Keep on Moving Forward: Kathy Kelly

Keep on Moving Forward

Hopefully, collective voices will continue mobilizing to abolish war and sustain life.

by Kathy Kelly
November 4, 2026

On November 3, 2026, U.S. voters sent an intensely needed message to Republicans as well as the Democratic status quo in the United States. Voters insisted on concrete steps to cope with the greatest threats afflicting people worldwide, –nuclear weapon proliferation, ecological collapse, and complicity with genocide.

Three weeks earlier, the Illinois chapter of World BEYOND War hosted a Young Voters Congress, a hybrid forum inviting attendees to air their views about which issues would most affect their choices in upcoming elections. Spoken word poet Trey Baker opened the event by pointing to cruel roots of racism, militarism, and unbridled greed, but he believes a better world is still possible.

Kayla Pilgrim, Communications Lead for Sunrise Movement Chicago, was the keynote speaker. Profound concern for two younger sisters affected by asthma had motivated Kayla to tackle issues related to poisoned environments. At age 20, she has learned to connect the dots. She called on the assembled group to join her in overcoming fears by forming community and becoming active.

“We are here to first crush fascism,” Kayla stated. She decried abuses of the military-industrial-media-congressional complex and urged the DNC to stop funding genocide and instead fund efforts to avoid ecological collapse. Kayla noted that the Sunrise Movement in Chicago had recently occupied local AIPAC offices to protest support for candidates tolerating Israel’s genocide against Palestinians. She also issued a call for Illinois residents to oust ICE for good.

A panel entitled “Militarism, Racism, Inequality and Climate Collapse: The Tentacles of the War Machine,” moderated by CODEPINK’s Danaka Katovich, featured Tree Palmeras, Director of Black Lives Matter, Chicago, and Henna Ayesh from the DePaul University 2024 encampment for Palestine. They covered issues ranging from motivation for activism to the repugnance of paying taxes to kill children at home and abroad.

Henna Ayesh noted the irony of the United States, on land stolen from Indigenous peoples, provisioning weapons and surveillance capacities to Israel for use in perpetrating Israeli genocide against Palestinians.

Panelist Tree Palmeras said Haitian family members encouraged her, as a child, to resist militarism. She decried the violence that decimates communities whether perpetrated by U.S. wars abroad, or though heavily militarized policing and incarceration in U.S. cities.

Danaka Katovich (CODEPINK), called on participants to resist the NDAA (National Defense Authorization Act) 1033 program, which donates surplus U.S. Department of War weapons to U.S. police departments.

The day after the midterm elections, Melissa Garigga, one of Danaka’s colleagues at CODE PINK asked why the U.S. taxpayers should give “the very people voters rejected an unprecedented $1.5 trillion budget to continue their reign of death and destruction? Why are we going to allow Congress to hand over the largest war budget in human history to weapons manufacturers and AI tech billionaires who work at the behest of known war criminals?”

Hopefully, this piercing question along with all the themes raised at the Young Voters’ Congress will convince activists to remain in the streets, stay vigilant, and follow the young people.

The Young Voters’ Congress was endorsed by: Asian Americans Advancing Justice – Chicago, Black Lives Matter Chicago, Chicago Area Peace Action, CODEPINK, Justice for All, Mennonite Action Chicago, Nonviolent Cities Project-Joliet, Nuclear Energy Information Service, Pax Christi Illinois, Sunrise Movement Chicago, and Youth Healing Chi.

Kathy Kelly, (kathy.vcnv@gmail.com) is board president of World BEYOND War. With Annie James and Ella Bergeron, interns with the IL chapter of WBW, she helped coordinate the Young Voters Congress.

Photos: courtesy of World BEYOND War