This is the fourth in a series of interviews with Democratic candidates for statewide office in Virginia.

I don’t think I have to remind anyone here what 2017 was like for those of us in the Netroots. I’d argue the majority of us immediately understood the systemic threat represented by Donald Trump and became determined to do whatever it took to keep our democracy alive.

There is perhaps no better example of that than Virginia in 2017.

When I was a younger man, I would walk through the store and laugh as the tabloids featured stories about “Bat Boy” and “Devil Child,” or stories about Bill Clinton being a secret alien, Ronald Reagan having been cloned, or George Bush Sr. conducting his own military runs in planes during the Gulf War. The Weekly World News and all the garbage fodder of the time period represented a more laid back era when people would laugh at the madness.

Happy almost-Memorial Day!

The unofficial start of summer is nigh (technically it doesn’t start until the solstice on June 20), but if you think that means Republicans are hitting pause on their awful statehouse antics, I’ve got some bad news for you.

This story was originally published at Prism. 

By Kailea Frederick

For many, myself included, 2016 was a pivotal year. In a moment that will be forever marked in our minds, the rise at Standing Rock against the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) created a resurgence in the modern-day Indigenous people’s movements.