Hi, all; here’s a list of things you can do to help people and to minimize harm in this time.
Find protests:
Check out left wing/progressive/socialist meet spaces on https://www.meetup.com. Many of them will have a protest or get you in contact with people who might know when or where protests are. Show up to them. Be seen.
Find protests: https://popularresistance.org/calendar/
Find protests: http://www.protestwithme.com/locations.php
What to do if your rights are violated at a protest.
- Donate to Planned Parenthood (Right to choose/health/sex education.)
- Volunteer with Planned Parenthood (Right to choose/health/sex education.)
- Donate to the Trevor Project (LGBTQ rights, LGBTQ homelessness)
- Donate or Volunteer with the Trans Lifeline (suicide hotline for trans folks specifically)
- Volunteer with the Trevor Project (LGBTQ rights, LGBTQ homelessness)
- Volunteer or donate with the AIDS foundation
- Volunteer or donate to Black Lives Matter (Anti-racism/antiblackness)
- Donate to the NAACP (Anti-racism/antiblackness)
- Volunteer with the NAACP (Anti-racism/antiblackness)
- Donate your phone to the National Latin@ Network (Latin@ rights/immigration)
- Donate to the National Latin@ Network (Latin@ rights/immigration)
- 10 ways you can help at Standing Rock (Environment/Native rights)
- Donate to the Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund (People with disabilities)
- Donate to the Autistic Self Advocacy Network (People with disabilities)
- Donate to Amnesty International (human rights/Amnesty)
- Volunteer with Amnesty International (human rights/Amnesty)
Donate food or clothes to foodbanks and local charities, and volunteer there too if you can. Poor people are going to suffer after this, and will need support.
Vote: vote locally, vote left, vote in the smallest elections. See if people are even running for seats– city council, school council, board comptrollers. A town in Virginia had almost nobody run this year. You can run for these positions, and if not you, find a friend who might do it. This is where tides turn. Maybe. Vote in 2017, 2018.
Write your Representatives: This is probably not the strongest option seeing as many of these guys know that they didn’t get fucking voted out this time. But hopefully knowing they have eyes on their backs will make them pause before they vote through bigoted stuff.
It’s best, if you can, to write actual, physical letters. They are more of a pain in the ass to political staff– you have to open them, read them, and digitize them, rather than emails which can generally be clicked and saved and ignored. Write a ton of letters. Organize a write in if you can. Flood offices.
Here’s a sample letter:
Dear [name];
I’m calling on you, as a voter and a citizen, to do all in your power to block anti-immigration, anti-LGBT, racist, sexist, and xenophobic laws that might be put into pass by our future government. President Elect Donald J Trump did not win my vote, and did not win the popular vote: he was not voted in by a majority of Americans. My friends and my family will be directly affected by the results of this election and it is up to you to ensure that America remains diverse and accepting. Know that we will be watching your actions in these coming years and we will take action.
This presidency will have ramifications that will last 30 years, and I ask you consider that, as you consider the sway of the electorate in the next four years as well.
Sincerely,
[Name]
You can use a similar script if you call. Make sure you know that your representative knows that this was a fluke, not an outcome to expect again. Even if it’s not true, putting pressure on representatives might influence future decisions.
Sometimes it’s good to take even simple or small actions to avoid falling into a pit of despair. Be safe, everyone.