With everything going on, we might forget the individuals being impacted in the fray. Keep your sights on them. They matter the most.
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The problems our country faces are deeply troubling, and they’re getting bigger. There appears to be no reprieve in the offing, and we must keep up our strength while fighting back. This is going to be an ultramarathon. Donald Trump is using a bicycle while the rest of us must trudge along. But we are many, and he is one. With his MAGA supporters and Congress in tow, the decisions to disappear people and trample human rights rest with one man. Given our strength in numbers, if we are strategic in funneling our energy, we will make inroads. Here are some tips on how to fight back this week.
1. Don’t waste your time on fruitless efforts.
With so many causes to devote time to, so many fights to fight, we may be distracted by unverified calls to action. We may be blinded by hope without cause. We can waste our time (and money). Be wary of this.
A couple days ago, I saw a post with this attention-grabbing heading: “CALL TO ACTION.” It concerned HB 1205, a bill that Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) signed into law earlier this month. This antidemocratic law imposes new regulations that make it much harder for citizens to get reform initiatives on the ballot through petitions.
Over a group photo, the headline read: “Group Seeks to Overturn Ballot Initiative Killing Bill with Petition.”
Now, that doesn’t seem right, does it? This isn’t one of those last-ditch things with the clock ticking down to midnight. DeSantis has already signed HB 1205 into law, a law specifically erecting barriers against petitions seeking to change state law.
Another red flag was that the photo did not attach a group name to this initiative. It just said “grassroot activists.” But the top of the photo read, “Florida Constitutional Amendment Network.” So I googled them.
I found an X account with 40 followers that was started in February. On each of their X posts, they tell people to go to flamendments.com. That’s a fake link. It leads to a Google doc asking for money, with survey questions underneath.
Sketchy.
On that doc, there is a gmail address where you can send questions. So, I wrote to them:
Hello,
I saw a call to action about HB 1205, that you need 200,000 signed petitions to overthrow it.
Do you have paperwork or sourcing that shows that it is possible for a law to be overturned by petition, especially when that law is against citizen-led initiatives?
Thanks!
The email bounced back. The address could not be found or is unable to receive mail.
There was a Big Mouth Media icon at the bottom of the photo online. Big Mouth Media’s website declares itself “Your source for news and progressive commentary in Florida.” The site has a call to action: “Call your representatives and demand they repeal HB 1205.” That’s something people can do for themselves, however ineffectual it may be. But how are they connected to this group asking people to sign citizen-led petitions? I emailed them to try to find out.
The email bounced back.
Now, I don’t know if this was an emergency network that was set up in February to try to stop HB 1205. But I know they don’t have a working website. I know they did register as a political committee with the state, so they must on some level be legitimate — or at least aspire to legitimacy. But that’s not enough.
I know they wasted a lot of my time.
Moral of the story: If you’re looking for small things to do to fight back against authoritarianism, make sure the people you are giving to or participating with are for real. If you are an organization or group asking people to do something for you, make sure you have information about yourselves out there where we can find it. Make sure your email works. Get a website, even an easily editable blogging site like WordPress.
2. Collaborate with local groups that contact you, sharing your expertise freely and openly.
As you continue to do small things, you are probably gaining traction in local resistance communities, and that’s a good thing. Engage with those looking for your help, and don’t be afraid to ask them for their expertise as well.
I was contacted by a representative of a local immigration-safety group that got my name from a woman who met me at a resistance event a few weeks ago. We arranged to meet for coffee, and when I got there, he was already seated, ready for action. The group wanted to hold a press conference before the next school board meeting about a memo our school board sent out in February stating that ICE officers could remove children from classrooms without a warrant and without parental consent. Several board meetings later, and after dozens of parents and teachers’ comments had been ignored, this immigrant network wanted to show a strong front. But they did not know how a press conference worked. They did not know how to write a press release. Again, my area of expertise could be of use.
During our meeting, I explained how broadcast news works. Because the school board meeting would be at 6 p.m., they should hold the press conference at just after 5 p.m. Since nightly local news leads their shows with live shots, they would be much more likely to send a reporter out to cover this if they knew it would make for compelling video at the top of their show. Even better if the press conference coverage could flow into the meeting and beyond, appearing in their 5:30 p.m. and 6 p.m. broadcasts. After that, the group should make members available for interviews so that the reporters could refashion the news packages with new information for the 10 p.m. and 11 p.m. shows. When talking about broadcast news, those are the key times in the daily news cycle.
This was all new information to the person I spoke with, and he took extensive notes and went back to the leadership of the immigration-safety group to formulate their plan.
3. Follow through and help those groups with specific goals.
During our meeting, the immigration-safety group leader asked if I could help him with a press release, so the next day I drafted one, announcing there would be a press conference before the school board meeting with a march from the conference to the meeting, and interview availability, in time for live shots. All these components help a news desk determine where to allocate their resources.
And it worked. The press conference and parental dissent at the meeting received coverage from six local outlets, in print, broadcast, and online. That’s nearly all of them.
4. Expand your participation in those specific goals nationally.
Working with local immigration groups has alerted me to many areas of need. The avenues for helping immigrants are many; they include warning people when ICE is coming, giving people the information they need to try to hang on to their freedom if accosted, and pressuring our institutions to stand up for immigrant children who have the right under the US Constitution to safety and education.
To further my own education and expand ways I can help this highly vulnerable population right now, I joined Siembra NC. This group started in North Carolina, but it has expanded nationwide. I have been participating in Siembra chats for the Florida area on Signal, putting my individual weight behind an organization helping immigrants in a state where they have been treated shamefully by both the governor and the federal government.
I also attended a Siembra training for their Defend and Recruit initiative, and here is what I learned:
Unlike Trump Round 1, we are in danger of losing the public-opinion battle about immigration. We need to overcome MAGA propaganda that people arrested by ICE are criminals. We need to call out the impact of Trump’s cruel deportation effort on vulnerable families and children.
This is a base-building moment. As the powers that be turn cruelty into a weapon against immigrants who seek a better life in the United States — once a beacon of freedom to the world’s dispossessed — the rest of us have a chance to rally around human rights and work together to defend the promises articulated in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.
Right now, many detentions are still jail arrests. This means agents go to local jails to arrest people showing up to take care of small legal infractions like traffic tickets. We want to fight for “cite and release” programs, so people don’t have to show up to the jail at all. Instead, they get a ticket and pay it without having to appear at a specific location at a specific time.
Most importantly, we need to organize know-your-rights meetings for immigrants in our areas. Print out cards with vital information so people have it handy at times of emergency. They may contain simple but potentially life-saving instructions: Don’t just open the door. Demand identification and a warrant. Wait them out.
Fear keeps people from speaking out and organizing, so an important aspect of the resistance network is to help people learn how to assess threats in their communities. Once people understand their own rights, they are a lot more open to helping others. And immigrants need all the help they can get.
5. Fight for public transportation.
Locally, our city, and the university housed within it, is gutting our public transportation. The university and the city have traditionally shared bus costs. Bus routes are being shed this year, without apology. Many of these routes provide the only way that people in need can get to necessary public amenities such as homeless shelters.
One group that has been fighting to preserve regional public transportation is the Alachua County Labor Coalition. I signed up to do research for them and make phone calls to residents to raise awareness about the threats to these vital community resources.
6. Write Congress about the National Asthma Control Program.
As we watch President Trump undo Biden-era actions that capped the cost of some vital medications while promising to implement his own, it’s important to remember that there’s more to public health than just drugs — such as programs that save lives by educating parents and children about how to prevent or treat potentially deadly asthma attacks. Use this form from the Allergy and Asthma Network to ask your congressperson to reinstate the National Asthma Control Program.
7. Leave food in local drop boxes when you can.
On the main road that leads from my house into the downtown area of Gainesville, FL, there is a food drop box outside a church. Unlike a typical food pantry or a soup kitchen or homeless-shelter kitchen, it’s a noninstitutional food stockpile. People can leave whatever extra food they have for people in need. You don’t have to interact with anyone or ask permission, and you don’t need an ID. I started dropping food off there this year when I noticed it had gone empty for a couple of days.
The first time I filled the box, that food was gone within a day. So, now, whenever I go grocery shopping, I buy the two-for-one deals at Publix and give one to the box. I also include floss and tampons and batteries when I can, which I’m not sure is allowed, but I’m pretty sure people need. If your area doesn’t already have these boxes, check with local churches and other institutions to see if you might be able to put up some. If boxes exist where you are, drop food off every once in a while. It really helps.
By concentrating our actions locally and expanding our education and knowledge nationally, we can make a difference to those around us in the most efficient manner, following a well-tested, best-practice model. Continue to educate yourself on the issues, work with people already involved in specific causes, and use your energy locally, and we will change this country’s course, eventually. See you next week.
Past weeks of “One Small Thing” can be found here.
