As the United States reaches its 250th birthday, the nation stands at a crossroads of great or dangerous change. We, the people, have the power to build a promising future for everyone. A future that honors connection, dignity, and shared purpose. A future in which power is shared fairly, and our voices shape decisions that affect our lives, our communities, and our country for generations to come.

In moments when we feel our power and voice threatened, we must stay strong and remember the rights instilled in us through our founding democracy. With resilience and conviction, we uphold the freedoms that define us, refusing to be silenced in the face of adversity. We remember that we, the people, have the power to shape our collective destiny. We are one nation, interdependent, woven together by the strength of our ideals, our shared history, and the extraordinary land we live on–stewarded since time immemorial by Indigenous nations whose sovereignty and leadership continue today. We can bring this vision to life only by recognizing our common destiny, honoring our shared humanity, and working together. This calls upon us to understand the past without being trapped by it, face today’s challenges unflinchingly, and look forward, guided by the determination, courage, and collective spirit of those who have struggled before.

To achieve the promise of our nation and possibilities of this moment, we offer this Declaration of Interdependence. This pledge honors our bonds of interconnection as we tend to our communities and ourselves, and affirms our commitment to care for the planet on which all life depends.

Today, too many people in the United States are struggling to meet their basic needs, while a tiny few have more money than nations. Too many of us are feeling disconnected from our neighbors, have lost faith in government, and are longing for community. People do not feel safe from violence. Wildfires, floods, and extreme weather are destroying whole communities. We join together in our shared values to carve a path toward a better future for ourselves and each other. In this declaration of interdependence, we are building a nation where:

• All people are treated with dignity and respect.

• Everybody feels safe in every community.

• Access to clean, green spaces is abundant.

• Every person who works earns a living wage and benefits that allow families work-life balance.  

Each of us has power. Collectively we support ourselves, protect the natural world, and serve our collective vision.

Democracy means everyone has a voice. People have the right to speak up, protest, and change systems that hurt, take advantage of, or fail us, and to participate meaningfully in decisions that affect our lives, families, communities, and collective future.

From its founding, the United States has existed in the gap between ideals and actions – the space between the ideals of liberty, equality, and justice for all, and the actions of genocide, land theft, and slavery.

While there is a deeply held belief that rugged individualism and fierce independence built this country, we know that what has always pushed this nation forward are actions that have expanded the circle of who counts in ‘we the people.’ The civil rights movement, led by the courage of countless Black people and extended by the actions of Americans of all races, pushed the nation to live into its founding ideals. That transformation led to generational progress in women’s rights, immigration, labor, land preservation, disability, and gender rights.  

Progress is incomplete and the path forward has never been a straight line. But what remains true is that throughout our history, more and more people have come together to expand who matters. All transformations begin in the defiant hearts and fearless imaginations of people – traveling from the margins to the center of our nation’s stories.

To begin the next 250 years of the American story, we open our hearts and set free our radical imaginations to unlock a nation defined by interdependence, where everyone can participate, prosper, and reach their full potential. A nation governed by and for the people – all people. We, the people of the United States, commit to work together to make this vision a reality.