Many of us went to bed on November 8th feeling defeated, but we woke up on the 9th ready to fight. Millions of people took to the streets the day after the inauguration to express their opposition to Trump's racist and authoritarian agenda. We're activated. Now it's time to get organized.
Some of us have never been involved in our democracy, besides going into the voting booth every two or four years. The last civics lesson we got was back in seventh grade so we're not exactly sure how all of this works. While social media is a great tool for disseminating information, it can be difficult to separate what's useful from the hype.
The following online resources will help you get informed, get organized, and get to work. Check them out, see how they work, and bookmark your favorite one. You may want to poke around for local resources such as newsletters, websites, and Facebook groups that focus on issues in your state and district.
Also, while we want to fight the good fight eight days a week, being politically active can be draining. So pick an afternoon or two a week that you dedicate to the cause. This list provides you with powerful resources that will help you use your time and energy wisely.
1. Indivisible: A Practical Guide for Resisting the Trump Agenda - A comprehensive document with important information about how to make the most impact. Written by insightful former congressional staffers who witnessed (and learned from) the Tea Party's successful grassroots movement. They also have a locator to connect you with activist groups in your area.
2. TheSixtyFive - Our Congressmen and women work for us, and calling them is a great way to make our voices heard. The65 organizes weekly calls to action to influential leaders and provides a bank of phone scripts about important issues.
3. SwingLeft - The control of the House in 2018 will be decided by a handful of Swing Districts. This site connects you to your closest Swing District in order to learn about actionable opportunities to support progressives and defeat Republicans.
4. 2 Hours a Week - An easy-to-use website providing a wide variety of tangible actions you can take on important issues.
5. Track Trump - This website focuses on tracking the specific policy pledges from Trump's "Contract with the American Voter" during the first 100 days. Each policy change is color-coded depending on its progress: grey for no action, yellow for steps taken, and green for policy implemented. They also provided a daily roundup about the actual decisions, proposals, and executive orders made by Trump's administration - without any of the distractions.
6. MoveOn's Resist Trump Tuesdays - An effective way to resist on a local level and voice opposition to Trump's administration. You can choose to receive text message updates, which I find very helpful.
7. TED talks - Gain perspective by learning from the experts. Some of my favorites are Robb Willer's "How to have better political conversations," Halla Tómasdóttir's "It's time for women to run for office", and the TED playlist "Plug into your power!"
8. Countable - A website (and app!) to help you understand what Congress is debating and share your opinion with your lawmakers.
9. 5calls - This user-friendly website provides phone scripts for important issues, connects you to the right people (Senators, Army Corps of Engineers, etc), and allows you to track the calls you make each week.
10. The Madison Project - This online platform allows civically-minded citizens to participate in crafting laws and legislation by leaving comments, annotating content, and interacting with a wider community.
11. Democracy OS - The Net Democracy Foundation created this platform to enable citizens to debate specific proposals when their representatives are voting on them. Use this platform to gather information, engage in public debate, and vote on proposals.
12. #MovementMatch - This quiz will match you with local (if you're in the NYC/Philly/Bay area) and national social justice organizations that work on the issues most important to you.