How you can be active in politics, protest and resistance.

February 22, 2025 10:22 AM

To counteract the daily litany of shock and awe and in anticipation of the People’s Union Economic Blackout next Friday, Feb. 28th (also in response to this Meta suggestion)… here’s information that you can use to participate in the process, protest or find other ways to make a difference. This is primarily for US Progressives who are feeling helpless, depressed and angry right now.

The first step is to get registered (or confirm that you already are) which you can do through https://vote.gov or by contacting your state agency that’s responsible (just search for how to register in your state). You can also find out what elections are coming up, get a sample ballot and find your polling place (https://www.vote.org/polling-place-locator/).

If you want to join a party, here are 4 choices: Democrats - https://democrats.org, Republicans - www.gop.com, Socialists - https://www.socialistpartyusa.net and Green - www.gp.org. They naturally want money first and foremost, but they are also great for finding local chapters or wards in your neighborhood. If you aren’t into Party politics, you can still contact your reps, protest and support organizations that share your interests.

Next, find out what Federal District and State District, Precinct, Ward you’re in. All politics is local and this is where change begins (and it can be messy and chaotic). Again, this information will vary by state so you’ll have to search for it. Participating in your local ward (here’s a sample - https://santafedemocrats.org/ward-chair-roles/) helps with the ever present fund raising, but also connects you with like-minded folks. Many wards don’t get a lot of young attendees but maybe that’s changing (https://studentreview.hks.harvard.edu/3-things-local-democratic-committees-need-from-the-new-dnc-chair/).

Find out who represents you at https://whoaremyrepresentatives.org/, which gives your Federal, State and local representatives along with their web sites and contact information. Next you can find out how they voted at https://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes (US Congress). Again, you'll need to do a search to find information on your local and state legislature’s voting record. Contact your representatives to make your voice heard through calling (United States Capitol switchboard at [phone]), emailing or writing a postcard (avoid sending letters). Remember to tell them you are a constituent and you vote, a short question, compliment or complaint and above all, be polite but insistent. This is important even if you live in a red state.

There are a dizzying amount of organizations and websites that cover a broad array of progressive activism. Here are a few:

• A good list of progressive organizations listed by their focus - https://startguide.org/orgs/orgs00.html
• Another list from Wikipedia - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Progressive_organizations_in_the_United_States
• ACLU (aclu.org) - they have their hands full right now and could use your help.
• Indivisible (https://indivisible.org/) - a national progressive organization with local chapters.
• Americans of Conscience (https://americansofconscience.com) - provides a checklist of actions you can take (subscription required).
• Americans United for Separation of Church and State (https://www.au.org/) - self-explanatory.
• https://5calls.org/ is a list of calls you can make regarding various issues.
• Rogan’s List (https://susanrogan.substack.com) for news and links to actions.
• The Big Picture (https://substack.com/@thinkbigpicture) political news for progressives.
• Heather Cox Richardson (https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/) for a historical perspective.
• Jessica Craven's Chop Wood, Carry Water (https://chopwoodcarrywaterdailyactions.substack.com/) is another site with actions you can take.
• A short article on how the resistance is working - https://www.semafor.com/article/02/12/2025/actually-the-resistance-is-working.
• Robert Reich on reasons for optimism - https://robertreich.substack.com/p/ten-reasons-for-optimism.

It’s always good to have a strategy so you won’t get overwhelmed (here's one - https://www.newsletter.samuel-warde.com/p/how-to-build-resilience-in-activism). Not everyone is an activist so find the level of participation you're comfortable with.

Finally, to quote the epic film, Life of Brian… “Always look on the bright side of life”. Sometimes you just need to take a break and find something joyful.
• Beautiful News - https://informationisbeautiful.net/beautifulnews/.
• David Byrne’s Reasons to be Cheerful - https://reasonstobecheerful.world/.
• Cloud Appreciation Society (because who doesn’t love clouds?) - https://cloudappreciationsociety.org/.

So… feel free to build on this information, relate how you are participating and/or add what sites, organizations or general activism you recommend.

posted by jabo (29 comments total)

Tesla Takedowns are happening across the country today.
posted by supermedusa at 10:35 AM on February 22 [6 favorites]

Good stuff!
posted by Galvanic at 10:42 AM on February 22 [3 favorites]

I just found this post on how worried (or not) you really need to be about scary bills.
posted by jenfullmoon at 11:08 AM on February 22 [4 favorites]

You can also make public comments on the current legislation to replace gender with sex assigned at birth on all passport applications and renewals, along with certain updates:
posted by grumpybear69 at 11:23 AM on February 22 [3 favorites]

What Galvanic said.
posted by y2karl at 11:26 AM on February 22 [1 favorite]

Heather Cox Richardson (https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/) for a historical perspective.

Letters from an American, February 21, 2025:

White House deputy press secretary Harrison Fields said in a statement: “[T]he American people actually feel great about the direction of the country…. What’s to hate? We are undoing the widely unpopular agenda of the previous office holder, uprooting waste, fraud, and abuse, and chugging along on the great American Comeback.”

Phone calls swamping the congressional switchboards and constituents turning out for town halls with House members disprove Fields’s statement. In packed rooms with overflow spaces, constituents have shown up this week both to demand that their representatives take a stand against Musk’s slashing of the federal government and access to personal data, and to protest Trump’s claim to be a king. In an eastern Oregon district that Trump won by 68%, constituents shouted at Representative Cliff Bentz: “tax Elon,” “tax the wealthy,” “tax the rich,” and “tax the billionaires.” In a solid-red Atlanta suburb, the crowd was so angry at Representative Richard McCormick that he has apparently gone to ground, bailing on a CNN interview about the disastrous town hall at the last minute.

[...]

Trump is also under pressure from principled state governors.

In his State of the State Address on Wednesday, February 19, Illinois governor J.B. Pritzker noted that “it’s in fashion at the federal level right now to just indiscriminately slash school funding, healthcare coverage, support for farmers, and veterans’ services. They say they’re doing it to eliminate inefficiencies. But only an idiot would think we should eliminate emergency response in a natural disaster, education and healthcare for disabled children, gang crime investigations, clean air and water programs, monitoring of nursing home abuse, nuclear reactor regulation, and cancer research.”

He recalled: “Here in Illinois, ten years ago we saw the consequences of a rampant ideological gutting of government. It genuinely harmed people. Our citizens hated it. Trust me—I won an entire election based in part on just how much they hated it.”

Pritzker went on to address the dangers of the Trump administration directly. “We don’t have kings in America,” he said, “and I don’t intend to bend the knee to one…. If you think I’m overreacting and sounding the alarm too soon, consider this: It took the Nazis one month, three weeks, two days, eight hours and 40 minutes to dismantle a constitutional republic. All I’m saying is when the five-alarm fire starts to burn, every good person better be ready to man a post with a bucket of water if you want to stop it from raging out of control.”

He recalled how ordinary Illinoisans outnumbered Nazis who marched in Chicago in 1978 by about 2,000 to 20, and noted: “Tyranny requires your fear and your silence and your compliance. Democracy requires your courage. So gather your justice and humanity, Illinois, and do not let the ‘tragic spirit of despair’ overcome us when our country needs us the most.”

Today, Maine governor Janet Mills took the fight against Trump’s overreach directly to him. At a meeting of the nation’s governors, in a rambling speech in which he was wandering through his false campaign stories about transgender athletes, Trump turned to his notes and suddenly appeared to remember his executive order banning transgender student athletes from playing on girls sports teams.

The body that governs sports in Maine, the Maine Principals’ Association, ruled that it would continue to allow transgender students to compete despite Trump's executive order because the Maine state Human Rights Law prohibits discrimination on the grounds of gender identity.

Trump asked if the governor of Maine was in the room.

“Yeah, I’m here,” replied Governor Mills.

“Are you not going to comply with it?” Trump asked.

“I’m complying with state and federal laws,” she said.

“We are the federal law,” Trump said. “You better do it because you’re not going to get any federal funding at all if you don’t….”

“We’re going to follow the law,” she said.

“You’d better comply because otherwise you’re not going to get any federal funding,” he said.

Mills answered: “We’ll see you in court.”

As Shawn McCreesh of the New York Times put it: “Something happened at the White House Friday afternoon that almost never happens these days. Somebody defied President Trump. Right to his face.”

Hours later, the Trump administration launched an investigation into Maine’s Department of Education, specifically its policy on transgender athletes. Maine attorney general Aaron Frey said that any attempt to cut federal funding for the states over the issue “would be illegal and in direct violation of federal court orders…. Fortunately,” he said in a statement, “the rule of law still applies in this country, and I will do everything in my power to defend Maine’s laws and block efforts by the president to bully and threaten us.”

“[W]hat is at stake here [is] the rule of law in our country,” Mills said in a statement. “No President…can withhold Federal funding authorized and appropriated by Congress and paid for by Maine taxpayers in an attempt to coerce someone into compliance with his will. It is a violation of our Constitution and of our laws.”

“Maine may be one of the first states to undergo an investigation by his Administration, but we won’t be the last. Today, the President of the United States has targeted one particular group on one particular issue which Maine law has addressed. But you must ask yourself: who and what will he target next, and what will he do? Will it be you? Will it be because of your race or your religion? Will it be because you look different or think differently? Where does it end? In America, the President is neither a King nor a dictator, as much as this one tries to act like it—and it is the rule of law that prevents him from being so.”

“[D]o not be misled: this is not just about who can compete on the athletic field, this is about whether a President can force compliance with his will, without regard for the rule of law that governs our nation. I believe he cannot.”

Americans’ sense that Musk has too much power is likely to be heightened by tonight’s report from Andrea Shalal and Joey Roulette of Reuters that the United States is trying to force Ukraine to sign away rights to its critical minerals by threatening to cut off access to Musk’s Starlink satellite system. Ukraine turned to that system after the Russians destroyed its communications services.

And Americans’ concerns about Trump acting like a dictator are unlikely to be calmed by tonight’s news that Trump has abruptly purged the leadership of the military in apparent unconcern over the message that such a sweeping purge sends to adversaries. He has fired the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Charles Q. Brown, who Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth suggested got the job only because he is Black, and Admiral Lisa Franchetti, the Chief of Naval Operations, who was the first woman to serve on the Joint Chiefs of Staff and whom Hegseth called a “DEI hire.”

The vice chief of the Air Force, General James Slife, has also been fired, and Hegseth indicated he intends to fire the judge advocates general, or JAGs—the military lawyers who administer the military code of justice—for the Army, Navy, and Air Force. Trump has indicated he intends to nominate Air Force Lieutenant General John Dan “Razin” Caine to be the next chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Oren Liebermann and Haley Britzky of CNN call this “an extraordinary move,” since Caine is retired and is not a four-star general, a legal requirement, and will need a presidential waiver to take the job. Trump has referred to Caine as right out of “central casting.”

Defense One, which covers U.S. defense and international security, called the firings a “bloodbath.”

Historian Heather Cox Richardson: 'We're already in a coup'
posted by kliuless at 11:42 AM on February 22 [15 favorites]

Oops, forgot a few links…

• Sierra Club (https://www.sierraclub.org/) - for environmental advocacy and they have chapters in every State.
• National Federation of Federal Employees (https://nffe.org/) - one of many Unions advising and litigating for the illegally fired Federal employees.
• Here’s a good list from Harpers of groups that are helping trans and others who are being targeted - https://www.harpersbazaar.com/culture/politics/a63495498/lgbtq-trans-resources-aid-united-states/
posted by jabo at 12:16 PM on February 22 [2 favorites]

Add American Federation of Government Employees (https://www.afge.org/), and National Association of Government Employees (https://www.nage.org/).
posted by daHIFI at 12:43 PM on February 22 [2 favorites]

I will systematically be sharing as much of this as I can — thank you.
posted by aldus_manutius at 12:52 PM on February 22 [1 favorite]

Thank you for these! Glad to see the Americans of Conscience Checklist included. I like how it makes taking action really quick and easy to do, but I have been thinking about how to make it a bit more of a social activity. There is something so much more energizing in taking action with others.

We regularly get together for board games with some progressively like-minded friends and invariably we end up talking about how awful the current political situation is but we always feel so powerless. I'm going to propose we start spending our first 30 minutes completing items on the checklist together before jumping into our games. No reason we can't mix social activism with a little fun!
posted by platinum at 1:01 PM on February 22 [7 favorites]

Resistbot is a chatbot that turns your texts into faxes, postal mail, or emails to your representatives in minutes. I'm one of those introverts who would rather email than call (I know, I know) and this tool makes it really easy.
posted by stevil at 1:34 PM on February 22 [5 favorites]

Reminder that urls aren’t automatically turned into links, but can easily be made linkable (thus contributing to site accessibility) by using the “link” button in the quick-access edit buttons immediately below the comment input window. (The link button is the one on the far right of the row of buttons just under the comment box.) Linking urls properly ourselves saves mod time for actual site moderation, too!
posted by eviemath at 1:52 PM on February 22 [2 favorites]

Question: would it make any sense to look up similar guides from the maga crowd and also call the people they are calling and pre-emptively countering the arguments they will be calling with? It seems like if you can get the weakest link or two among the magad to break ranks, besides the good that would be done directly by having two more votes, it would also give permission to break ranks to those non-Maga Republicans who don't support him but are afraid to say so. But if the MAGA reps only get calls from MAGA constituents because "there's no point calling that guy" then they're going ti think everyone backs trump and there's no risk to their backing him too.
posted by If only I had a penguin... at 4:37 PM on February 22 [4 favorites]

I appreciate and second If only I had a penguin...'s point. I live in Texas, and am "represented" by Cornyn and Cruz. I want to call them, but, honestly, aside from general reluctance to call, my fear of confrontation makes me afraid to do it. Does anyone out there have recommendations for how to contact my Republican representatives in a way that has even a slim chance of making a difference?
posted by It is regrettable that at 4:43 PM on February 22 [5 favorites]

I talked to an experienced activist in my neighborhood once about strategy for a local thing. And he gave me the advice that you aren't trying to win everyone over to your side, that's not going to happen and is demoralizing. What you should try to do is imagine a dial or spectrum, and move as many influential people as far in your direction as you can, including those entirely on the other side. Even if they only become slightly less opposed to you, it contributes to tip the overall balance. And so does getting people who already agree with you more energized.

It worked for that issue and I've seen it work for others and have heard it described elsewhere (unfortunately I can't remember where). So yeah I think it can be worth calling even the politicians who support this stuff.
posted by sepviva at 5:12 PM on February 22 [14 favorites]

Question: would it make any sense to look up similar guides from the maga crowd

I wouldn't bother. What you can do is check out the Congressional committees and contact those Republicans who chair them (or are members from your state). You can find out the committees at https://www.congress.gov/committees.

So if you are interested in Veterans Affairs, you can click on that committee and then look for the teeeny link near the top right that says Committee Membership. These are the people that need to hear from us.

Does anyone out there have recommendations for how to contact my Republican representatives

Your Texas Republican reps absolutely need to hear from you! I think it's even more important than for those of us in blue states. They need to know there is a growing dissatisfaction from their constituents with what's happening.

And I'm like you, I'm petrified about all this. Do what you're comfortable with. How about a postcard? It's something physical that can pile up in their mailbox. Just remember to keep it civil!

Oh, and almost I forgot to add… the common theory is that calling is way more effective than email or writing. I'm not sure that's true but I'm hearing the Capital switchboards are overloaded right now. So any way you can make your voice heard is a good way (except for letters in envelopes 'cause of the whole anthrax business).
posted by jabo at 5:29 PM on February 22 [4 favorites]

And hey should you all be switching your voter affiliiaton to republican and telling then you're a republican when you talk and telling pollsters you're a republican? When do primaries for the midterms start?
posted by If only I had a penguin... at 6:24 PM on February 22 [1 favorite]

Does anyone out there have recommendations for how to contact my Republican representatives in a way that has even a slim chance of making a difference?

Just a datapoint, I call my republican rep's office regularly and they don't argue with me, they just summarize my message "I will tell Rep Dumbass that you are concerned about Elon Musk's level of involvement in government affairs." It's not an argument, their goal is for me to hang up so they politely try to rush me through my spiel.
posted by Emmy Rae at 7:15 PM on February 22 [5 favorites]

Here is more info:
* Another party in some states is the progressive Working Families Party.
* A nationwide economic blackout is planned for Feb. 28, with more to come. (See No. 6.)
* You can sign up an arm of the DOGE ([e-mail]) for spam, at https://mailbait.info/.
* Various protests are being spearheaded by 50501, a new grassroots group. The next protest date is March 4, the date of the State of the Union address.

I have been a Democratic precinct and ward chair. It's a good way to get involved with your neighbors. My state is having various meetings and elections this spring. You might want to get involved in those in your state.

Consider running for office! (I have run.) It's challenging, but there are many resources.
posted by NotLost at 12:08 AM on February 23 [3 favorites]

Also, just learned of the Just Stop Movement: "Every day at 2 PM local time, stop everything- no talking, walking, working, scrolling, spending- for 10 minutes. No internet, no transactions. Just stop."

And the Protest Playbook, by Radical Federalism, is a good resource for movement organizers.
posted by NotLost at 12:20 AM on February 23 [1 favorite]

As a small business owner with progressive ideals, it's challenging to consider how to support economic protests. I imagine that in the end we will need large scale general strikes, so we're trying to keep enough of a cushion to buy food and pay rent if we need to be closed for a few months.

We are participating in the Friday event by being open for social gathering and if people want to buy yarn, they can go online and donate to local progressive aid organizations for the amount they want to spend, show us the receipt, and then we'll give it to them.

This is a baby step, but it's not something most Americans have much practice in. Our system is built to keep workers so precarious that they feel they have no choice but to keep working. Solidarity is where the real power lies, but it's been a demonized word for generations.
posted by rikschell at 4:44 AM on February 23 [11 favorites]

Just wanted to say thank you for this post. I am a daily reader of Metafilter but I rarely post comments. Those of you who are taking the time to make this information available - just…thank you.
posted by catrae at 4:45 AM on February 23 [12 favorites]

We are participating in the Friday event by being open for social gathering and if people want to buy yarn, they can go online and donate to local progressive aid organizations for the amount they want to spend, show us the receipt, and then we'll give it to them.

Rikschell - what I've been seeing about the event on Friday is that people are being encouraged to patronize small local businesses; this is trying to target the big corporations instead of small businesses. But you are going above and beyond and I applaud you.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 5:29 AM on February 23 [5 favorites]

I found this video from Lucretia McEvil, a Black autistic anarchist, Rejecting Doomerism with Revolutionary Optimism, helpful in my heart calibrations.
posted by droomoord at 11:49 AM on February 23 [2 favorites]

Political organizing is not therapy
posted by chavenet at 1:47 PM on February 23 [7 favorites]

Mod note: Great collection, thank you for putting it together! We've added it to the sidebar and Best Of blog with a few other links!
posted by Brandon Blatcher (staff) at 8:44 AM on February 24 [1 favorite]

Is anyone reaching out to corporate leaders to advocate for ways the administration might reconsider some of their actions? I feel like they are just as likely to be listened to as those who are labeled politicians.

Also seems like we should figure out ways of supplying goods locally, which could theoretically be inspired by reducing consumption but also an important way of increasing resiliency into the future. I could imagine this being coordinated through schools or churches or at the neighborhood level. If it really got going, you might be able to really reduce car trips and deliveries by sharing hyperlocally, even in a scenario without any shortages.
posted by puffinaria at 11:19 PM on February 24

ALERT! - Not sure who's still reading this post but…

Some news sources are reporting the Democrats are close to reaching a budget deal. This is probably the last opportunity we have of firing Elon, dismantling DOGE and restoring the illegally fired Federal workers.

Please contact your representatives and demand this as part of the negotiations or NO DEAL. Again, you can find your representative contact info at https://whoaremyrepresentatives.org.

And please spread the word!
posted by jabo at 11:06 AM on February 25

"We're going to be freeing up our forests. We don't need their lumber."
It seemingly means Trump wants forest burnned as fuel in this "energy emergency".

If you need to destroy a diesel engine, then supposedly DEF fluids (AdBlue) or sodium silicate in the fuel system works nicely.
posted by jeffburdges at 12:50 PM on February 26 [1 favorite]