Now What: Actioning Actionable Actions
Print by Etc Letterpress
- BE CONSISTENT AND ACTIVE. One march is not enough. The organizers from the Women's March have started 10 Actions / 100 Days. Indivisble has also published a practical and comprehensive guide to resisting the Trump agenda.
- CHECK IN with your friends, family, neighbors, and co-workers who may be having a hard time. We need to support each other.
- That said, DON'T GET COMPLACENT. Taking breaks from social media and the news is healthy and PLEASE take care of yourself--but don't get discouraged or fatigued. This is a marathon, not a sprint. Ask for help from those you are closest to and trust.
- ADD YOUR REPRESENTATIVES TO YOUR SPEED DIAL. Find your Senate and House representatives. Add Speaker Paul Ryan and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell in there too, for good measure. Call them. Call them often. CREDO has also made a great platform to email/call Senators that are vital in the confirmations of Trump's cabinet.
Still not getting through? Email or write them a postcard! - STAY ON TOP OF & SUPPORT THE NEWS. It is overwhelming and it is tiring, but it's important to stay informed (and have purpose to call your Reps -- see #4). Get a subscription to reputable news sources like The New York Times or The Washington Post who are doing real and accountable journalism and who are under attack by the new administration. Donate to independent media like Democracy Now! who goes where the silence is.
Hold these news organizations accountable to report FACTS (there isn't such thing as "alternate facts"!) and to challenge politicians when they are lying or making claims without proof to back them up. - DONATE (ACLU, Planned Parenthood, Southern Poverty Law Center, The Audre Lorde Project, National Organization for Women, and local organizations need our help the most). Here's a list of more deserving orgs compiled by Jezebel.
- VOLUNTEER! 2 Hours a Week is a community fostering a new level of civic engagement following the election by offering you 2 hours a week of tangible action.
- GET INVOLVED LOCALLY: block associations, community boards, city council meetings, school boards. Talk to local officials. Change starts from the bottom. Swing Left helps you find and commit to supporting progressives in your closest Swing District so that you can help ensure we take back the House in 2018.
Check out the Democratic Socialists of America who are working to decrease the influence of money in politics, empower ordinary people in workplaces and the economy, and restructure gender and cultural relationships to be more equitable! - RUN FOR OFFICE! Let's change the government from being full of old rich white dudes and being more REPRESENTATIVE of our country. Websites like She Should Run and Brand New Congress are great resources to figure out how to get involved in a local, state, or national level.
- KEEP MARCHING/PROTESTING! Stay visible and show up for others in solidarity. LGBTQIA+, Black Lives Matters, Standing Rock, the environment--all of these are intersectional to feminism.
- ADVOCATE for people of color, for trans people, for sex workers, for queer people, for immigrants. Reposting on Facebook and safety pins aren't enough--be an ally with your actions and your words. White silence = violence.
EDUCATE! Get off your smartphone and pick up a book! Start a book club to help navigate what you're reading.
Some suggested reading on intersectionality: Ain’t I A Woman: Black Women and Feminism by bell hooks, Women, Race, and Class by Angela Davis, Feminism Is for Everybody: Passionate Politics by bell hooks, Chicana Feminist Thought: The Basic Historical Writings by Alma M. Garcia, Bad Feminist by Roxane Gay, Living For Change by Grace Lee Boggs, Redefining Realness: My Path to Womanhood, Identity, Love & So Much More by Janet Mock, Sister Outsider: Essays and Speeches by Audre Lorde, Methodology of the Oppressed by Chela Sandoval, Delusions of Gender by Cordelia Fine, Men Explain Things to Me by Rebecca Solnit, Trainwreck by Sady Doyle, We Should All Be Feminists by Chimanada Ngozi Adichie. But there are SO MANY MORE, TOO!BOYCOTT companies that support Trump or carry any Trump family products. Money talks! #GrabYourWallet is a great resource as well as the free Boycott Trump app. Seek to divest from banks that support the funding of the Dakota Access Pipeline, too.
- VOTE! Are your registered? Know when your next local and midterm elections are. If you move, remember to update your voter info. ALL ELECTIONS MATTER! Add to your calendar November 6, 2018 for the next midterm election.
- STOCK UP on the "morning after pill" Plan B since it has a shelf life of 4 years (enough to get you through Trump's presidency), doesn't need a prescription, and can be taken up to 3 days after unprotected sex. Or consider getting an IUD (which can last 10 years).
- ACT UP! ShiShi Rose has a great resource on organizing for activists and #UnifyingYourResources
Photos by Meg Wachter & Amanda Stosz