I took a break from Thanksgiving for a couple years, but we're hosting again this year and it feels like a particularly crazy time to step back into it. For me, Thanksgiving has always been about family and friends, and acknowledging the joy in your life. I have so much to be thankful for, and yet there's so much fear and uncertainty right now. I have so much privilege, but I'm well aware that not everyone does. D is the son of an immigrant, and it's terrifying to realize that if this current political situation was taking place back in the 80s that everything could have looked very different for their family (and our future lives).
I'm excited to get into the kitchen and start cooking and baking. I'm looking forward to gathering with our families and celebrating. But last night I spent some time poring over our budget and freeing up enough space for some recurring monthly donations (I settled on the ACLU, the NRDC and the SPLC). The monthly amounts aren't huge, but it's something.
I made a few one time donations as well, to the Sacred Stone legal defense fund, democrat Foster Campbell's runoff campaign in Louisiana (could give the democrats one more senate seat), and the Health Care Rights Initiative (heard about this organization on the Moth last week and it broke my heart in two - they provide legal assistance to people navigating the often incomprehensible health care insurance system, a cause that feels very personal to me since Dave's accident).
I also signed up for weekly emails from wall-of-us.org. Each week they send you four specific action items, along with all the information you need (phone numbers, scripts, etc). I know that making phone calls is important, but to be honest, I hate doing it. This has made it so much easier.
And I did a quick search and found all the contact info for our senators and our representative, made a quick cheat sheet, printed it out, and hung copies both in my office and on our fridge at home.
I don't know exactly what I should be doing right now, and I'm not sure what will make an impact, but I know that doing nothing is the worst thing. We fumble forward, we come together, we give thanks for our blessings and we work to make sure that those blessings are extended to everyone.
This is so helpful. I'm going to look into doing similar work, using this as a starting point for research. I'm so glad that a few people out there are taking the time to figure out what can be done/what the options are and sharing with others. It's a real step forward and more than I've seen made available before everything in the last few months.
ReplyDeleteYes! Wall of Us is amazing. I found a similar resource at https://project1460.org/ and it has made a huge difference. This election has already made me much more knowledgeable and capable about reaching out to my representatives, though I'm sad I had to learn it this way. The organizations you're supporting are so honorable! Here's to hoping our small actions can't keep up the fight.
ReplyDeleteThis is awesome. Flippable.org is similar and has been such a help. It's comforting knowing that we're not alone in doing what we can, however small. Happy Thanksgiving.
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ReplyDeleteMy husband, who is 36, called his Congressman for the first time in his life last Friday. It can be scary the first time, but it's really empowering! One extra idea, if you feel comfortable -- I'm in a super blue area, but my parents and in-laws are not, so I've gotten in the habit in keeping an eye on whether their members of Congress are on any committees of importance. When there's a good match, I reach out to them to encourage them to contact their Republican member, which I feel is a little more important than me just preaching to the choir.
ReplyDelete♥♥♥ Just signed up for wall of us! Thanks for sharing - I've set up my monthly donations to the ACLU and PP and donated to Foster Campbell. Will add some more monthly donations to NRDC and SLPC and I like some of the other organizations you've highlighted for when I can give more. I've also been slowly but surely following this action plan
ReplyDeleteHere's what else I'm doing to start
Happy Thanksgiving! We cannot be silent, we cannot be complacent.
Longtime fan, just wanted to say thank you for this post and for fighting.
ReplyDeleteThank you for this thoughtful post. I've been reading your blog for seven-ish years and I always enjoy it. Fight the good fight.
ReplyDeleteThank you so for sharing these resources- just signed up for wall of us! I have felt adrift since the election and it is help to have a list of concrete actions.
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing, Rachel, and prompting me into action. I subscribed to Wall of Us and made monthly donations to ACLU, SPLC, and my local Planned Parenthood.
ReplyDeleteSo much love to all of you guys, and reading your actions is giving me new ideas as well. Thank you all for sharing!
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