This isn't my usual content

but I'm not really sure what else to say

Too many awful, violent things are happening around the world and in the U.S. right now for me to write about anything else today.

And yet.

Horrendous as this moment in time may be, things are not yet entirely hopeless, and we are not yet entirely helpless.

As artist Cami Zea put it:

Now is the time to speak up at full volume.

Now is the time to challenge injustice with a committed force.

Now is the time to leverage your privilege for the greater good.

Now is the time to tenaciously keep each other safe.

Now is the time to find your role and play it well.

Now is the time to remember that the only "us" and "them" that exists is the systems that harm us and our neighbors.

Now is the time to decide if you are complicit in harm or if you are going to use this one life to demand a better future for everyone.

My take has long been that knowledge is power. Oftentimes, for me, that means the most empowering thing I feel like I can do is research, using my journalism degree and decade in media to suss out accurate, up-to-date information on how to educate ourselves on key issues, amplify the voices of those doing the work day in and day out to fight injustice, and share opportunities to take impactful action remotely or IRL.

I’ve spent my week doing precisely that, and I’ve gathered the most valuable resources I’ve managed to find below. I’m ready to start taking some of this advice, and I hope you’ll be open to doing so, too—and if you have more to add as far as tangible actions we can take toward actual liberty and justice for all, I hope you’ll leave them in the comments.

We can do so much more together than we can in isolation.

Collective care over individualism, always.

How we keep up the fight when things feel like they’re falling apart

Educate ourselves

Re: Palestine

• Explore the resources provided by Protect Palestine

• Learn how to talk to friend and family about Palestine (even the tough questions)

• Understand boycott and divestment targets and adjust appropriately

• Read "Light in Gaza: Writings Born of Fire"

• Watch "Lifelines: Aid workers in Gaza"

Re: LA & ICE

• Read about what happened at the immigration raid protests in LA this past weekend

• Understand what the law says about civil rights (regardless of immigration status)

• Know your rights as a protester before joining the frontlines

Re: The current US administration overall

• Get the context behind the U.S. Army's 250th anniversary parade—or perhaps more aptly, the sitting President’s 79th birthday parade—scheduled for this Saturday, June 14, and why it’s been critiqued by lawmakers as “a vanity project and a misuse of funds”

• Understand all the ways that this administration is systematically attacking and in many cases destroying the nation’s colleges and universities, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (and its vaccine advisory committee in particular), the data and reporting on climate change from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the LGBTQ+ community as a whole, and so much more through abuses of power disguised as “national emergencies”

• Subscribe to “If You Can Keep It,” the free Protect Democracy newsletter

• Consider using a tool like Ground.news to compare news sources and sidestep media bias

• Look up your local news provider and subscribe (or if you live in a news desert, consider starting a local publication)

Amplify others’ voices

Re: Palestine

• Quite literally: Amplify Palestine

• Adjust your Instagram settings so Palestinian content is not censored from your feed

• Follow Palestinian voices and share their stories, resources, and requests with your networks

Re: LA & ICE

• Share valuable “Know your rights” information, like

  • This guide from the National Immigration Law Center about what to do if you are arrested or detained by immigration or other law enforcement

  • This guide from the Black Alliance for Just Immigration for Black migrants

  • This guide from Asian Americans Advancing Social Justice Southern California is available in Chinese, Japanese, Khmer, Korean, Vietnamese, Cambodian, and Lao

  • This guide from United Teachers Los Angeles about how to respond when ICE shows up at school

  • This guide from the Independent Hospitality Coalition for restaurant owners

  • This guide from La Plaza de Cultura y Artes about what to do immediately after your loved one is detained

  • This guide from Casa de Paz about how to find a detained loved one

Re: The current US administration overall

• Share Indivisible: A Practical Guide to Democracy on the Brink with your networks far and wide

• Keep an eye out for misinformation (accidental) and disinformation (intentional) and speak out against it—the CISA guide can be useful here

• Continue tracking and sharing the hundreds of lawsuits that have been filed against Trump’s agenda to pause his administration’s initiatives and combat the idea that their efforts are in any way legal or in the best interest of the American people

• Seek out local community activists and share the resources they have to offer with your networks, regardless of whether you know them personally

• Learn who represents your community—your senators, members of congress, governor, state legislator(s), local execs like mayors or town managers, local legislators like council, school board members (even if you don’t have children!), neighborhood leaders (homeowners associations, community boards, etc.)—and look them up, taking notes on their positions about key issues and saving their contact information should you need to reach them in the future for some of the actions listed in the section below

Take action

Things we can do remotely

Re: Palestine

• Sign the Apartheid-Free Pledge

• Donate to support the movement to end Israeli apartheid—this resource lists options for you to contribute at whatever level you’re able, from investing in the work of international organizations to feeding individual families and everything in between

• Email your reps (like, all of them)

Re: LA & ICE

• Report any ICE activity in your area by

  • Calling an immigration hotline

  • Texting REPORT to 877-322-2299 (you can also text JOIN and reply with your zip code to receive Stop ICE Alerts for your area)

• Donate to organizations helping migrant communities, whether through

  • LA-based nonprofits like

    • Inland Coalition for Immigrant Justice

    • Immigrant Defenders Law Center

    • California Immigrant Policy Center

  • or national organizations such as

    • Immigrant Legal Resource Center

    • American Civil Liberties Union

    • United We Dream

  • or to the Jail Support LA bail fund

Re: The current US administration overall

• When it’s safe (which is not the same as “easy”), have conversations with people who don’t agree with you—not to convince them that they’re wrong, but to understand why they think the way they do, and to see if you can potentially help them understand why you see things the way you do—using guidance from the Sustained Dialogue Institute

• Figure out what a sustainable monthly or annual giving budget might look like for you, make a list of organizations doing good work that you support, and set up recurring donations to these orgs that work with your budget

Things we can do IRL

Re: Palestine

• Find a protest happening near you via the Palestine Solidarity Campaign or US Campaign for Palestinian Rights and join the efforts (safely)

• If you can’t join protests, offer support for those who can by

  • Providing transportation to/from protest sites

  • Dropping off supplies (water, snacks, medical supplies, personal protective equipment, etc)

  • Create and drop off signs and banners for protestors to carry

• Volunteer to support the United Nation’s humanitarian and emergency efforts in response to the crisis in the State of Palestine

Re: LA & ICE

• Find a protest happening near you and join the efforts (safely)

• If you can’t join protests, offer support for those who can by

  • Providing transportation to/from protest sites

  • Dropping off supplies (water, snacks, medical supplies, personal protective equipment, etc)

  • Create and drop off signs and banners for protestors to carry

• If you know someone who is arrested at a protest, share the phone number for Jail Support LA (424-610-3020)

• Be an effective bystander when ICE raids take place

  • Record as much information you can, either in writing or by video—including details about the person(s) being detained (name, address, phone number of a loved one) as well as identifying information about ICE agents like badge numbers, license plate numbers, and car details (color, make, model) or any other distinguishing features

  • If you’re able to act as a translator or interpreter between detainees and authorities, do so

• Seek out additional opportunities to volunteer in your area through the Immigration Advocates Network’s volunteer guide

Re: The current US administration overall

• This Saturday, June 14, take part in one of the hundreds of non-violent No Kings protests taking place around the country (if you’re in the States, there’s one near you) as a nationwide day of defiance and a rejection of authoritarianism

• Make your voting plan and encourage others in your network to make theirs, too—not just for presidential elections, but for local elections, too!

• Become a poll worker

• Find at least one local community or government meeting that you’re interested in, add to your calendar, and attend (bonus points if you bring a friend)

• Volunteer in your community in support of whatever cause(s) you’re most passionate about

Last but not least: Keep feeling

We can’t allow ourselves to go numb or disengage.

It’s our responsibility—to ourselves and to each other—to stay as informed and engaged as we can, even when we’re outraged or devastated by what we see in the news.

If you start to feel yourself fading, here are 33 (actually doable) anti-burnout activities for angry, anxious Americans to consider.

Individually, we may feel helpless. But collectively, we can care for ourselves and contribute to collective, sustainable efforts toward progress and meaningful change in the era of Trump 2.0.