You’ve called your representatives, NOW WHAT?
Welcome to How to Resist, a blueprint for resistance based on nonviolence, mutual aid, and community building for ordinary people who want to save democracy.
How to Resist is rooted in progressive politics, the histories of nonviolent movements, and a commitment to strengthening communities and creating a system that works for everyone, not just the wealthy and powerful.
Here, you will find actions that explicitly support: minorities, including women, LGBTQIA+ folks, trans and nonbinary folks, immigrants, workers, and reproductive healthcare.
What You Can Expect
The How to Resist newsletter is published 1-2 times a week. The information shared here is drawn from history, journalism, scholars of nonviolence, academic and non-profit research, and current events.
What you’ll find in the Newsletter:
Take Action: Mutual aid and community-building ideas you can try today
Tools of Resistance: Tactics of nonviolent resistance, past and present
Good News from the Resistance: Sunday morning news roundup of good news
Better Political Conversations: Strategies for engaging across divides without losing your values or your relationships
What you’ll find in the Subscriber Chat:
Bulletin Board: A space for subscribers (both free and paid) to share actions, ideas, and resources, and rally support for what they’re building in their own communities
How to Use How to Resist
Think of How to Resist as a catalog of ideas, an instruction manual, a choose-your-own-adventure guide. My goal is to provide you with the information you need to find your path and the encouragement you need to take the next step.
My advice: Pick two issues you care deeply about and make that your focus. You can use the Action Kits to give you ideas for how to get involved. If you are interested in using some of the Tools of Resistance mentioned here, you’ll be more successful with a group. Get plugged into your local Indivisible group, join an activist organization for the issues you care about, or simply recruit a group of friends. Use these guides as a jumping-off point for generating ideas and inspiration for your action.
The rest of the time, focus on building community where you are: meet your neighbors, go to a local cultural festival, learn people’s names, gather people in and feed them; even (and especially!) those with differing political views. Use the guides to Better Political Conversations to help you stay grounded and kind in hard conversations.
Community is the antidote to fascism, and community is how we will survive this.
Lastly, take heart. Every action, every choice, every kindness matters. Take inspiration and courage from Stories of Resistance (published in the Notes section) and Good News from the Resistance (published every Sunday), and know that millions of us stand with you.
About the Author
I’m M-, an academic librarian with a background in political science and an information activist committed to the power of ordinary people. I write about nonviolent resistance, mutual aid, and community building—not as abstract ideals, but as practical tools for defending democracy. My goal is to create a space for those who believe that small acts, done collectively, can shift the course of history.
Support How to Resist
As a librarian, I am committed to keeping How to Resist free to read and publicly available.
Producing How to Resist, however, is not free, and with fewer than 1% of readers supporting How to Resist with a paid subscription, we are still a long way from being fully funded.
If How to Resist informs, empowers, or inspires you, please consider upgrading to a paid subscription. Your support will ensure that How to Resist will be here, and be freely available, for as long as it’s needed.
You can also make a one-time donation at ko-fi.com/howtoresist
