To our 19th community:

The idea for this newsroom grew out of heartbreak — our collective astonishment, in 2016, to learn that this nation still could not, would not, elect a woman president. Eight years later, history has repeated itself in a way that feels impossible, incomprehensible, and to so many of our readers, truly terrifying and devastating.

I share in your pain — as the daughter of a brilliant and barrier-busting mother who may not get to see a woman president in her lifetime, and the mother of a remarkable little girl growing up in a state with fewer reproductive rights than her grandmother had.

I want to start by shouting this from the rooftops: Your belief in us and our work matters. Your support for our relentless storytelling has normalized women’s leadership and LGBTQ+ leadership and has prioritized the leadership of people of color. You’ve helped us center gender and racial equity — and the policies and people that advance them — in every article, every newsletter, every column, every photo and illustration, every live event. The work we’ve done together has filled an enormous gap. And yet with a national narrative hundreds of years entrenched, the reality is, our work has only just begun.

A second Trump administration will require next-level accountability and unflinching coverage of efforts to unwind and undermine policies that advance gender and racial equity. It will demand deep coverage of the resistance, and the women and LGBTQ+ people fighting to preserve human rights against an expanding backdrop of misogyny, racism and anti-trans attacks. It will challenge the safety and sanctity of our journalists and our First Amendment rights. It will test our belief in our own stamina.

And yet.

We are resilient. We are brave. We do this work for the women and LGBTQ+ people we center in our journalism, in honor of our ancestors and our offspring. And we do this work with you.

Email us at community@19thnews.org to let us know how you’re feeling and how we can support you in the days, weeks and months to come. 

The road ahead will not be easy. But The 19th knows how to travel it. And there’s no newsroom better suited or better prepared to lead the way. 

Thank you for your readership, your community and your support. I’m honored to work in the best newsroom in America, and in service of each and every one of you.