📌 We made history, 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.
Dear Resisters,
I started How to Resist the same week the New York Times was asking a shellshocked nation, “Resistance, Where Art Thou?”
I originally set out to track the resistance, finding and sharing news articles on BlueSky. In the beginning, I was lucky if I could find even one action a day to share. When I moved to Substack and started How to Resist and the series Good News from the Resistance, every Monday, I was always afraid this would be the week the resistance fizzled out. Maybe, there would be no actions this week... Maybe we were just too overwhelmed, too fatigued, too defeated…
My goal with this Substack was to remind you of your power and encourage you to find your path toward action. I wanted to shorten the distance between doomscrolling on a Tuesday night and creating meaningful change, by giving you tools of nonviolent resistance, community building, and mutual aid, and showining you that resistance to authoritariansim, dictatorship, and fascism, is not just something that happens in other countries, it can happen here and it is happening here.
As someone who has been tracking the ups and downs of the resistance closely since the inauguration, Saturday’s No Kings Day protests left me awe-struck. They exceeded my expectations in every way: the number of events, the scale of participation, the variety of expression, the dedication to nonviolence, the determination to bring joy and life to the streets— not to mention seeing thousands out in Saint Paul a mere hours after being told one of their lawmaker was assassinated, another grievously injured, and that the suspect may target protesters.
I am still struggling to find the words, but this much is clear: We have critical mass.
So what do we do now? How do we harness this momentum and not let go until we have the America that we demand? My advice, for those of you who are looking for the next step:
JOIN A GROUP THAT MEETS REGULARLY AND PLANS CONCRETE ACTIONS.
This is the most powerful thing you can do right now. Not sure where to start? Try your local Indivisible chapter; they’re everywhere. Have an issue you’re passionate about? Look for an organization that advocates and organizes for that issue. Prefer to work locally? Get plugged into your church or synagogue’s mutual aid work, local food banks, or shelters. Have a special skill (medicine, law, carpentry, software development), look for other folks who organize around delivering that skill to the places where it’s needed.
Whatever this group is, it’s essential that it meets regularly and plans concrete actions. If you sign up and don’t hear any mention of concrete actions within a month, or if you’ve been in a group and so far it’s just venting on Facebook, it’s time to unsubscribe and go to the next one on the list.
Nonviolent resistance uses different tactics, but make no mistake, we are still participating in a great battle. Now is the time to sign up for your unit and meet your battle buddies.
On Saturday, we made the will of the people known to every elected official in America. Despite this, we will no doubt face major challenges in the weeks, months, and years ahead. We are entering a new phase, and if we want this moment to be a turning point and not just a flash in the pan, we need to be prepared to back up what we said on our signs.
If you haven’t already, spend some time familiarizing yourself with tactics of civil disobedience - that is, the willful violation of laws and statutes (e.g., blocking entrances, blocking traffic, occupying spaces, refusing to disperse), in other words, doing things that can get you arrested. Substack has specific content guidelines that I need to respect in order to keep doing this, but I will continue to share tactics in a historical context and document current acts of civil resistance and civil disobedience in our weekly round-up, Good News from the Resistance.
If you want to read more about tactics in the meantime, these are my go-to reference books and online resources:
Beer, M. (2021). Civil resistance tactics in the 21st century (M. Bartkowksi & J. Constantine, Eds.). International Center on Nonviolent Conflict. https://www.amazon.com/Civil-Resistance-Tactics-21st-Century/dp/1943271402/
Sharp, G. (1980). Politics of nonviolent action: Methods of nonviolent struggle pt. 2. Sargent (Porter), Publisher. https://www.thriftbooks.com/w/the-politics-of-nonviolent-action-the-methods-of-nonviolent-action_gene-sharp/299028/
Beautiful Trouble: https://beautifultrouble.org/toolbox/tactic
Museum of Protest: Methods https://museumofprotest.org/methods/
As you’re reading about these tactics, be curious with yourself: is this something you would be willing to engage in? Is this something your group would be willing to engage in? If we are to be successful, we are going to have to move beyond protests and signs, and it’s important you know where your boundaries are. If you are willing to engage in civil disobedience, it’s important to know that as well, so you have the support you need— legally, financially, socially, to engage successfully. Joining organizations with these resources can help make sure you are prepared for any situation.
True power will always lie with the people. I don’t know what will happen next, but I do know that whatever it is, we’re up for the challenge.
M-.
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This week if your in a red state your calls to reps and senate time to make calls or write emails. This bill they are trying to pass is disastourus to our country. My bluesky is @bearchicago.bsky.social I have pics of what to say to your Senator. These slides were from an indivisible zoom last week a 2 hour presentation on what’s in this bill. Please consider. Now most of the GOP are not answering the phones but I have got through to some. Since I don’t live in a red state they don’t care what I have to say.
Here's an additional opportunity: commit to participating in a General Strike if/when the time comes: generalstrikeus.com