Does anyone know any charities like the ACLU or Planned Parenthood that accept donations via paypal? I want to help out but I don’t have a credit card
For folks in Seattle, there are four rallies/public forums scheduled Thursday through Sunday at Westlake Park this week. Please see the Facebook post at https://m.facebook.com/events/718258601681664 for more information.
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https://twitter.com/katewitko/status/826922711024803842
You’re not alone and we outnumber them.
Oh it didn’t embed. How does one embed?
CAIR, Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), and BlackAlliance (BAJI) all have PayPal options.
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And honestly could use the money more than the ACLU and PP at this point.
Adding BAJI to the OP. Thanks for pointing it out.
Double post sorry but the Senate Committee on Homeland Security is taking calls on Bannon’s appointment to the NSC if you feel like taking a moment to call and voice your opinion on that the number is 202-224-4751 it might take a few tries to get through. I recommend having a statement in mind or written down before you call, something like: “Hello my name is [name here], I live in [city and state here], and I oppose the appointment of Steve Bannon to the National Security Council as well as the removal of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and Director of National Intelligence from the permanent panel. I do not feel these removals and appointments are good for our national security.”
Please everyone call! I did this earlier and actually got through and was able to leave a message! All three or four other senators and such people that I’ve tried to call so far had totally full mailboxes and that kinda made me feel like shit that I couldn’t tell them to stop these various shitlords. 
Nice to actually be like “yay I was able to do a SMALL THING.”
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Does anyone know a good way to meet with or find political groups to join? I’ve been looking and I can’t find anything in my area. It’s weird because I live in a liberal oasis surrounded by red.
I’d say a good place to start is find out if your county has an ACLU chapter, since those are going to be involved in the community and have connections to other various activist groups. If it does exist, there’s probably a Facebook page or group, which can also keep you abreast of events at least. Googling “[county name] [known political group]” can at point in the right direction, or at least lead to news articles about specific groups that might name people to get in contact with.
I recommend you get involved with groups with which you identify or are an ally to. (Though if you are a cishet straight white male please do not join a men’s rights group, I would be very sad.) I’ve linked a few organizations in the OP that might have chapters near you if you want to check in with them. Specifically, Planned Parenthood and the Human Rights Campaign (grr) are always looking for volunteers. Also a local homeless shelter or food bank will ALWAYS need people. If you are like me and have been a filthy socialist since birth then the Democratic Socialists of America are for you. Additionally, if you have a Unitarian Universalist congregation near you check them out and see if you like it because wow, they are amazing. (Please note, I utterly hate religion and yet love the UUs. They’re just so good.)
Edit: If there really is no ACLU, HRC, PP, UU, DSA, or food bank, homeless shelter, etc near you then it’s time to BYOG (build your own group) by either contacting one of those folks and requesting a chapter or starting one yourself (the DSA in particular has a how to on their site, not sure about others.) If you have a friend group it’s always good to host a letter writing party. Get everyone together and write letters to your representatives then get drunk and watch Anime together. (@ChorpSaway has Jenner certified Excellent Anime Opinions and his Podcast Cocoa☆Disaster has some fantastic anime recommendations for all your cheetos eating, mountain dew drinking, and anime watching needs.)
Do you mind saying where you’re at? I can see what I can find through other groups I’m connected to.
If not; keep an eye out for when actions happen in your area. Bigger actions, like rallies and marches and protests. These are usually organized by multiple groups working in tandem, and either showing up or finding the Facebook events for them should connect you with who is putting it together.
That’s usually the easiest and most direct way; it also lets you start following and being connected with people involved who can keep you in the know.
Toledo. The only recent rally of any significance was at our university and I didn’t hear about it for days.
Two notes of reasonable practicality:
- I know there’s a Food Not Bombs group in Toledo, so if you’re interested in food justice there’s that,
- Have you talked with your co-workers about organizing a union? There’s a ton of good information and resources out there and it’s the single most effective thing you can do to reinforce any kind of activist project you care to support.
Here’s an anti-Trump action that happened recently (I found through an article about the people organizing it.) I’d honestly just add all of the event creators if you don’t feel weird; organizers usually get a ton of random adds because of stuff like this, so they won’t care. That should be a first step into finding out events, at the very least.
https://www.facebook.com/events/1750727358503237/?active_tab=about
It also depends on your area of focus.
I’d look into your local USW (United Steelworkers). Yours is Local 1-346. In some places it just acts as a standard Union, but in our chapter (in Pittsburgh) and many places where they have the resources, they end up participating in / leading labor action and show up in solidarity with other actions. Ours has a very broad, direct action subset called Fight Back, but I know this isn’t the norm. I can get more info on this if you need.
I’ve talked to Jenner about this but I personally have been struggling with doing anything, due in part to a good amount of social anxiety, but mostly because I a) work 9-6 every weekday and b) I live in a suburb-to-rural area and do not live even remotely close to a major metro area where things happen.
I did send in my dues and join the DSA, at least.
I get really discouraged when the closest actionable things I hear about are minimum an hour drive from my house.
Doing things in person is effective and helpful, but not at all required. The #1 most important thing for you to do is take care of yourself, and if you need to handle anxiety, that’s more than reasonable.
That being said, there is a lot you can still do. Make the daily/weekly phone calls to your elected officials. Support charities by donation, or if possible, volunteer work. Let people fighting know they’re doing the right thing. Positive reinforcement is incredibly important.
A local publication has really been supportive for Portland protestors, providing information and resources. This article of theirs is worth a read.
Also local comic shops have been providing free issues of RESIST! but I haven’t looked it over yet.
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What LaminatedMoth said! Self care is extremely important, and with an administration like this, surviving is resistance in itself.
However, recent events have shown calls to be hugely effective.
The really great site Weekly Resistance provides ONE Trump resistance cause a week, and provides you with phone numbers and scripts in order to make the calls. It’s super easy and low-stress!
Also, for everyone else:
There are going to be around 40 Trump protests this weekend. You can find cities, times, and locations here
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Stumbled into this on twitter. There’s a lot to learn from previous, effective activism.
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