My Response to the Question: What Do We Do Now?

It’s time for steady hands and steely gazes.

You've always had the power, my dear; you just had to learn it for yourself. ~The Wizard of Oz.

What do we do?

It’s a question that’s being asked all across the country right now, and for good reason. The inauguration and initial hours of the Trump administration were as bad as we had predicted. Of course, our ability to predict how bad they’d be makes them no less heavy.

So it’s fitting that, now that the rubber has met the road (so to speak), we’re looking for how best to respond.

In talking to a friend this morning I realized: I have been writing an action list since November 2016; I’ve worked shoulder-to-shoulder with local, state, and national organizers for over eight years now. So as I’ve heard the question What do we do? over the last few days, I have had a few thoughts borne of that experience.

So today, just one day into Trump Term Two, I wondered if some of the lessons I’ve learned – over the last eight years, and in the first Trump administration – could be useful to you.

Here goes.

Anger is starter fluid, not gas for a long trip. Anger is motivating – no doubt about it. But it is not sustainable for four years. The Trump team depends upon you growing numb or weary or so distracted by being angry at what they’re doing openly that you’re not able to pay attention to the very real threats going on backstage.

So just remember that frenetic activity burns itself out quickly, and this is a marathon not a sprint. Like any runner who’s just crossed the starting line at a marathon, you should use the motivation of the moment to spur you forward. Just keep in mind that there’s a mile 24 (and 25 and 26), and we need you upright for the whole race. Conserve your mental and physical energy when you can.

On that point: Recognize that many of Trump’s actions are (and will continue to be) performative. They’re intended less for legal impact and more to inflict emotional and psychological pain on targeted groups … and on you.

While it’s important to stay informed, there’s a balancing act here. Most likely you’re not in a position where you need to know every terrible thing Trump does at exactly the moment it happens. Experience tells us that tracking him will be a 24-7 endeavor. Marinating your brain in outrage all day every day is a fast track ticket to emotional exhaustion – which is their goal – while leaving you with nothing to show for your emotional effort.

I spoke yesterday with an activist whose background is in counseling, and she had wise words. She explained that trauma is that which exceeds our ability to process. So: how much can you process? Only you know where that line is, friend, but I think it’s probably closer than you like to admit. Curate your news consumption accordingly. And if you start feeling overwhelmed, recognize you’re having a trauma response and stop doomscrolling.

Reclaim your agency through action. We do not always have the power to change what he does, but we always have power over our own reactions. Again, they want – and need – depression and anxiety. They’re focused on a campaign of shock and awe, which is meant to stun you into silence. Essentially they’re trying to steal your power from you by getting you to give it up in advance.

Don’t give them the satisfaction.

The good news is that it’s easy to reclaim your power through action. Maybe it’s a call to your local elected officials (more on that below) or maybe it’s a thank you note to a local organizer. It’s even better if it’s organized with a big group of people, but it doesn’t have to be. The point is simply to do something. Not only will you be making a difference personally, you’ll also be reminding yourself that you do have some agency in this situation.

Remember that you stand on the shoulders of regular people. We hear all the time that we stand on the shoulders of giants – great, inspiring characters whose words reverberate through the years. But even the most inspiring figures started out as regular people who had to make their bed and go to the dentist and feed the cat and then one day were spurred to do something … bigger.

And that work inevitably involved inspiring other regular people to take up the mantle and do something to make the world better. So while I take a great deal of inspiration from great leaders from the past, I know it was the work of regular folks like you and I that brought their grand visions into reality.

Go local – even hyper-local. Most of what Trump wants to do will require some aspect of state and local government cooperation. And some of what he can do on the federal level can be blunted by targeted state and local government action. As it so happens, pressure on state legislative and local government officials is less common and therefore even more effective. I’ll be looking for ways to target state and local governments (in both blue and red areas) in the coming months. I hope you will too.

Think of the message you’re sending. Remember that how you live your life is a message to yourself, and to everyone watching you. Right now, that includes the entire world. If you want the world to know that we do not abide by what this broligarchy has planned for our future, how are you going to make that clear to the world? How are you going to make it clear to your community? How are you going to make it clear to your family?

And most importantly, how are you going to make it clear to yourself?

You are needed. Right here, and right now. If you’re reading this, then I have no doubt that you are a person with a big heart and a burning desire to help your community. You’ve got talents and abilities that you might not have tapped yet. Maybe you don’t even know you have them. Maybe you’re a little nervous about putting yourself out there. Maybe you think that what you bring to the table is somehow not special enough to share. Maybe you wonder if you’re really needed at all.

I’m here to tell you: you are.

And you’re not just needed for phone calls or postcards or donations or to finish all of the items on a weekly list.

You’re needed because you’re you.

There’s something out there that you are personally intended to do, friend.

It is my job – and my honor – to tell you: it is time to go find it.

I can’t tell you what exactly you’re intended to do, because the ways that you can help are as unique as you are as a person. But I can tell you one thing that I’ve learned over nearly a decade of organizing.

Big-hearted people with courage and imagination are practically unstoppable.

And I can’t wait to see what you do.

Let’s get to work.

Photo by Oliver Cole on Unsplash

Actions for the Week of January 21, 2025

Friend, if you think the world feels heavier this week than ever, you’re not alone. But I’m here to tell you that you can lighten that load by doing something small – a “small deed” – to bring about the world that you want to see.

In doing so we tell the world, the universe, our leaders – and most importantly, ourselves – that we will not go quietly into that good night.

I call it Action Therapy.

That’s why in each Tuesday post I share a few “small things” – usually a Small Thing to Read, a Small Event to Attend, and a Small Call to Make or Action to Take. My intention here is to give you actions you can tuck into your week with ease – and know that you’re doing something today to make tomorrow better.

Join me in doing so, friends. It matters.

Small Thing(s) to Read: Indivisible Guide, Your Local Epidemiologist, and Immigration Policy Tracker

This sounds like a lot, but it’s not – it’s really just one short article that I think does an excellent job of breaking down a very problematic aspect of RFK Jr.’s nomination, alongside two resources that you can bookmark to consult in the future.

First, the two resources.

The Immigration Policy Tracking Project (IPTP) (available at https://immpolicytracking.org/about/) is a project of Professor Lucas Guttentag, together with Stanford and Yale law students and a team of leading national immigration experts. It began in 2017 with the first Trump administration, and has been updated ever since. Going forward, it will “compile and index all identifiable … Trump 2.0 immigration policies with key source documents and the current status of each policy.”

Worthy of a bookmark in your browser.

Also, if you haven’t checked out the new Indivisible Guide yet, add it to your reading list. It provides practical tips for how you can protect your community and defy Trump’s authoritarian agenda, whether you live in a red or blue state. It answers many of the questions they get from new activists about things like placing calls to your member of Congress and how to organize locally.

Second, the short article: Here's what we're getting ourselves into. Written by Your Local Epidemiologist, it breaks down one of the dangerous – and less-often covered – aspects of RFK Jr.’s nomination: nature fallacy. It’s a common logical fallacy (natural is good, man-made is bad) that YLE rightly points out has been drilled into our brains by marketers. I think it’s incredibly important to be able to spot that fallacy so that we can call it out.

(If you are not already a subscriber to Your Local Epidemiologist, may I gently suggest becoming one?)

Small Event to Attend: Indivisible Processing Session, Blue Missouri

On Thursday at 3pm eastern, Indivisible Co-Executive Directors Leah and Ezra will lead a discussion processing the events of the week. You can register for the Zoom here. Also note that they have started to upload their calls to a youtube channel (excellent) so that you can watch them – or refer back to them – whenever. Check out that channel here.

And on Thursday night at 6pm central, join me and Jessica Piper (the original Dirt Road Democrat and ED of Blue Missouri) for our monthly Blue Missouri organizing call. We’ll hear from MO state legislators and from St Louis-based rabble rouser Fred Wellman. Register here.

Small Action to Take

Hat tip to Rogan’s List for sharing this article by the Electronic Frontier Foundation detailing how to increase your privacy on Facebook: Mad at Meta? Don't Let Them Collect and Monetize Your Personal Data. The article is full of great tips; I implemented them all and recommend you do, too. It took me five minutes, tops.

If you’re feeling spunky, may I recommend giving a call to your Senators to lodge your opposition to Pete Hegseth’s nomination? Everyone on the planet knows that he’s not qualified (I wish that was hyperbole), so I don’t think we need to belabor the issue.

Here’s our script from last week:

Script: Hi, my name is [name] and I’m a constituent at [zip code]. I want the Senator to oppose Pete Hegseth for Secretary of Defense. Besides the many issues with his character, his hearing last week confirmed that he is wholly unqualified to lead the Department of Defense. Thank you.

Don’t yet have your Senators’ telephone numbers programmed into your phone? No worries – you can find their contact info here: https://www.senate.gov/senators/senators-contact.htm

Thanks for reading, friend – I’m glad to see you here! You’re making a difference, I promise.

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