For the majority of American voters who cast their ballots last fall for someone other than the Republican candidate for President, it has been a challenging and unnerving time. Many of us – including me – have not known what to do, or say, in the face of unprecedented assaults on our constitution, democracy, safety, privacy, health, international relations, and shared values as Americans.
The time has come for us – individually and collectively – to find our voices and act. We must all follow Teddy Roosevelt’s admonition to “do what you can with what you have, wherever you are.” In the words of an ancient Jewish teaching, “It is not incumbent upon you to complete the work, but neither are you at liberty to desist from it.”
INSIST. Insist on the truth. Insist on facts. Insist on constitutional rights and protections. Insist on treating people with kindness and respect, especially if they, or their ancestors, came here from another country to seek a better life. Insist on respect and protection of our differences in race, religion, ethnicity, nationality, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, ability, age, and more. Insist on women’s reproductive freedom. Insist on a healthy planet. Insist on privacy both for personal and medical data. Insist on a free press. Insist on the rule of law and preservation of democracy. Insist on the separation of church and state. Insist on treating our international friends and allies kindly and our enemies sternly. Insist on health care. Insist on human rights everywhere.
RESIST. Resist any action or statement that threatens the values and principles you insist upon.
- Call your Senator, Congressperson, Governor, State Attorney General, Mayor, and other elected officials – not just once, but regularly and repeatedly – and demand that they act decisively to protect those values you deem most important. Regardless of their political party, remind them -respectfully – that we care about how they vote, speak and act. Show up at every gathering of constituents you can.
- Speak with family, friends, and colleagues and ask them to join you in the resistance.If they disagree, treat them respectfully and move on.
- Participate in town halls and other meetings of people organizing and raising their voices.
- Show up at marches, demonstrations and protests to add your voice to the many.
- Join affinity groups of like-minded people gathering to act.Check out Indivisible to find a group near you.
- Get involved in Congressional and state legislative and gubernatorial campaigns happening now and contact local leaders to volunteer for the 2026 elections.
- Get your news from reliable, trustworthy, and fact-based sources. I recommend ProPublica, The Atlantic, and the daily newsletter from historian Heather Cox Richardson. Many communities also have digital local news sites that are worth reading and subscribing to.
- Make sure your personal cybersecurity on your email, bank, and social media accounts is up-to-date and maximizes your protection.
ASSIST. This is the time to volunteer and think about philanthropy in new and different ways. Those of us fortunate enough to have either excess time or resources must dig deep and give all that we can to resist the changes that are being made and more that are coming.
- Call local immigrant rights organizations, see if you can help, and volunteer. The same is true with local food banks and pantries.Consider helping to start a food pantry in your kids’ school or in your house of worship.
- Volunteer and donate whatever you can afford to organizations that are leading the litigation against the Administration to protect the rule of law, uphold the constitution, and preserve democracy. Consider supporting the ACLU (national office or state affiliates), Democracy Forward and Public Citizen. On the immigration front, consider the Mexican American Legal Defense Fund (MALDEF) and American Immigration Council. If you know low-income immigrants seeking legal help, refer them to https://www.immigrationlawhelp.org.
- Volunteer and donate whatever you can to organizations providing independent investigative reporting and working to preserve a free press. Subscribe to good, fact-based journalism. Consider supporting ProPublica, Freedom of the Press Foundation, Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press and NPR and PBS, and their local affiliates. In addition, many communities have independent digital “newspapers” that are providing good investigative and fact-based journalism and depend upon reader support to be sustainable.
- On the fight against climate change and for enforcement of environmental laws, consider Earthjustice and Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC).
- For women’s reproductive health, support Planned Parenthood, especially its local affiliates.
- There are thousands of local nonprofit organizations in communities across the U.S. that depend upon government funding for a part of their budgets. That support has been held-up or completely threatened by the new administration and philanthropy can help make up the difference. Call the ones you know.
PERSIST. We must tune in and pay attention to what the current administration is seeking to accomplish. This is not an easy fight; it will take each and all of us working individually and together to prevent the destruction of our democracy. These next four years will be long and arduous so please remember that you are not alone and consider the words of the late Congressman John Lewis,
“Do not get lost in a sea of despair. Be hopeful, be optimistic. Our struggle is not the struggle of a day, a week, a month, or a year, it is the struggle of a lifetime. Never, ever be afraid to make some noise and get in good trouble, necessary trouble.”
If you’d like to discuss any of this or need further information, I welcome your emails and calls. In the meantime, I look forward to learning about your actions in the coming days, weeks, months, and years.