Hey, hey, neighbors. I wanted to pass along that I’m participating in The Mass Blackout from November 25- December 2nd. Their goals are as follows:

NO SPENDING. NO WORK. NO SURRENDER.

The system isn’t broken. It’s working exactly as designed—for the wealthy.

The Mass Blackout is a nationwide economic action, coordinated across aligned organizations, calling Americans to:

* Stop online or in-store shopping (except for small businesses)

* Stop work

* Stop streaming, cancel subscriptions, no digital purchases

* Remove the regime

If you must spend: support small, local businesses only. Pay in cash.

We’re not targeting small businesses or communities—we’re targeting the corporate systems that profit from injustice, fuel authoritarianism, and crush worker power.

What’s in Weirdo’s Live Podcast?

In this podcast, I explain why I think this boycott is an important part of our collective work. I explain that one needn’t be a perfectionist to participate. Abstain as you’re able. I ask you to directly share a link about The Mass Blackout with people in your contacts, moving around the algorithms and containers meant to suppress pro-democracy organizing.

I also share a story about a conversation I recently had with my friend, John, a Quaker minister, who reminded me of how Obama won the presidency by using Marshall Ganz’s theory of change (now published in People, Power, Change) and that, after elected, this model of organizing was disbanded— not because it wasn’t powerful but because Obama was pressured by establishment Democrats and their millionaire and billionaire donors who were terrified of an energized and organized base of community members across the country.

John didn’t tell me this story to dunk on Dems and wallow in hopelessness; that’s not his style. He did it to remind me of just how powerful WE are when we come together.

To reclaim the ship, our communities, across the country, must relearn how to organize ourselves relying concepts like Ganz’s “snowflake model” of organizing and alongside others. adrienne maree brown refers to a similar style of people getting together as “emergent strategy”— where we build power from the ground up, move toward each other, and learn to move with purpose. I also highly recommend checking out resources and trainings from Strategic Nonviolence Academy and the Beloved Communities Network and to learn models of organizing organizing groups like Southerners on New Ground.

We’re seeing the beginnings of an emergent strategy unfold right now. I just watched an incredibly creative protest, organized by the National Day Laborer Organizing Network, happening at Home Depot. We all have many things to learn from our gorgeously patriotic neighbors in Charlotte, NC who watched the invasion of Chicago and PDX and have built a rapid response strategy. It is time to reach out to people in Charlotte and learn.

We need freedom “night schools,” collectives, and civic groups.

We need to weave back the fabric of our communities, not just to remove a traitorous mobster and his band of billionaire criminals but to reclaim our communities and our ecosystem for our children and for all future generations.

This system is cruel, greedy, and death-dealing— and it cannot continue in its current state. We must remember that our children are watching. We can be overwhelmed and scared, but we cannot remain passive. We must alchemize our fear into coordinated action.

My sincere hope is that The Mass Blackout will mark the beginning of rebuilding our collective muscle to work together to get the world every person and every living being deserves. The ancestors are at our backs.

But as my friend, John, reminds me often: It’s not enough to know what you’re supposed to do— you also have to DO it.

John’s a wise guy. Hope you’ll take his advice. I am.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit muppetgender.substack.com