My Heart is on the Left

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“My Heart is on the Left” was—and still is—a phrase used by many progressive and left leaning activist groups and non-profit political organizations, like Americans for Democratic Action (ADA). ADA was founded in 1947 after the death of former U.S. president Franklin Delano Roosevelt by Eleanor Roosevelt, John Kenneth Galbraith, Walter Reuther, Arthur Schlesinger, and Reinhold Niebuhr as a way to uphold and further Roosevelt's sweeping New Deal reforms.

ADA supports a wide range of liberal policies and politicians, and were credited by former Massachusetts senator Ted Kennedy as the force behind the most recent national minimum wage increase. Since its founding, ADA has advocated for local, grassroots organizing efforts—and lobbying state-level politicians—as a key first step to enact change on the national level. lobbying local senators and their representatives as a way to enact broader change.