Step Up
Protests work by building community, but you have to take the next step. Did you see an interesting group booth? Hear a political candidate speak? Meet a neighbor you didn’t know was in the resistance?
Take the next step right now. Sign up for a mailing list, put a meeting on your calendar, volunteer for a campaign, or invite your neighbor to coffee.
Why do it:
The naysayers are right that protesting alone does little. Sure it expresses our disgust and dismay which may influence others, but real change takes more. Even that 3.5% rule you keep hearing about isn’t a one-day marker. It refers to 3.5% of the population engaged in sustained resistance. That means a wide range of actions from the brave people following and documenting ICE at considerable personal risk, to everyone volunteering at the food bank.
Take one step to build connections or reinforce relationships today. Follow up with the person who said “we should really get coffee!” Check out that candidate’s web site, and consider volunteering. Step up and sign up for something!
If you need a place to get started, consider:
Indivisible : the OG of grass-roots anti-Trump organizing, they grew from a google doc in 2016 to one of the main organizers and educators of the movement. They are committed to non-violence and know how to help a new-comer get their feet under them. Their model is solidly rooted in political action, protest, and other forms of visibility.
NDLON : the National Day Laborer Organizing Network was founded in 2001, and has been quietly working for decades to improve the lives of people who pick up their work day by day. They’ve launched “Adopt a Corner” which puts people not at risk of detention in proximity with the places ICE targets the most vulnerable : Home Depot lots and the like. They are committed to non-violence and have a variety of direct-action programs if you want the help immigrants. No Spanish required.
