#movementbuilding — Public Fediverse posts

(18/18) I don't quite know the way forward, but I think there is a way, despite all the exhaustion and apathy, to still pull ourselves back from this #coup that #ElonMusk and #Trump are carrying out. I think there's still a way forward for us that doesn't end in #fascism. But I think we're going to have to deliberately and radically commit ourselves to care in a way that we haven't before. I don't quite know what that looks like. I think it is going to have to be something very new, something that builds on previous #leftist movements and #activist work but that transcends it. Not knowing what that will be is both exciting, because it's an opportunity to succeed where we might have fallen short in the past, and scary, because it's unknown and the future is uncertain.

All I know is that we have to try.

#Solidarity!

#USPol #USPolitics #MovementBuilding #Leftism #AnotherWorldIsPossible

(17/?) I'm not quite sure what else I need at this point, but I would encourage anyone looking to plug into #activism against rising #fascism right now to think both about what you can contribute and about your needs. This is a fight against #Trump and #ElonMusk and their #coup attempt, but this is also a fight against #oppression that has been going on in the US for far longer than Trump and Musk and their ilk. We need to build a #left that is sustainable, that can care for people, and that offer alternatives to the #fascist dystopia we unfortunately seem to be entering. There are lessons we can learn from the fight against the previous Trump administration.

We also have to meet people where they are. If we're #BurntOut and exhausted, lecturing us to care won't change that. We have to accept that as part of our organizing and build that into our work.

#USPol #USPolitics #MovementBuilding

(16/?) Another thing I'm thinking about in terms of my needs around participating in #leftist #activism relates to a conversation I had a while ago with another #activist friend. The gist of the conversation was that a lot of activists don't work on issues that impact them materially and directly, so they don't see a direct benefit from their actions. For instance, this person was suggesting that rather than working on large-scale, abstract advocacy issues, activists would do better to organize tennants unions in their own apartment complexes or become involved in small but meaningful #community efforts. I think there's something to that, and it's a point I'm still pondering

#USPol #USPolitics #MovementBuilding

(15/?) Another thing I need is for #leftist to start taking #covid19 seriously again. If you expect me to show up in the streets and risk my life again, the very least you can do is #WearAMask. Yes, I still might get #covid from the cops or #fascists or just random people who don't realize that #CovidIsNotOver, but comrades shouldn't be spreading #covid19 to each other. #BirdFlu is another #pandemic waiting to happen, and regular #flu is surging right now. "We keep us safe" can't just be a nice protest chant. We have to actually do things to help keep each other safe. The #left has been failing here for years now, but we can start taking little actions to protect each other again

#USPol #USPolitics #MovementBuilding

(14/?) What I also needed while doing #leftist #activism during the first #Trump term was #EmotionalLabor. I needed cheerleaders. I needed people who could support me emotionally and provide validation and encouragement. I was surrounded by people who were constantly telling me I wasn't enough--that whatever I was doing, it wasn't radical enough or leftist enough or effective enough. I watched people who had been in the #progressive movement for longer than I'd been alive get driven out and treated like garbage over petty infighting. I needed people who would accept and care for me, exactly as I was, without demanding I be something else. I needed people who I could trust. I needed to not feel so alone.

If you know an #activist on the #left right now, offer to listen, deeply listen, to what they're going through. Be a space of affirmation for them. It might also help

#USPol #USPolitics #MovementBuilding #CommunityCare

(13/?) So with all that in mind--with my history of #leftist #activism and the resulting #trauma from it, as well as the general state of #precarity of life in the US and the sense that protests aren't really effective--I'm asking myself what I need to effectively resist #Trump & #Musk's #coup and #fascist oppression. What do I need to be effective and do the work required sustainably? Just because I know what I might need doesn't mean I'll get it, but understanding my own needs feels like a start.

What I needed while doing #leftist #activism during the first Trump term was care. I needed someone to buy groceries and cook and clean and do what #Marxists call reproductive labor for me. I needed someone to take care of my basic needs.

If you know someone who is doing #activism right now, ask them what they need, and one thing you might offer is to cook a meal for them or do chores for them. It might help

#USPol #USPolitics #MovementBuilding

(13/?) So with all that in mind--with my history of #leftist #activism and the resulting #trauma from it, as well as the general state of #precarity of life in the US and the sense that protests aren't really effective--I'm asking myself what I need to effectively resist #Trump & #Musk's #coup and #fascist oppression. What do I need to be effective and do the work required sustainably? Just because I know what I might need doesn't mean I'll get it, but understanding my own needs feels like a start.

What I needed while doing #leftist #activism during the first Trump term was care. I needed someone to buy groceries and cook and clean and do what #Marxists call reproductive labor for me. I needed someone to take care of my basic needs.

If you know someone who is doing #activism right now, ask them what they need, and one thing you might offer is to cook a meal for them or do chores for them. It might help

#USPol #USPolitics #MovementBuilding