What a week.
The Democracy Defenders Roadshow has just wrapped up an incredible East Coast tour, bringing together close to 500 people across Philadelphia, New Jersey, and New York City for four powerful conversations on democracy, human rights, and international solidarity.
Over the course of five days, we met with high school students, university students, migrant communities, and longtime activists, each bringing their own experiences, questions, and perspectives. While every event was different, one thing remained constant: people are hungry for honest conversations about what democracy looks like in practice and how we can defend it together.
We began in Philadelphia, where the Philadelphia Ethical Society welcomed a full room of community members eager to engage with perspectives from Guatemala, Colombia, and Mexico. Audience members drew connections between democratic backsliding in the United States and across Latin America, asking thoughtful questions about foreign policy, social movements, and the role ordinary people play in defending democratic institutions. The evening set the tone for the rest of the tour: honest, nuanced conversations grounded in shared values and lived experience.
One of the most inspiring parts of the week came during our two New Jersey stops, where we met with both high school and university students through partnerships with Groundwork Elizabeth, the Ethical Culture Society of Bergen County, and Fairleigh Dickinson University. Rather than simply listening, students actively wrestled with big questions: Is democracy more than elections? Can people who fundamentally disagree still build democratic societies? How do history, identity, and lived experience shape the way we understand justice? They reflected on the importance of listening across differences, recognized that every community contains a diversity of perspectives, and spoke about the need to resist reducing people to simplistic labels.
Many shared that hearing firsthand from our speakers expanded their understanding of democracy beyond the U.S. context and helped them see how struggles for peace, human rights, Indigenous sovereignty, and civic participation are deeply interconnected across borders. Their curiosity, openness, and willingness to engage gave us tremendous hope for the next generation of democratic leaders.
The East Coast tour concluded with our largest event at the New York Society for Ethical Culture, where approximately 200 people gathered for an evening moderated by Steven Donziger and featuring Chris Hedges alongside our Democracy Defenders from Guatemala, Colombia, and Mexico. The conversation explored the rise of authoritarianism around the world, the impact of U.S. foreign policy throughout Latin America, organized crime and migration, peace-building, sovereignty, and the urgent need to strengthen democratic institutions before they are further eroded. The discussion was both deeply rooted in the lived experiences of our speakers and remarkably relevant to challenges communities are facing here in the United States.
Across every stop, our Democracy Defenders reminded audiences that democracy is much more than elections. Through stories from Guatemala, Colombia, and Mexico, they showed how democracy is built every day through community organizing, defending human rights, protecting Indigenous territories, advocating for peace, confronting corruption, and creating spaces where ordinary people can participate in decisions that affect their lives. They challenged audiences to think beyond borders, recognizing that many of the forces threatening democracy today, from growing inequality and concentrated political power to violence and attacks on civil society, are deeply interconnected.
Perhaps most inspiring was what happened after the formal programs ended. Conversations spilled into hallways, over shared meals, and in small groups that lingered long after the events concluded. Students exchanged contact information with organizers. Community members asked how they could get involved. New relationships formed between people who, just hours earlier, had never met. These moments of genuine connection are exactly what the Democracy Defenders Roadshow was created to foster.
To everyone who attended, hosted, volunteered, interpreted, organized, and helped spread the word: thank you. Your energy, curiosity, and commitment made this stretch of the Roadshow an extraordinary success.
The conversations don’t end here. As the Roadshow continues with upcoming stops in California, we’ll keep building bridges across communities and borders, creating spaces where people can learn from one another and strengthen the movements working to defend democracy throughout the Americas.
You can learn more about the roadshow, speakers, and upcoming events here and make sure to follow us on social media @globalexchange for updates and footage from the events.