We won’t deny that like the majority of American voters in the recent midterm elections we woke up cheering the morning after. It was a decisive rejection of the Trump/MAGA autocracy. The public made it starkly clear that President Donald Trump and his sychopantic GOP legislators are not good for America. We agree.

Yes, we’re all tired of the soaring costs of gas, housing, health care and consumer goods triggered by Trump’s mindless tariffs and unpopular war on Iran. Yes, we’re appalled by his cruel crackdown on immigrants and its crippling impact on the country’s economic life. We feel threatened by AI data centers’ impact on energy, water and their local environment. We fear for the future of democracy, civil rights and the rule of law.

An AP poll showed that the Democratic Party is only slightly more popular than the Republicans, and yet voters overwhelmingly chose Democratic candidates for the House, Senate, state and local seats. Voters simply took matters into their own hands, knowing that the stakes are great and that the country needs a new course.

Democrats now have full control of both the House (240 vs. 147 ) and the Senate (54 vs. 44).

Rejecting discrimination and misogyny, voters brought record numbers of Black s, Hispanics, Native Americans, Asians and women to public office on many levels. Democrats and progressives now also control many state and local positions, seizing a majority (28) of the 50 governorships for the first time in two decades. The Democratic Party is now well positioned to challenge Trump/MAGA’s destructive agenda.

The Democratic majorities must now prove they deserve the people’s vote. They must immediately push to end the Iran war, stop ICE abuses, reinstate premium subsidies to Affordable Care, reverse cuts to Medicaid, bring back congressional power to determine trade policy, abolish Trump’s tariffs and, not the least, make the Trump presidency accountable for its blatant corruption and abuse of power. It can’t be business as usual.

This week’s stories:

Tagalog Plays Return to San Francisco by Wilfred Galila

Filipinos in Florida, 1900–1940: Labor, Farming, and the Limits of American Belonging by Alex S. Fabros and Michelle S. Fabros

A Universal Example of a Successful Filipina by Anthony Maddela

Losing Lillibeth Twice by Eileen Navarro Almario

[Read It Again]

Escape Through Death’s Door by Criselda Yabes

The Flag of Their Forebears by Myles A. Garcia

[Video of the Week]

Why a Fil Am Made an Animated Series About Being Filipino