I hate talking on the phone, and I hate talking to strangers, so political activism has been a mixed bag for me so far. Every time I call my senators or representative, I spend the next few hours a horrible shaking mess. Resisting is important, but so is my health.
There’s always email, or snail mail, but those tend to be overlooked. It isn’t like a phone call, which is immediate. A person has to take note of it, and will ask for your name. Sometimes, you’ll get a letter from the congressperson themself in reply. Trust me when I say that, if you live in a red state like I do, you have no interest in receiving that sneering, patronizing letter.
I’m happy to introduce you to Resistbot.
This is a free service that allows you to contact your congresspersons via text! Send the word “RESIST” to 50409. The bot will send you a text back, asking for your name, and then your zipcode. It then looks up your senators and asks you what message you would like to send. Your text message is turned into a fax.
Just like a phone call, it’s kind of hard to ignore. When there’s a machine spitting out paper in your office, you take notice.
But what should you say? Don’t worry. That’s been taken care of, too.
5Calls.org has sample scripts for phone calls for urgent issues, but they can be used for fax just as well. These are a great starting point if you’d like to personalize your message! Including a short detail about how this issue affects you or someone you know helps make the message more “real”. Suddenly, you aren’t a faceless constituent, but an actual human being.
For example, here is the script I modified from 5Calls that I used to fax my senators this afternoon regarding the passing of the American Health Care Act (AHCA):
I am outraged by the passage of the AHCA without fixing the issues in the plan that would leave millions of American uninsured and drive up insurance premiums for many more.
This is a good point at which to include your personal detail. Keep it short and simple; mine was, “Americans like my son and I, who are both disabled and depend on Medicaid.”
The ACA should be repaired, not repealed; the AHCA puts the lives and economic stability of millions of Americans in jeopardy. I urge you to vote against the AHCA. Please ensure that the ACA’s expansion of Medicaid and protections for those of us with preexisting conditions remain in place. Thank you.
That’s it. That’s what I texted Resistbot, which then turned my text into a fax, and sent it to my senators. Resistbot will give you a copy of the fax to download and confirmation that it has been received. The next time you use Resistbot, you’ll be given the opportunity to fax your representative, as well.
Congratulations! Look at you, being all politically active from the comfort of your own phone. Participating in democracy and protecting our rights as citizens shouldn’t be a privilege. Resistbot makes it accessible.
Now, it’s your turn. Pick an issue and a script from 5Calls, then text the word “RESIST” to 50409, send your message, and join the resistance.
This is totally how the Force works.
My sixty-year-old tech-impaired mother used this guide to contact her senators for the first time yesterday. I had to talk her out of sending a middle finger emoji.