I Will Never Forget January 6

Guest Opinion by Lisa Ward

Today, marks 5 years since January 6. I will never forget that day or the way it felt.

What happened was not abstract. It was not political theater. It was terror carried out by American citizens against their own country. 

Against the very people they claimed to represent. Against a government that belongs to all of us who live here, work here, and pay for it.

The United States Capitol is not a symbol owned by any party or movement. 

That building belongs to the people. The men and women who work inside it are there because we elected them. 

Watching that place be violated was watching something deeply personal be attacked. It felt like an attack on every one of us.

For me, the fear that day was as intense as, if not worse than, what I felt on 9/11. Because this was not an outside enemy. This was an inside job. 

It was fueled, directed, and encouraged by a sitting president who was sworn to protect the Constitution, not tear it apart. That betrayal cuts deeper than any foreign threat ever could.

I remember the confusion. The disbelief. The sick feeling in my stomach as I watched elected officials hide, staff barricade doors, and police officers fight to hold a line against a violent mob. 

I remember realizing in real time that something sacred had been broken. Not just a building, but trust. 

Trust in our institutions. Trust in one another. Trust that the peaceful transfer of power was something we could take for granted.

That day changed America forever. It changed how safe many of us feel. It changed how we see our neighbors. It changed how we understand the fragility of democracy. 

The emotional and psychological damage did not end when the building was cleared. It has lingered in nightmares, in anxiety, in mistrust, and in the normalization of behavior that should never be acceptable.

I will not forget who was responsible. I will not forget who encouraged it, who excused it, who minimized it, or who continues to deny its severity. 

And I will not easily forgive those who supported the movement and the leadership that made it possible. 

In my view, anyone who still aligns themselves with Donald Trump and the MAGA movement has disqualified themselves from public office. This is not about policy differences. It is about allegiance to democracy itself.

Growing up, I was taught to revere the presidency and the Capitol as sacred institutions. 

Not because they are perfect, but because they represent something larger than any one person. January 6 shattered that reverence. What we do with that moment now is up to us.

This anniversary should be a reckoning. A reminder. A moment of accountability. 

Whether it becomes a wake up call or a turning point depends on whether we are willing to confront what happened honestly and refuse to reward those who brought us here.

We owe that to ourselves. We owe it to the people who were inside that building that day. And we owe it to the future of this country.

I will never forget January 6. And I refuse to pretend it was anything less than one of the darkest days in American history and my life.

Lisa Ward is a former Democratic nominee for the Alabama State Senate, a political leader and advocate with more than three decades of experience advancing justice, equity, and community empowerment. She is known for grassroots organizing and coalition-building across the State, and is committed to policy solutions that uplift marginalized communities and strengthen democracy.

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