By: Priscilla Enriquez, President and CEO 

“I began calling it democracy’s death by a thousand cuts.”  Maria Ressa, “How to Stand Up to A Dictator” 

Less than 24 hours after hosting Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Maria Ressa to address California based journalism funders and journalists, there was another killing of an American protester, Alex Jeffrey Pretti in Minneapolis. 

This tragedy is preceded by the detention of a 5-year-old child, Liam Conejo Ramos, who was used as bait to lure his family to ICE. ChongLy Thao, 56, was dragged out of his house barefoot. Six deaths were reported in one month in ICE detention centers; Geraldo Lunas Campos’ death was ruled a homicide. ICE has taken the lives of Keith Porter, fatally shot on New Year’s Eve by an off-duty agent, Renee Good, and thousands of immigrants held in detention.

At the California Journalism Summit, hosted at USC in partnership with Press Forward California chapters and the California League of Community Foundations, leading foundation executives and journalism practitioners convened for a full day of practical, grounded conversations focused on real-world strategies and collaborative action to strengthen local news across California. 

Maria Ressa, our keynote speaker, joined us following a year-long period of relationship building between our foundation and her team at Rappler, and shortly after hosting us as a delegation to the Philippines at her Social Good Festival in November.

Her message carried from Manila to California landed with urgency and conviction: a clear warning, but not a surrender. We are running out of time to protect American democracy, and what happens here will reverberate far beyond our borders. The moment is dire, but collective action still matters.

The playbook for what we are now seeing on American soil was written in the Philippines, whose government and Constitution are based on our own. Marcos, their president in 1965, declared martial law, rewrote the Constitution, and consolidated control over the other two branches of government for 21 years. Duterte, now charged with 3 counts of crimes against humanity, launched “death squads” during his so-called drug war, and thousands of innocent people were murdered. 

The similarities are not uncanny; they are intentional.

Black and brown communities have long understood the fragility of American democracy. As people who have endured its failures for generations, and who have lived face to face with oppression, they carry not only memory, but instruction. Their experience is a map for resisting authoritarianism and for shaping the democracy this country was always meant to become.

And so, when a journalist and woman of color, a Filipino American whose life bridges two nations, whose histories mirror one another, past and present, tells us that the time is now, that it is time to give all we have, we must assemble. As a member of the fourth estate, her role is to witness, record, and tell the truth of our present and our history. Today, that truth is voiced by Maria Ressa, and she makes it unmistakably clear.

The things we take for granted are being stretched beyond belief in Minneapolis today. In the Central Valley, in Chicago, and in North Carolina. There are brave people across the nation standing up for our collective democracy, and funders nationwide need to join them. 

We ask our frontline journalists to remain courageous and report, document, and write about this history. JBMF shall support you in the Central Valley.

We ask our journalism funders to act now, move money quickly in this democracy pillar. JBMF will partner with you.

I learned about “nanlaban,” the term Duterte’s police used to justify killings by claiming resistance. Once it was normalized, violence no longer required explanation. We cannot let that continue here.

As Congress considers additional funding for ICE this week, the stakes for immigrant communities and democratic accountability are unmistakably high. Decisions made in Washington will be felt immediately at the local level, with urgency in immigrant communities. In moments of heightened state power, collective community action, truth, context, and accountability are not optional; they are democratic necessities.

• Call your congressional representative, make your perspective known. Tools such as 5Calls make contacting your representative easier. 
• JBMF has compiled a list of rapid-response resources as a supplemental aid: Standing United for Immigrant Justice and Dignity

To learn more about supporting Democratic outcomes in the Central Valley, read about our rapid response Democracy Fund and reach out to demfund@jbmccatchyfoundation.org to learn about our election year rapid response giving.