Chances are, if you’re a subscriber to this publication, you’ve heard about the ramping up of fascism here in the U.S.— obviously for a while now, but very acutely this week. We wanted to make sure you’ve got information that you need so that you can contribute meaningfully to the work at hand. Protesting, yes, but also, there’s a myriad of other ways to help defeat this authoritarian escalation.

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Look at all these scheduled protests for Saturday, June 14th! If you’re still looking for one to attend, check out the No Kings website for locations, resources, toolkits and more.

What if I can’t attend a protest? Am I a bad progressive?

There are a million reasons that folks won’t be able to attend an actual protest: Disability! Work conflicts! Family care! Safety! You don’t have to justify your reasons for not putting your body out there. But, if you’re committed to solidarity, this is also not the time to hide under the covers and hope it all goes away, either. Let’s find something that you can do.

One of my favorite resources has been making the rounds this week. Longtime movement strategist and generally excellent human created this framework for understanding all of the roles that need to be filled for a successful social movement.

An Instagram post from Alyssa, founder of Queer Latines, talks about how she sees this particular moment: protests are where the disrupters and frontline responders can show up and be highly effective. But we also need caregivers (can you watch someone’s kids while they attend? Can you make and hand out free food and water to folks?), storytellers (can you write a letter to the editor of your local paper?), builders (can you donate some time or money to structural needs?), and all the other roles laid out in Deepa’s map.

dontcallmelysA post shared by @dontcallmelys

The media focuses on protests because protests create a spectacle that’s easy to feature. And showing up to protests when we’re able is absolutely critical to show others that they’re not alone, and that people are fighting for the common good. Our culture and media don’t get interested in many things that aren’t spectacles, so you don’t often see people working on jail support for arrested protesters, making donations to organizing or showing up for mutual aid work. And because of that, us everyday people don’t necessarily feel like we’re having an impact. This is where we’ve got to trust in our solidarity with one another, that all of our “smaller” actions are contributing to changing the future.

I’m reminded of a concept I learned from Judaism called “tikkun olam.” The definition that was taught to me was that, early on, the universe had shattered into a bazillion little pieces, and it's up to each of us to take one little tiny shard and put it back together. No one person can put the whole universe back together, but we all have a responsibility to put our two shards back together. What are the shards you can grab right now?

If you’d like to dig a little bit deeper into the The Social Change Map, don’t hesitate to reach out to Deepa—she does deep dives, workshops, conversations and more into and with the framework, helping groups and coalitions apply it.

In the meantime, leave your favorite suggestions in the comments for how people can support the organized resistance in all the myriad of ways this map lays out! We love as a daily source of inspiration for these— here are the recommendations for tomorrow:

Chop Wood, Carry WaterChop Wood, Carry Water 6/12Hi, all, and happy Thursday…Read morea month ago · 215 likes · 51 comments · Jess Craven

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