SUMMARY: Enough is enough.
Added links at the end, Sept. 8, 2019.
I struggle with how best to ensure that this country goes back to being on track to being Great. And I am NOT talking MAGA, in case you had any doubts. I'm horrified by the assault on human rights, on our economy, on the world's environment, on acceptance and tolerance of all people, on honesty, on science, on civility, on women...
It tears me apart regularly. It interrupts my sleep. It interrupts my days. It makes it hard to do anything at all, actually, because I start feeling like our country is being ruined and there's no going back. Deep inside, really, I think that's not the case, but I have enough of my own issues to deal with to find the energy to do anything more than spread money around.
So, I do. I donate regularly to an assortment of organizations that I believe have the right chops to make good use of it. Some are the Sierra Club (and/or other local similar groups when local resources are endangered), the ACLU, Planned Parenthood, the Human Rights Campaign, the Democratic party or various campaigns therein...
Today I attended a postcard "party" put on by a friend and working within the Postcards For The Resistance grass-roots organization. (Not sure on the right website; there are, it turns out, lots of groups with similar approaches, which is awesome.) It's a great idea: Big things can get done by many, many people doing small things and knowing that personal communication is the most effective way to get people to take action, such as: Register to vote. Vote.
So, you make your own or order postcards with a clear message (e.g., Vote) and personalized info (vote for xxx in the upcoming election because yyyy, and thanks for being a voter). Handwritten and addressed. (They provide addresses, for individuals who have already expressed an interest or are registered Democrats.) And then you do 5. Maybe do another 5 during a commercial while you're watching TV. Maybe you do 5 on Saturday. Maybe you do 5 on your lunch break. And when thousands of people do the same, the message gets out, and they've had documented success with this in the 2018 election.
When I get more specific links, I'll post them. But here's the kind of thing I did today. The message is predefined; you can add notes like "dear voter" or "thanks for voting" or the like. But you write it all by hand. And draw or color the postcards. Personalized.
I did at least 10, for an election in an underserved parish in Louisiana. It's a start.
Related links from my friend, the co-organizer of this event. I hate being overwhelmed with things I *could* do, and links, and organizations. So here are a couple of places to start (I wish some gave more info before insisting that you sign up for an account on their site):
- I hope she'll leave this up: Very short slide show with data and explanations and links galore. I took some from the show and added here.
- https://swingleft.org/p/super-state-strategy - SwingLeft: This year, Focus on super-states' elections. Short one-page explanation of what that means, why important, how they're doing this.
- https://sisterdistrict.com/ - projects like gerrymandering Postcard parties like I attended--simple, easy -- and other things, too (you might start just by seeing what's going on in your area)
- https://votefwd.org/ - Vote Forward: Send letters to unlikely voters to encourage or help them--they give you the template and info on who to send to, a wee bit more energy and a little bit of cost.
- Swing Left: Find an event near you, such as letter-writing and voter reg info by mail.
- https://www.resistancecalendar.org/ - variety of things you can do, from small at home to travel and canvass, and more. Just a quick browse to see some examples.
- Time magazine article on why local and state races are so important
Links just in my area (for me):
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