on the floor of the Senate felt like a much-needed reset AND a “return” of the old Democratic Party. The ancient white leadership of the Democratic Party had no idea how to meet the moment of a second Trump term, as we’ve seen play out in recent months. They needed Booker – one of only five Black senators currently – to stand up there for 25 hours and 5 minutes and speak for the soul of the Democratic Party and the soul of America. In doing so, Booker broke the filibuster record set by segregationist Strom Thurmond.
In a feat of determination, New Jersey Democratic Sen. Cory Booker held the Senate floor with a marathon speech that lasted all night and into Tuesday night, setting a historic mark to show Democrats’ resistance to President Donald Trump’s sweeping actions.
Booker took to the Senate floor on Monday evening, saying he would remain there as long as he was “physically able.” It wasn’t until 25 hours and 5 minutes later that the 55-year-old senator, a former football tight end, finished speaking and limped off the floor. It set the record for the longest continuous Senate floor speech in the chamber’s history. Booker was assisted by fellow Democrats who gave him a break from speaking by asking him questions on the Senate floor.
It was a remarkable show of stamina as Democrats try to show their frustrated supporters that they are doing everything possible to contest Trump’s agenda. Yet Booker also provided a moment of historical solace for a party searching for its way forward: By standing on the Senate floor for more than a night and day and refusing to leave, he had broken a record set 68 years ago by then Sen. Strom Thurmond of South Carolina, a segregationist and southern Democrat, to filibuster the advance of the Civil Rights Act in 1957.
“I’m here despite his speech,” said Booker, who spoke openly on the Senate floor of his roots as the descendant of both slaves and slave-owners. He added, “I’m here because as powerful as he was, the people are more powerful.”
House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, the first Black party leader in Congress, slipped into the Senate chamber to watch Booker on Tuesday afternoon. He called it “an incredibly powerful moment” because Booker had broken the record of a segregationist and was “fighting to preserve the American way of life and our democracy.”
Still, Booker centered his speech on a call for his party to find its resolve, saying, “We all must look in the mirror and say, ‘We will do better.’”
“These are not normal times in our nation,” Booker said as he began the speech Monday evening. “And they should not be treated as such in the United States Senate. The threats to the American people and American democracy are grave and urgent, and we all must do more to stand against them.”
I’m including some videos below – after his marathon speech, Booker obviously got some time to go to the bathroom and clean up, then he made the cable news rounds, appearing on Chris Hayes and Rachel Maddow’s shows, as well as some CNN shows. I’m so happy that Booker broke the record and I’m glad that Booker seems to have inspired some Democrats to immediately begin showing some spine to the MAGA cult.
Note by CB: I watched Booker’s speech for hours yesterday. I was so impressed with how genuine, heartfelt and composed he was as he stood there without a break for over a full day. At several points I sobbed and it struck me that I was witnessing history. My favorite stories were his personal ones. He talked about how his parents got their house with the help of the Fair Housing Council, how he got recognized in the bathroom of a movie theater while helping his Parkinson’s-stricken father pee and how John Lewis stood in as a father figure for him the day he was sworn in to the Senate. Booker also emphasized that, like John Lewis, we need to cause good trouble, protest and contact our representatives. I’ve been inspired to make phone calls and to join a local protest on Saturday. There are hundreds scheduled across the US on April 5th. I hope this turns the needle somewhat and that we can stop the gutting of our democracy.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images, Backgrid, screencaps from videos.
