With a new president and a tense political climate, a lot of you are finding yourselves called to action, whether it’s marching in Saturday’s record-breaking Womxn’s March, supporting favorite causes, or participating in new communities. As Nicole Brodeur wrote in The Seattle Times, “This is the time to turn away from our screens, to look at faces instead of posts, to speak and act upon words instead of just typing them.”
Here’s a partial list of some resources we’ve heard you talk about, some of which you shared at our Inauguration Night event Friday:
- This Is My Oath is a tool to help people identify issues they care about and learn how to take action on them.
- Reader Ellen Pearlman recommends wall-of-us.org, which sends a weekly email with concrete actions every week. The site 5 Calls makes it easy to “spend 5 minutes, make 5 calls” to government officials, says Amy Lakhani. Another called 2 Hours a Week has more to-do lists, and is recommended by Carrie Jones. In Washington state, there’s TogetherForWA, which compiles actions for progressives on a local level.
- One of the attendees at our Friday night event encouraged people to support Campaign Nonviolence and work for a more peaceful society.
- If you’re politically progressive, the local Facebook community Practical Acts of Progress shares a few targeted actions a week, says Jessica Powell. Another Facebook community, Indivisible Seattle, is organizing political resistance to policy change, says Levi Melnick.
- For conservative women, the Network of Enlightened Women is gathering stories and photos with the hashtag #ShesConservative.
- Reader Austin Valeske started a Democracy Action Item Facebook page, where he posts both things to do and reminders to just relax and enjoy life. He also helps organize local Neighborhood Action Councils to help marginalized communities.
- KUOW and the Office of Arts & Culture are organizing an event for local artists to find creative ways forward in the new political landscape.
- Organizers of the national Women’s March put together 10 actions in 100 days as a resource for participants.
- Here’s an app that helps you reach out to your elected officials.
- Reader Mollie Wogg is updating her calendar of local events to learn more and stay active on political and social justice issues at Fight the Good Fight.
- And for those of you who want to explore a wider variety of political perspectives, Adrienna Jones introduced us to “I want to listen,” a project by part-time Seattleite Michelle Miller.
Got more to add? We’re particularly curious about ways to take action from a centrist or conservative perspective. Let us know with an email to [email protected].