Standing Up for Science (and Democracy)
We the People take to the streets to fight to preserve America
Last week, tens if not hundreds of thousands of US citizens rallied to Stand Up for Science. I was honored, if a bit exhausted, to serve as the lead organizer and master of ceremonies for the effort in Texas. I’ve never done anything like this before in my life, but what’s happening in America demands that we get out of our comfort zones, and take action to defend what we believe in. We’re going to need to fight preserve that which is under relentless attack by the revolutionary right-wing government currently in power. For now.
Fighting the funding cuts that are gutting science and research, opposing the erasure of efforts to promote diversity in science, stopping the massive deletion of federal data—these are the national policy goals of Stand Up for Science, and they worthy. Speaking for myself, I see what’s happening as a war on knowledge itself and a form of national intellectual suicide, a dark celebration of cruelty and ignorance. A hallmark off fascism is that “the intelligentsia” is targeted first—we are seeing that play out in real time.
Put another way, the attacks on science are part of the larger right-wing project of ending American democracy. You know who agrees with me? Carl Sagan, that’s who.1 To prepare my remarks for the rally, I picked up a copy of his book The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark. In it, Sagan repeatedly observes that the values of science and democracy are one and the same:
“The values of science and the values of democracy are concordant, in many cases indistinguishable. Science thrives on the free exchange of ideas. Both encourage unconventional opinion and vigorous debate, adequate reason, coherent argument, and rigorous standards of evidence and honesty. Science is a way to call the bluff of those who only pretend to knowledge. If we’re true to its values, we can tell when we’re being lied to. It provides a mid-course correction to our mistakes.”
So this was my broad theme for the rally—science and democracy are the same thing, and we must take to the street to fight for both. I cannot emphasize the “take to the street” part of that enough. There is power when people assemble to express their will, every democratic movement in history involves mass action. It sometimes seems surreal to me that we need to fight for democracy in America, the modern birthplace of this ideal, but then as Nikole Hannah-Jones rightly reminds us, America has only been a truly multi-racial democracy for a few decades. Can we endure? Will we endure?
I believe we can and we will. As part of my remarks, I also cited famed scientist Richard Feynman for what he called the key to science: If it disagrees with experiment, it’s wrong. America is the longest running experiment in constitutional democracy in the world, we’ve been at this for nearly 250 years. What Trump and Musk are doing, the cruelty and idiocy unleashed by these right-wing radicals, disagrees with the American experiment, and it is wrong. They are wrong. To fight back right now is both necessary and patriotic. Standing up for science is standing up for democracy and is a profoundly patriotic act. There’s a reason I had both the US flag and the Texas state flag flying at the rally—we are Americans fighting to achieve our country.
Ok, so, bringing it back to last week, I made a couple of smart decisions that I’m proud of and want to share with y’all. The first was enlisting a fabulous group of co-organizers, including: Didi Gardner, a cancer researcher at UT Austin who helped mobilize the scientific community; Matt Kulpa, a PhD student in parasitology and evolution at Texas A&M who ran point with the press; Guy Leblanc, a longtime resident and community activist in Austin who helped with speaker invitations (and podium procurement); and Michael Kelly aka “The Worker” (his DJ moniker), my best friend of 30 plus years and our sound engineer. In high school, Michael and I volunteered on the Bill Clinton campaign, somehow we’re still fighting for democracy together today. Remarkable.
The second smart decision was having a fabulous group of invited speakers, including: Dr. John Wallingford, a molecular biologist with a terrific beard; Dr. Juli Berwald, an ocean scientist “obsessed with jellyfish”; Dr. Andrea Gore, a professor of pharmacology and toxicology, “two scientists in one”; Dr. Tryone Porter, a biomedical engineer who snuck up on me onstage before electrifying the crowd (metaphorically); and Rep. Lloyd Doggett, the longtime public servant and federal representative for the Austin area, and champion for science. Shout out to his daughter, also a scientist, for telling her dad he needed to speak at the rally.
The third smart decision was fostering community through the structure of the rally itself. Look, these can be awkward—I’ve been going to a bunch of protests lately, and there’s often a feeling of “are we really doing this?’ at the beginning. So at the start I asked attendees to meet their fellow rally-goers, find out why they were motivated to stand up for science, and this shifted the tone of the event, a buzz started to build. Then, toward the back end of the rally, I invited attendees to take to the mic to speak their truths—I was a little nervous about this, not knowing if people would stay on point and within time limits, but instead it proved extraordinary. One after another, a group of incredibly diverse Americans from across Texas, young and old, came up and spoke truth to power, decrying the assault on science while lifting up the best of American values, for tolerance and kindness and empathy. You’ll see their pictures below and I only wish y’all could have shared in the powerful sense of community they fostered through their bravery.
Speaking of the pictures, a special thank you to Carolyn Yao for taking the great shots you’re about to see. Likewise, journalist Madeline de Figueiredo wrote a terrific summary of the event, as did Diego Hernandez, a freshman reporter for the UT school newspaper who insists on calling me “Mr. Riley” despite my best efforts. I’m grateful to both for covering the event.
So with all that said…This is what democracy looks like! Get in Dorks!2
Additional thank yous are due to Colette Delawalla and the national organizers of Stand Up for Science—Colette, we need to you continue to lead this effort forward!; Texas state Rep. John Bucy and his aide Rowen Kliethermes for helping us to secure our rally permit; the Texas State Preservation Board staff for approving the permit; Jocelyn Tao, aide to Rep. Doggett; Joe Dan Dunn for helping set up; and ultimately to each and every person who took the time to stand up for science (and democracy) last week, and is prepared to continue to stand up and fight for America.
Did you know it’s pronounced “SAY-gun” not “Sah-gone”? I SURE DO NOW.
Colette Delawalla, the PhD student and mother to a 14-month old who somehow pulled together this entire grassroot effort in about one month, coined this inspiring phrase and I led the crowd in chanting it on the day of the rally. I cannot confirm nor deny the existence of a video of this happening.