Where do we start?
Remember that we are human beings and that we can talk to each other. If an hour of talk can prevent a war, it is worth it. Let your voice be heard, but in a kind way until there are no other option. And remember, you have two ears, one mouth. There is an old saying: Talking is silver, listening is gold. We don’t need a conflict anywhere if we can avoid it.
For pesticide related actions click here.
Gathering information and making phone calls
Here are some advice from the Indivisible group guide:
Begin with these five steps to gather information necessary for all future advocacy activities. Remember to always be respectful.
- Find your three MoCs, their official websites, and their office contact info at
https://www.callmycongress.com. - Sign up on your MoCs’ website to receive regular email updates, invites to local events, and propaganda to understand what they’re saying. Every MoC has an e-newsletter.
- Find out where your MoCs stands on the issues of the day — appointment of white supremacists, tax cuts for the rich, etc. Review their voting history at https://VoteSmart.org. Research their biggest campaign contributors at https://OpenSecrets.org.
- Set up a Google News Alert (http://www.google.com/alerts) — for example for “Rep. Bob Smith” — to receive an email whenever your MoC is in the news.
- Research on Google News (https://news.google.com/news) what local reporters have written about your MoCs. Find and follow them on Twitter, and build relationships. Before you attend or plan an event, reach out and explain why your group is protesting and provide them background materials and a quote. Journalists on deadline — even those who might not agree with you — appreciate when you provide easy material for a story.
Get information about action from other sources:
- www.mycivicworkout.com – sends out an action once per week
- https://www.wall-of-us.org – four concrete acts of resistance each week
- http://jenniferhofmann.com/home/weekly-action-checklist-democrats-independents-republicans-conscience/ – another person’s weekly action e-mail that you can subscribe too. It is more like a regular e-mail, but has some interesting stuff
- Use the app “5 calls“. This app will present you with 5 issues that you can call aobut every day.
Join a group and/or a movement website
Find people that are like minded with you and a few that is not. The last group is important because they will be your testing ground for what you stand for. To them you have to present your side and see it also from their point of view. It is never about winning a discussion. It is about learning the other persons opinion and their arguments, if they have any arguments. Here are a couple of suggestions for a progressive person:
- Indivisible. These are local groups that work for local changes that then will have effect higher up in the system.
- CourageCampaign.org. Mainly California, but also works nationally.
- Moveon.org. Largest progressive organizing group in the U.S. Here you can also create petitions etc.
- DailyKos.com. News and petitions.
Join a march
Join a march that is happening in your area and that is for a cause that you feel strongly about.
Newspapers
Pay for a newspaper subscription that has independent news. I have found independent newspapers to be more objective in their reporting, although at the moment I would say that is difficult.
Television
Try to see news and coverage from different channels. The ones that are objective in their coverage will normally go deeper in the subject too. When fear mongering is the main message, they are no longer believable to me. Then it is time to take a break and switch channel.
Call them to let them know about things happening or that you want them to cover. Here are some numbers:
CNN (323) 993-5000
ABC (212) 456-4040
CBS (212) 975-4321
Fox News (212) 301-3000
MSNBC (212) 664-4444
CNBC (201) 735-2622
