(Photo credit: Ulysses Curry)
For this week's installment of Three Easy Things, I asked my old blogger pal Marlen to help out. Marlen is a writer for Bustle and extremely knowledgeable and passionate about the issues currently facing our society, so I knew that she would put together a great list of easy ways to be active this week. Naturally, she didn't disappoint. Marlen has also created a Facebook for those looking to defend Planned Parenthood and all other human rights, which has been more than helpful for a newbie like me. If you have any interest in being added to the group, please feel free to comment or shoot me an email (room334blog@gmail.com) if we're not already Facebook friends.
Without further ado, here are Marlen's three easy things you can do this week:
1. Follow vocal people in minority groups: Issues that have long time been bubbling in our history are taking center stage now, and in order to be a good ally you need to have a good handle on what they're experiencing first hand.
Reading news articles is a good way to start, but hearing from these members directly is even better. Hop onto Twitter and follow people of color, Muslims, Native Americans, trans women and men, members of the LGBTQ+ community, immigrants, and disabled people - anyone that you're fired up to stand with. Often times they give you free, valuable information through Twitter threads on what their communities are experiencing, and how you can help them. And most importantly, they give you a detailed account of how they're experiencing discrimination and how you yourself might actually be part of the problem. It's a valuable lesson. Here are some excellent people to follow to start you off:
POC: @MsPackyetti, @Karnyth ia, and @polotek
Muslim woman: @hodakatebi
Asian American man: @wilfredchan
2. Join groups that will hold you accountable: Whether that's joining a secret Facebook group that creates action steps for its members, or simply joining an email newsletter that will send you the most pressing action steps to your mailbox, join a community that's going to keep you active. If you're just joining the activist movement, it can feel overwhelming trying to find all the information you need - below are some great resources to sign up to to get you started:
Women's March 10 Actions, 100 Days challenge: Link
5 Calls: Link
Jennifer Hoffman's weekly checklist: Link
3. In terms of the Muslim ban: If you don't agree with the Muslim ban but feel helpless with how to help, begin by getting active in your own community. Start at a local level and you'll quickly learn that you have the power to make a difference and help stand for your neighbors. See if there's a refugee shelter you can volunteer at, join an Arab action network on Facebook so you can get notifications on what they need from their allies (ex: this is one of the Chicago networks,) and hop onto the events page on Facebook and see if there are any fundraisers or protests that would need your attendance. While it's important to call your representatives and urge them to push against the ban, it's just as crucial you start helping in your community, too.
For more helpful links and motivation, you can follow Marlen on Twitter, @marlenkomar.
If you'd like to contribute to this series, please send me an email. I'd love to get more voices and opinions!
If you'd like to contribute to this series, please send me an email. I'd love to get more voices and opinions!
Great to see more of this series.
ReplyDeleteThis was a great post! I live and work in Washington, DC and I've also worked on the Hill so coming from the political side, I would also advise that you should get to know your members of Congress but also your local officials - the mayor, your state senators, etc. They will make the most direct impact on you, policy-wise. I always tell people, if you don't have time to follow politics, follow all the people running on Facebook. The ones you end up unfollowing will be the ones you don't vote for when election day comes.
ReplyDeleteAnyways, great post! Also, I miss you, Marlen! :]
xo Deborah
Coffee, Prose, and Pretty Clothes
This is so great!! Thank you for putting this together! I was feeling really angry this weekend about what's going on and had no idea how to help, so I'm definitely going to check out 10 Actions 100 Days!
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