“These are the times that try men’s souls.” Do you think Thomas Paine had us in mind today when he wrote these words as a rallying cry for troops in the Revolutionary War? Sometimes I think he did.
She wrote her 2025 book Giving Up Is Unforgivable: A Manual for Keeping a Democracy during the early months of Trump’s term in 2025. “Early on, I tore up a lot of pages because everything I wrote seemed so quickly out of date,” she wrote in the book’s introduction. Look at where we’ve been since Vance started writing: DOGE, ICE, Gulf of America, Alligator Alcatraz, Department of War and government ” and her message in her book speaks to Kane County Democratic Women members and gives us information and courage to keep fighting for our Democracy at the local level.
Shutdowns. And where we are since publication: Venezuela, Iran, Strait of Hormuz, Louisiana v Callais and government shutdowns!
Vance is a law professor at the University of Alabama School of Law, she is a legal analyst for MSNOW, she is a co-host of the podcast #sistersinlaw, and she is the author of the “Civil Discourse” Substack. She concludes each Substack post with the phrase “we are in this together”.
Vance calls on us to remind the people around us that if they sit out an election, that they are siding with the people who don’t want them to vote. Just last week the Supreme Court ruled in Louisiana v Callais that states no longer need to follow the voting protections in place in the 1965 Voting Rights Act. This gives more states the go-ahead to re-district and limit minority voting rights. (Check out Vance’s current comments on this case in her podcast and Substack.)
“No matter what happens,” she writes in Unforgivable, “no matter how unfair it may be, our job is to work together to make sure people can register to vote, stay registered, vote, and have their votes count.” This speaks directly to our Kane County Democratic Women members and our mission at the local level.
Here’s her key takeaways:
Registering: Beware of the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act. If it passes many voters will need to have proof of citizenship and proper IDs, even passports. Prepare your paperwork now and help others who need proper ID.
Staying Registered: Beware of being removed from voter rolls due to inactivity. The Motor Voter Act says voters cannot be removed less than 90 days before an election, so check your status at 89-days out on sites like Vote.org and IWillVote.com. And take a screenshot to prove your eligibility.
Voting: Each jurisdiction has its own rules. Learn our local rules and help take neighbors and friends and first-time voters to the polls.
Make sure your vote gets counted: Vance recommends following online portals to be sure your mail-in ballot gets counted.
“Now is the time to do the hard work—stay informed, stay engaged, and bring others along with us,” Vance writes. “We need to be fearless about talking with the people around us and explaining why our democracy matters, the damage being done to it, and what we can do to protect it.”
This 177-page book will arm you with legal knowledge, history and hope for our democracy. Also, follow Vance’s podcast and Substack for current legal matters. I also enjoy that in addition to legal conversations, Joyce also shares pictures of her knitting projects and her household chickens, dogs and cats with her fans.