Some disjointed thoughts on effective activism, and what to do to help in Minneapolis and beyond

The resources, insights, and actions I find most helpful as we face the next wave of fascist ICE terror.

I have been trying, for months, to do laundry and care for my kids while wondering if I should leave the country (and despairing that I probably can’t). To keep my marriage fun and supportive while planning what I should do as fascists overtake our cities. It feels strange to worry about saving for retirement while wondering if you even have a future, to show up at parent-teacher conferences while envisioning your family fleeing the city, to try to plan for the future you hope for and also the one you fear, to look ahead to a better world while trying to do something about the one we currently occupy.

I feed my frogs and ruminate. I worry about my dogs’ relationship with my cats while I worry about being disappeared into a prison camp. I wonder if I’ll get to vote in the next election while I volunteer at my kids’ school. I read about skincare as I worry about people dying in prison of untreated minor infections.

The world is a terrifying place right now—but as I have written repeatedly, it has always been a terrifying place. The difference is that now, those of us who have lived in relative peace are beginning to experience the same level of threat our comparatively less privileged neighbors often felt. That doesn’t feel great, but I believe that it’s a good thing for the arc of the moral universe. Because the more invested we feel in our world, the more personally involved we become, the more likely we are to band together with others and demand lasting change.

Minneapolis is far from me, but I live in a diverse community, with immigrants and refugees in my neighborhood. I’ve felt the same terror and despair so many of you have.

Many of you have asked what you can do, what you should do, what will be most effective. Here’s the truth: I’ve been an activist and organizer for most of my life. I’m married to a civil rights litigator. But I have very little insight into what to do, because this is not an issue on which I am particularly well-educated.

I think it’s important to admit that, because I see so many confident, assertive, certain posts from people who I think know even less than I do. We need to admit when we don’t know something, and we definitely shouldn’t be giving confident legal or advocacy advice. Everything I have to say here is based on my general activist experience, or what I have learned from others who know more than me. You should be primarily listening to people on the ground in Minneapolis, to lawyers who specialize in immigration and related issues, and to those with specific expertise on ICE, detention, etc. I am only contributing my voice to the chorus because I know many of you read me religiously, and may listen to me before you listen to someone else.

So here are the someone elses I think it is worth learning from:

• National Immigration Project

• National Police Accountability Project (pssst….if you’re a legal worker you can become an NPAP member and attend a symposium my husband will be teaching at, along with other experts, on January 30th).

• Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee

• Brittany Packnett Cunningham

• Georgia Latina Alliance for Human Rights (state-specific but with lots of links and info relevant to other states)

• Center for Victims of Torture (currently coordinating a number of outreach projects for immigrants)

• Chop Wood, Carry Water, which offers tips on something you can do each and every day.

As always, you must guard against despair. If you’re feeling overwhelmed, I urge you to read Paul Shattuck.

Please remember that most people, for one reason or another, cannot protest in the streets. This is not the most important thing you can do. It is just the most visible. Most of you have other resources—potentially more valuable resources—to offer. That’s especially true if you have financial resources. If you are financially comfortable, I urge you to pay someone’s legal fees or bail today. I urge you to go to your local court and observe what’s happening, then pony up some money. Buy an immigrant groceries. You will have more impact by giving money to individuals than through virtually any other step you could take.

I’m a member of Giving Grace, a very effective mutual aid group. There are similar groups across the world. I suggest you join, and give as much as you can.

Beyond this advice, I have some disjointed thoughts about activism and how you can help. I want to emphasize, again, that this is drawing upon years of experience in other forms of activism, and that I have no special expertise in immigration.

But I do know abusive relationships. The United States (and really, the whole world) is in an abusive relationship with its government right now. Abusers use force to gain voluntary, advanced compliance. And they seek to create the illusion of omnipotence. They want you to think they can do anything to you, and that they will, so that they can get you to despair, give up, and then comply in advance

But there are more of us than there are of them, and even in Minneapolis (a relatively small city where they can create the illusion of having more force than they do), they’re starting to retreat. Abuse seeks to get you to back down. Abuse seeks to convince you that the anger of the abuser means you’ve done something wrong, and that if you can earn the abuser’s affection you’ll be safe. But you’ll never be safe in an abusive relationship. This only ends when we get them out of power.

Some other disjointed thoughts that may help:

• Fascism is highly effective at stealing your attention. Long-term change requires sustained effort. You cannot sustain momentum if you are constantly dysregulated and demoralized. Which is exactly why they want you afraid. Self-care isn’t selfish or a distraction. It is vital to success, because you must be able to sustain this for months and years.

• Fascism loves to create a crisis of the moment, to distract you from all the other crises that aren’t currently getting attention. Don’t let fascist leaders tell you where to direct your attention. Pick the things you are good at and knowledgeable about, and continue to focus on them. For example, I know that abusive relationships didn’t end in this current crisis—and that, in fact, they pose an even more urgent danger. So I am continuing to focus on those issues.

• Remember that despair often feels like activism. When you doomscroll social media, it scratches an itch in your brain that tells you you’re doing something, but you’re not actually doing anything but making yourself feel terrible, thereby eroding your ability to actually achieve anything.

• Start small. Pick something to do every single day, and then do it. Calling your legislators is always a good use of your time. They keep track of these calls. If they agree with you, your calls light a fire under them. If they don’t, your calls show that the people are pissed. You can make a big difference even with just five minutes a day.

• We have got to learn how to build solidarity as a movement. I’m having Loretta Ross on the podcast soon to talk about this. In the meantime, please read her excellent book. We must come together to work with people whom we don’t like or always agree with.

• If you are white, affluent, or otherwise privileged, please do not talk about how “this is not who we are,” or how things used to be better. Racialized (and gendered, and class-based) terror has always been a part of life in the United States.

• If you pay close attention, opportunities to act will appear. Effective activism is about stepping in and doing what the moment demands. Look for those in need. Look for opportunities and take them.

• Never let your ego get in the way of doing the right thing. What matters most is doing what is good—not being seen doing what is good.

• It is never too late to do the right thing, and now is always the best time to start. I’m as angry as those who support this as anyone, and we are all entitled to that anger. But if we can convert them, we must. And then we must join in solidarity with them, because we need as many people as possible. As one commenter noted below, this does not apply to abusive husbands. Don’t convert them. Leave them.

• Focus on effective activism, not activism that feels good or visible. This means weighing the costs and benefits of each step you take. Please don’t go to jail over an impulsive Facebook post or a fight with some random person. At every moment you are taking action, consider the potential effects.

Things only change when we change them, which means there is always hope—and always a moral obligation to do more.

If you have additional suggestions and resources, please share them in the comments. Even if you think your ideas or resources are widely known, they might not be for everyone, so please share.