I will not be a hater about Senator Cory Booker.
On Tuesday, the senior Democratic senator from New Jersey wrapped a marathon 25-hour speech in protest of the Trump administration’s efforts to gut government agencies illegally, cut taxes for wealthy Americans, and slash programs like Medicaid. In doing so, Booker broke the record for the longest Senate “talking filibuster” set by segregationist Senator Strom Thurmond of South Carolina. Thurmond, once a Democrat, led a filibuster against the Civil Rights Act of 1957.
There’s always a good reason to dance on the grave of dead racists and their achievements in Black Jubilee, but as much as I understand the hand claps for Booker, do not forget what pushed him to act.
Again, Booker did a good thing and deserves celebration, but my concern is that the mainstream press is already trying to turn this moment into an after-school special to satiate their kink for The West Wing.
The same can be said of Democratic leadership, who have largely failed their voters with their enragingly impotent response to what’s been happening in America since January 20, 2025.
Booker’s actions, while historic, are a direct reaction to the outcry from the people.
Shortly before taking the floor on Monday, Booker explained in a video posted to X (formerly Twitter): “I’m going to go for as long as I am physically able to go. I’ve been hearing from people all over my state and indeed all over the nation calling upon folks in Congress to do more. To do things that recognize the urgency, the crisis of the moment. So we all have a responsibility, I believe, to do something different. To cause, as John Lewis said, ‘good trouble.’ And that includes me.”
It has been frustrating to not only watch Trump and his merry band of unqualified bigots ransack through the federal government – laws be damned – and destroy folks’ lives to fuel the GOP’s long-standing dream of dismantling the administrative state to privatize government and Trump’s personal goal of becoming America’s dictator, but for Democrats to act so helpless about it.
These moves from DOGE and other Trump and Elon Musk allies in government have been disproportionately impacting Black people. No matter what clueless folks on the internet say, Black people have not largely attained social mobility through getting themselves an LLC, but by way of federal jobs. What they’re doing is not only “destroying democracy,” but directly targeting what’s traditionally been the best means for Black workers to escape poverty. I’m sure SpaceMan from South Africa understands how this all works.
I could go on about all the ways America is on fire, but the point is that there are reasons why various sects of the Democratic base have been raging at their representatives in Congress for not doing enough to push back against this administration.
It shouldn’t have taken constituents yelling at Democratic members at town halls to be more forceful in speaking up against Trump.
But yes, thankfully and finally, someone is trying to address that anger.
“I rise with the intention of getting in some good trouble,” Booker said at the start of his speech, referencing the phrase synonymous with the late civil rights leader, Georgia Congressman John Lewis. “I rise with the intention of disrupting the normal business of the United States Senate for as long as I am physically able.”
As Booker read letters he had received from constituents, he spoke about health care, housing, Social Security, free speech, the public education system, the cost of living, and the United States’ global role.
Cory Booker, who abandoned food and water in the days leading to his Senate floor speech, ultimately lasted 25 hours and four minutes.
Following the breaking of Thurmond’s record, Booker noted about the late senator: “To hate him is wrong. Maybe, just maybe, I could break this record of the man who tried to stop the rights upon which I stand. I’m not here though because of his speech. I’m here despite his speech. I’m here because as powerful as he was, the people were more powerful.”
To each their own, but if hating a dead segregationist is wrong, I might not want to be right.
But let me not fixate on Booker’s politics, which are a mix of Care Bear and corporatist, and instead focus on him taking a stand against the dumb neo-confederates in control of the government and the reactions it’s spurred.
Longtime GOP pollster Frank Luntz argued Booker “may have changed the course of political history” with his marathon speech.
“I want to emphasize what Cory Booker did over the last 24 hours may have changed the course of political history. I watched a lot of it. I listened to words. I listened to phrases,” Luntz explained during a Tuesday evening appearance on NewsNation’s On Balance.
That’s a lot on it, but we do know that it’s popular on TikTok – netting more than 350 million likes and counting. And I have seen online and heard with my own ears that for many people who have been depressed since Trump took office, they feel inspired by Booker’s filibuster.
I will not downplay the significance of that. I want people to find inspiration where they can. We should have elected officials taking stands instead of carrying on as business as usual.
Still, don’t forget that we had been told by Democrats that these types of actions couldn’t be done and suddenly now more of them have decided that they do indeed have the means to slow things down and stop them.
They have not been using their power and something has since changed. What was it? As Booker said himself, the people who pushed him to do more.
The lessons here are to not only stay on their necks but continue to find ways to resist in our own lives.
Michael Arceneaux is a New York Times bestselling author whose most recent book, “I Finally Bought Some Jordans,” was published last March.
SEE ALSO:
Cory Booker Breaks Racist Senate Record With 25 Hour Anti-Trump Speech
Cory Booker Makes Good Trouble On Senate Floor With Marathon Speech
