I don't know how to fight nationalism nor fascism

In school, I was taught that Germany turned to fascism because the country was economically devastated, because people didn't have enough to eat, because they were desperate, because conditions were extreme. I was taught that, had these things not happened, Germany wouldn't have lost its collective mind and murdered several million people.

For many years since, every time I've studied a time when people have flirted with nationalism or fanatical religion, or seen it happening in other countries, I've thought, well, things are dire there, people are scared, maybe justifiably so. Some economic stability and education will take care of this and they'll stop this nonsense as a result.

I don't believe it anymore. I'll never believe it again. Because of what I'm seeing right here in my own country. Nationalism - fascism - is rampant, not just in marches but in casual conversations on Facebook and over lunch and dinner tables. People are saying, explicitly, proudly, that criticism of the President should be utterly unacceptable, that people should be forced to stand for patriotic music, that police are justified in killing unarmed black men, and on and on. There's a constant denial of science and a continually deriding of public schools. There is an insistence that one religion is right and every other religion isn't just wrong, but is a threat. The majority of white people in the USA who have at least some college education and voted in November 2016 voted for Donald Trump. The majority of white WOMEN in the USA who have at least some college education and voted in November 2016 voted for Donald Trump. That he has been a sexual predator in the past - and bragged about it - didn't matter to those voters. That he blames sexual assault in the military because women were admitted into the military - didn't matter to those voters. That he ripped of several hundred people via his "university" and had to settle for many millions of dollars didn't matter. That he lied about Barack Obama, disrespected Gold Star families and military heroes, and said vile things about women didn't matter.

And none of this support for him is because white people are economically devastated, because they don't have enough to eat, because they are desperate, because conditions are extreme.

Quite frankly, I'm not trying to figure it out anymore. Because I don't care. I'm tired of their belief in fake news despite the mountain of reality proving it wrong. I'm tired of the double standard regarding the horrible man in office now and the very respectful, honorable one he replaced. I'm tired of their "I'm not a racist, but obviously white people are better and history shows us that" nonsense. No, I'm not going to reach across the table. No, I'm not going to listen. I'm done.

Geesh, even George W. Bush is worried.

Extreme nationalism has no signs of slowing down in Europe. It's also happening in Turkey and the Phillippines and India and Russia. People are feeling militant about their native languages and what they perceive as their national culture.

And people in the USA are embracing it as well.

So... now what? Education doesn't work to change their minds. Facts don't work to change their minds. These people do not have any patience or attention to detail, and they balk at the idea of time and deliberation it takes to learn and make important decisions, like a nuclear deal with Iran. They want simplistic, almost childlike emotional and very quick answers, answers that feel good rather than are based on any study or fact.
What to do?

Slaves were not freed in the USA because a majority of slave owners were convinced that slavery was wrong. Nazis were not defeated in Germany because a majority of Nazis and their sympathizers changed their minds. It took violence. It took devastation. It took an incredible amount of death.

I don't want violence. Or devastation. Or death. I do not romanticize nor desire any of that.

The victories of the civil rights movement did not happen by winning over racists. People didn't' vote for it - the courts and the Executive Branch listened to those supporting civil rights and did what was right, even if it wasn't popular with millions of people - maybe a majority of people. But we don't have that on our side now.

I've marched twice in Portland, once for women, once for science. I've been attending city council meetings since before the election; I want to keep my eye on the city council to make sure they aren't up to any shenanigans, like trying to cut an essential service or giving developers sweet heart deals. I've attended four public meetings with my state or national legislators, making sure right-wingers aren't showing up in greater numbers at any event and so that I can listen first hand to their messages. I've joined the official local arm of the Democratic Party, because I very much want to keep the party fighting for social justice, fighting for abortion rights, fighting for workers' rights, fighting for civil rights, fighting for the issues that affect people on a daily basis. I write the news media every time they get lazy in their reporting, every time they drop the ball in an interview with a member of the GOP.

But nothing changes. The fascist march continues.

Next week in Idaho, at Boise State University, there will be a presentation on how Idahoans organized a successful counter-movement to white supremacists in Idaho. According to the web site,  the presenters will "explain how people united around a variety of strategies that resulted in many victories--culminating in 2000 with an Idaho jury’s civil judgment against the Aryan Nations for $6.3 million that bankrupted it. The decades-long campaign for human rights--and to check the threat of the white nationalists, white supremacists and neo-Nazis--included passage of state legislation, support as allies for victims, comprehensive programs in the K-12 schools and colleges, public rallies and events, numerous press conferences and press releases condemning acts of hate, close working relationship with the police and prosecutors for aggressive prosecution of hate crimes, partnership with the faith community, statewide coordination with organizations and institutions for positive steps to advance human rights, commitment to the philosophy of non-violence and peace, and a pledge to never remain silent in the face of hate."

But what if the white nationalists are a populist movement that doesn't see itself as "white nationalists", even as they espouse similar statements? What if parents in those K-12 schools and universities block programs that encourage understanding and deliberation and, instead, promote anti-science curricula and a one-sided story of history that glorifies Western Europe alone?  What if the police and faith communities are part of the problem in creating intolerance and division?

I'm going to keep fighting, non-violently. I'm going to keep talking. People are in danger - particularly people who aren't white like me. My country is in danger. But I still believe in the ideals of my country and want to continue to live them and try to promote them.

But I also admit that the idea of buying a ranch in a remote location and living the rest of my days taking care of abandoned horses and providing tent space to people traveling the world by motorcycle, and cashing in on my privilege and giving up on humans in general, is sounding better and better.

You rock! Who the hell are you?

I didn't go to the meeting with my US Congressional Representative in the next town. I had meant to, I had planned to, and it got here, and I just couldn't. As I said in my last blog, which you didn't read, I'm so tired. I'm floundering. Does any of this matter? Are we really going to have to wait two years - the elections in 2018 - to have any impact? What if those elections don't go well? What if the no-show voters remain no-shows? What if there are even more no-shows? What if Democrats remain purists and decide a Democratic candidate isn't going to be anti-corporate enough, pro-environment enough, progressive enough, and stay home, allowing the Republican to win? What else can I say to an elected official that I haven't said already?

I went to a panel discussion by Muslim women on what their life is like in the USA now - it was just a few blocks from me. I went to a free performance of The Laramie Project by a university gender equity group, also just a few blocks from me. I wrote postcards for the Ides of March. I'll go to the March for Science next month. But I'm wondering... does it really matter? Because all the people outraged on Facebook are pretty much just posting to Facebook.

Not that Facebook is bad. I'm on a Facebook group for the town where I live that is for discussion of social justice in our community and how to promote such. One thing I like about it is that it's mostly about "here's a great event to attend" rather than "Here is my white-person's opinion of the injustice to the Latino community happening now," for the most part. I'd like to think I've helped with that tone: I post at least a couple of times a week to it, with recommendations for events to attend, info on city and county government activities people need to be aware of and think about influencing, and practical ways to be allies to the many communities and individuals under threat now: Latinos, Muslims, Sikhs, black Americans, single moms, sexually-active women that don't want children...

I got a DM from someone else on the group. We had met face-to-face before, years ago, when, via another Facebook group, I offered free plums to anyone willing to come to my house and pick them. He wrote:

I remember gathering plums but I really had no idea who you were in terms of the quality of your posts. You rock! And now I see a return for you to Ukraine. Who the hell are you? What business calls you to Ukraine??? I so appreciate your contributions to facebook. You never miss - always on target.

I thanked him for the comments, told him a bit about me, and said that I was trying to apply the principles I use abroad and promote regarding community development right here in our little town.

What I didn't tell him was that this the best compliment I've had in a long time. I cried when I read it. Yeah, I am more than a woman who seems to always be home or walking her dog. Thanks for noticing.

I also got a very sweet shout out in this blog from a colleague in Australia. That meant a lot.

But it's not enough to get me out of the dumps.

I've been particularly down because, out of the blue, I got offered a trip to Ukraine to teach a workshop and, within days, the offer got rescinded, because of budgeting. The organization had wanted me because they had asked clients who they would most like to lead a workshop, and on what subject, and three people wrote in my name. Three. But there will be no trip because, just like every other area where I work, funding has been cut, or is about to be cut. This scaling back of support by government for nonprofits and international development isn't just bad for millions of people that rely on such - it's bad for a certain consultant in Oregon.

And many weeks before that, I got an email out of the blue telling me an online university wanted to interview me about teaching a class. I had my initial interview, just with an outsourced screener making sure I had the credentials, and then the date was set up with the dean of the department. I researched, I rehearsed, I adjusted various online things about me... and then she wrote the day before and said she needed to postpone the interview, and would get back to me. And then she didn't respond to my two emails afterward, checking in, saying I was oh-so-ready for the interview at her convenience and all that. And then I got an email from the first interviewer, saying they'd picked a candidate and thanking me for my time.

This is what it's been like professionally since moving back to the USA, and particularly for the last two years: almosts. And even those are becoming fewer and fewer.

Lots of colleagues are at a conference now that I would love to have attended. But I don't have the money for the travel and conference fees. Another set of colleagues really want me at a conference later this year, but I'm not sure I can afford that either - and I know it won't lead to any paid work, so why go? Conference attendance has never lead directly to paid work for me - though I've been paid to attend a few conferences.

Somewhere - I don't remember where - I read an interview with someone who said he makes himself write down five ideas a day. An idea for a business, or a screenplay, or a novel, or a vacation, or a career change, and on and on. It's supposed to force inspiration, force creativity. To break through and all that. I am not very creative. And I'm really uninspired. So I did it. For three months. I now have this huge document of ideas for screenplays and novels and businesses and nonprofits and different careers and on and on. And... yeah, whatever. The novel ideas aren't all that great. The nonprofits are vague and I'm not sure I could really prove any are needed.

A few years ago, I tried rebranding myself and applying for very different jobs than I had been most of my life. Going for it! No matter what! It resulted in nada.

While I'm not creative, I am an amazing number 2 for someone who is. He or she has the vision, I can get us there. But I have no one to follow. And at my age, people just see an old, fat woman. They don't see spirit and drive and capabilities.

Did I mention I'm floundering?

I'm having trouble even finding things I want to do socially. Nothing sounds interesting. I did find this, and got excited, but there were two problems: it's sold out, and I've got a few thousand dollars of medical bills coming up, so I couldn't afford it anyway.

And why am I writing this... no one is reading it...

Why do people in the USA not vote? & how to address this?

Millions of people in the USA who are able to vote do not vote. Why?

I’ve been researching online, and every article seems to have a list of different reasons, plus I've heard some first-hand from people that don't vote that aren't on those lists. So I threw them all together here. This list excludes people who are prevented from voting by law because of a conviction.

The reasons millions of people in the USA who are able to vote but don't include:

• they don’t have the identification needed by law to register, and they either don’t know how to get that proper ID, or the fees and work hours to get the proper ID gets in the way of obtaining such, or the hassle just doesn’t seem worth it
   
• even if they have the identification needed, the hassle of registering to vote doesn’t seem worth it, or they don’t understand how it works
   
• the lines to vote are too long before and after work, they can't get off work to vote, or to try to maneuver a long line with children in tow is too difficult.
   
• they don’t have transportation to a polling station
   
• the hassle of getting an absentee ballot doesn’t seem worth it or they don’t know how to do it
   
• they think they will be more likely to be chosen for jury duty if they register to vote (they won't be, however, as juries are drawn from driver's license holders as well)
   
• they get sick on election day or have a family emergency
   
• they don’t care about politics; they have no motivation to care
   
• they don’t like any of their choices
   
• they think voting really does not matter
   
• bad weather 

I think that all but the last four bullets can be addressed by education, personal assistance and/or absentee ballots. And that should give you hope. And motivation to get involved to change things.

Another thing about this list, as noted by The Guardian: the obstacles to voting disproportionately affected black Americans.

Non-white Americans have typically had much lower turnout rates than white Americans. The Census Bureau asks eligible voters who don’t turn out to vote why they didn’t. Their responses show that white Americans are five times more likely than black Americans to say they didn’t vote simply because they “did not like candidates or campaign issues”. Meanwhile, black voters are more likely than white voters to cite obstacles to voting, such as “inconvenient polling place” or “transportation problems”.

According to the Center for American Progress,, “poll closures and limited voting hours disproportionately affect black voters”. And looking at early voting data, they found that trend was particularly noticeable in North Carolina, where there were 158 fewer early polling places in counties with large black communities and African American voter participation was down 16%.

Another reason, “registration problems”, was chosen by about 7% of eligible black voters and 5% of eligible white voters when explaining why they did not vote in the 2012 presidential election. Voter ID laws, which disproportionately affect black and younger voters according to a report by the Government Accountability Office, are often the reason for this.

So, now what?

Please get involved in efforts that help people register to vote. Contact your local Democratic Party HQ (or the party of your choice), the nearest League of Women Voters, any Black Lives Matter affiliates, the local chapter of the Urban League, etc., to find out how to join a register-to-vote effort. Ask your friends and family if they are registered to vote and, if they aren't, help them do so - many states allow people to register online. Make a goal: that you will, personally, register five new people to vote in 2017. You will register five more in 2018.

Help people get the identification they need to vote if they don't have such. Again, those aforementioned organizations may have such an effort but need more volunteers to help with it.

Look for efforts to help to get people to the polls. There are local elections and voter referendums in 2017 all over the USA, maybe in your city or county. Find out by asking any of your city council representatives (you can email them). Consider taking a vacation day on voting day so you can drive people to their polling stations. Or help people apply for and submit absentee ballots.

Except for filling suddenly vacant seats, the next elections for national Senators and Representatives in November 2018. It is vital that there is a huge voter turnout for these November 2018 elections, and the work has to start NOW for that to happen. Consider taking a vacation day on voting day so you can drive people to their polling stations or help with child care for someone needing to vote. Or sign up with the aforementioned organizations to help people apply for and submit absentee ballots - a great idea for people that have transportation, work or child care issues that might prevent them from being able to vote.

And one last thing, to those that say they don't vote because they don't like the choices: get over yourselves, buttercups. It is the height of white privilege to have the right to vote, the ability to vote, the credentials to vote, the registration to vote, and then not vote. I voted for Bernie in the primary, but damn right I voted for Hillary in November. Because it was far, far more important to try to prevent what's happening now than to be selfish and think non-participation sends a message. Because it doesn't. Not when it comes to voting.

In Five Weeks

In the last four and a half weeks I’ve:

• met one-on-one with a representative of a Latina empowerment nonprofit to talk about how to train their clients to be better story tellers regarding their experiences with oppression and harassment, so the stories can be captured and better communicated to the press, city officials, the police, etc. (they aren't being captured currently)
  
  
• met one-on-one with the police’s community outreach person to hear about his trainings on inherent bias in the police force and to talk about outreach to those that aren’t native English speakers
  
  
• attended a “Conozca sus derechos!” workshop at a local cultural center so I can learn how to refer immigrant and Latino community members regarding such
  
  
• gotten in touch with Right Wing Watch about two local activities I think they should know about
  
  
• attended a public meeting by one of my national Senators to learn what he’s doing on a national level and what he wants his constituents to be doing to back him up
  
  
• attended a public meeting by my local state representative to hear what she’s doing in the state capital and to hear what she wants us to be doing to back her up and let our voices be heard
  
  
• offered public testimony at a city council meeting in support of a sanctuary resolution
  
  
• attended the open house of the nearest Islamic mosque to hear Muslims, in their own words, tell me how to be a better ally
  
  
• attended the women’s march
  
  
• posted information about all of the above before it happened to encourage other people in my community to attend and participate as well
  
  
• expanded my resources on my web site about how to combat fake news (I’m one of the only people that has been researching and writing about how misinformation campaigns target government health and NGO development initiatives, and have been doing so since 2005)

I'm tired. What keeps me going? What YOU do. When you post to social media about what you're doing, about what you're outraged about, what you are seeing and experiencing. Please don't stop. 

But I confess I'll be taking a break at some point... 

From gutted to hopeful

I was gutted after the election. Gutted. To see a fascist win the election, and to hear people celebrate taking away people's health care insurance (including their own!), the sell-off of public lands, more guns, taking money away from public schools, closing women's health care clinics, oppressing Black Americans, marginalizing Mexican-Americans, and getting cosier with the current Russian dictator - it was too much to bear. I wasn't despondent because of one man - I was despondent because of more than 60 million voters in the USA - and those that didn't vote but were oh-so-pleased at what was happening, at the misery of others. I was mostly pissed off at white people, because even a majority of university-educated white women voted for this man.

But now?

The women's march - largest day of protests in US history - the refusal by any artist of substance and importance to perform in any way associated with the inauguration, the spontaneous protests regarding the Muslim ban, the massive donations to refugee-support agencies and the ACLU, the incredible activism against DeVos, people spontaneously cleaning off Nazi symbols on a New York subway car, all these people calling their senators and congressmen repeatedly and turning out for city council meetings in record numbers and filling their social media feeds with activism ideas and activities...

No, we didn't stop DeVos, who is profoundly unqualified to be in charge of this nation's education system. But Republican Senators are now exposed for not listening to their constituents. We've scared them - really scared them. Let's keep scaring them.

This is from a dear friend back in Kentucky, someone I've known since the 2nd grade:

"I was never one to care about politics, pay attention to politics, sadly to say 😞 However, I AM PAYING ATTENTION and Trump will make an activist out of me!!! I wish I paid attention sooner."

Dear friend, thank you for your energy. It's people like you, not me, that are going to make the real difference.

I do not lament all this political talk on Facebook. I relish it.

It's all given me hope. And rebellions are built on hope.

Don't be discouraged. Remember, it's a marathon, not a sprint. We've much work to do before the midterm elections in November 2018. We've got voters to register and non-voters to inspire and districts and states to focus are energies on and turn from red to blue. And we've got human rights to defend.

Also see:

What I'll Be Doing Over the Next Four Years

Nonprofits to Support to Counter the Trump Presidency

How White People Can Survive The Next Four Years

Other than pushing the "heart" icon on every tweet by the incoming President, what can white people in the USA - or anyone perceived as white - do to stay safe and happy for the next four years under the new administration? Here are some ideas:

1. When someone tries to talk about anything political, say things like "whoever is President doesn't really affect most people" and "I don't really care about politics right now" and "I'm not going to read or watch the news anymore." Say you're focused instead on "being positive," and "listening to everyone's point of view."
   
   
2. When your friends express fears about what the incoming President has said he will do, or when he actually does something that frightens them, like asking for the names of US government officials that have attended international conferences on climate change, or the names of US Department of State staff that have worked on gender-related initiatives, tell those friends that they are being "alarmist" and that they need to "take a break from worrying." You may have to stop hanging out with them to keep yourself safe from their worries.
   
   
3. When any friends or neighbors say they are not going to do anything that might be seen as appeasing racists that support Trump, or as appeasement regarding racist or fascist actions by the incoming Presidential administration, chide them for not being inclusive or tolerant or Patriotic, and for making other people "uncomfortable" by being intolerant. Tell them you love your country and that you "respect differences in opinion" no matter what and "want to keep the peace" and that you are committed to learning more about the "other" side's point of view, no matter what the point of view is, because the people that say those racist, fascist things, or the people that say that those who say such things "aren't really bad people," are members of your family, or are your neighbors or co-workers, and that means they aren't really serious about those comments. In fact, don't worry at all about saying anything that's even vaguely racist, let alone overtly, yourself, similar to what the incoming President has said about immigrants, black Americans, people of Mexican heritage and American Indians. Balk when friends try to bring up Nazi Germany.
   
   
4. Keep saying over and over that Trump voters aren't really bad people and that their votes were about the economy. Be in complete denial that data keeps showing, again and again, that Trump voters were NOT voting for the economy - they were voting for racism and sexism. Don't read this paper by political scientists Brian Schaffner, Matthew MacWilliams, and Tatishe Nteta that puts the blame back on the same factors people pointed to before the election: racism and sexism. Don't look at their research-based chart that shows that voters’ measures of sexism and racism correlated much more closely with support for Trump than economic dissatisfaction... a bulk of support for Trump — perhaps what made him a contender to begin with — came from beliefs rooted in racism and sexism. Specifically, the researchers conclude that racism and sexism explain most of Trump’s enormous electoral advantage with non-college-educated white Americans, the group that arguably gave Trump the election."
   
   
5. Don't donate to, volunteer for,or attend any event by any organizations that help immigrants, that advocate for living wages, that say anything about the "working poor" (no such thing!), that advocate for more affordable housing or imply that rents are too expensive for millions of people in the USA, that help women seeking abortion services, that help women access or learn about pregnancy prevention, or that are associated with Muslims in any way. Don't "like" the status updates of any such organizations on Facebook, or show any support for them on any social media.
   
   
6. Don't say anything supportive of "Black Lives Matter." Whenever someone says "Black Lives Matter," Say "All lives matter!" Use the words the incoming President has to talk about black neighborhoods : call them "war zones", and say that black Americans are "living in your poverty, your schools are no good, you have no jobs,", etc., but don't actually visit any black neighborhoods for yourself. Say similar things to what the incoming President has said about Black Americans, like “They didn’t come out to vote for Hillary. They didn’t come out. And that was a big — so thank you to the African-American community.” (citation). Discourage any black Americans from voting.
   
   
7. Do NOT associate with Muslims. Inter-faith events might be okay, to show you don't hate all of them, but don't go to any speeches by Muslims, especially those that express concern about things like a "Muslim registry."
   
   
8. Don't say anything negative about the coal industry, oil drillers, gas pipelines, brokers and financial advisers, real estate speculation, private prisons, Trump hotels, or Trump university. Do say negative things about the solar industry.
   
   
9. Talk about the failure of public schools and how you want federal money to go to private schools, which is where you send your children or want to or would want to, if you had school-aged children. Cite as one of your reasons for this that a majority of U.S. public school students come from low-income families (just above 50%); blame public schools for this.
   
   
10. Talk about how Scott Baio is really under-rated as an actor and political commentator. Lamet that Wayne Rogers died before he could vote for Trump. Go to concerts by Ted Nugent, Kid Rock and Azealia Banks, and praise them on social media. Buy lots of Duck Dynasty-related merchandise, and note that you have done so on social media. Disparage the lauded, legendary musical "Hamilton."
    
    
11. Don't go to Cuba, unless it's with a Christian organization that wants to convert people there to an evangelical religion, and if you do visit, then when you come back, talk about how horrible life is there and how pitiful Cubans are compared to people in the USA.
    
    
12. Post on social media with warm words about Vladamir Putin. Say he's a man "highly respected within his own country and beyond," as our incoming President has. Don't say anything about the 21 Russian journalists who have been murdered during Putin's tenure, who had written articles critical of his actions and policies. Don't say anything about the illegal war he's waging in Eastern Ukraine, his illegal annexation of Crimea and expulsion of Muslim Tatars from the peninsula, his illegal annexation of areas of Georgia, his staunch campaigning against what he calls "gay propaganda", or the forced evictions of people from their homes for the Sochi Olympics. Say you are grateful for the Russians illegally hacking into computers in the USA. Even better: travel to Russia and, when you return, no matter what you saw, say how great it was there and how everyone is happy and loves their President.  

Do even a few of these things and you will stay in the good graces of the Trump administration and all of his supporters. You will have a quiet, peaceful, stress-free life - at least for the next four years.

How you will sleep at night, however - that's another matter.

And if you can't tell this is satire, you're probably a Trump voter.

Also see:

• No, it wasn't about the economy
• silence means approval
• What does it mean to be "white" in the USA?
• A citizen of nowhere

What does it mean to be "white" in the USA?

Since American Neo Nazis and other racists (or, as they call themselves, the alt-right) really want me to be proud of being white and embrace my whiteness and blah blah blah - what in the heck does being white in the USA even mean?

There is no scientific nor internationally-agreed definition of white. None. Zilch. A white person is a person identified by society as white and a person that identifies that way himself or herself, however that person defines what white is.

I guess being white also means having most-recent ancestry from Western Europe (have to say “most-recent” because, ultimately, we’re all from Africa) and having an appearance that says so to most people who would look at the person in question.

For me, it also means living in a society where I’ve been in the majority race all my life, as have my parents, their parents, and on and on.

And most certainly, being white means privileges not enjoyed by other races, at least not to the same degree. And it's those privileges that define white people in the USA.

What privileges?:

• No matter how poor a white person is in the USA, or how he or she has been brought up, if he or she can get into a college or university, and/or get a well-paying, even high-profile job, people in those spheres aren’t going to look twice at that person per skin color and ask “Should YOU really be here?” Even working overseas as an aid worker, no one looks twice at me in my work - unlike my African colleagues, who I've witnessed treated as somehow “less” by local people when we've worked together in the field, such as in Afghanistan. White privilege is global, truly. That doesn't mean you don't sometimes struggle professionally, as a white person - but it means that the perception by American society that you are white does not stand in your way as race does for other people in a variety of situations.
  
  
• In the case of getting stopped by police here in the USA (and most other places), white people are far less likely to be arrested for the exact same offenses that send a non-white person to jail, and far less likely to get a prison sentence for the same offenses that would send a non-white person to prison. When we get pulled over, we do not have the same level of fear that a non-white person has. That's privilege.
  
  
• Most of the police, firefighters, school teachers, elected officials and non-elected officials all around us in the USA look like us. We don't wonder what any of those people might be thinking based on our skin color when we are dealing with them, because they are "like us".
  
  
• If you are a more recent arrival in the USA and you’re from Germany or England or France or Sweden or wherever else in Western Europe, and you are perceived as white, some American white person will say excitedly, “I’m German too”, or whatever, based on some distant relative that had a kind of German name or something. Regardless, you will get a warm welcome: I’m one of you and you’re one of us! - a reception far different than other immigrant groups. Not one person has ever asked my German husband if he's here legally. That's not a privilege shared by immigrants from Africa, Asia, etc., or people of African descent who have citizenship status in Western Europe.
  
  
• It means you probably voted for Donald Trump. The overwhelming majority of white voters did. White voting men went 63 percent for Trump versus 31 percent for Clinton, and white voting women went 53-43 percent. Among college-educated whites, only 39 percent of voting men and 51 percent of voting women voted for Clinton. He received the strongest support from white voting women without college degrees: 62 percent. And if you are a white person and didn't vote for Trump, as I am, it means you probably live in a place where most of your white didn't vote for Trump, as I do, and you are stunned that he won, as I am - though I still have strong ties to the South and could see the passionate, widespread support for him there, expressed on social media.
  
  
• Over the next four years, white people, even those that didn't vote for him, can sincerely say things like “What the President is doing really isn’t going to affect me” or “We’ll be fine” or “I don’t have time to worry about this” or "I'm going to take a break from political talk and I'm just not going to worry about this for a while." They can, and many will, stay silent while Hispanic students are told “hey, go back to Mexico” in their schools, while Muslim Americans are harassed, while women who are pregnant that seek an abortion are forced to carry a pregnancy to term. Those things have been accelerating over the last two years, fueled by state-level events, and now, they will all have a Presidential endorsement and drive - but even so, most white people in the USA aren't going to be affected by such. Most white people in the USA are Christian, or perceived as such, rather than Muslim. Like me, they don’t have to fear family members being deported, have health care that isn’t Obamacare, and don't rely on a government program for the family's welfare, like help with a child with disabilities. White middle class folks will be able to access abortion - they'll be able to take off work all the days necessary to drive to a clinic far away, once for the "official" pregnancy test and state-ordered anti-abortion speech and once for the actual procedure. Most white folks don’t have family members in the military - we put that yellow ribbon on our cars and "like" the Wounded Warriors Facebook page and, ta da, we support the troops! Most Americans, white or not, don’t travel overseas. Most white folks don't live next to a field that a large multi-national company wants to mine or use for oil transportation. Most of us don't live next to a body of water that is polluted by industrial waste, or in danger of being so. Most white people will be able to put together financing so white children can go to college. That's privilege. That's why white folks can say "We'll be fine" and "It isn't really that bad." Because for them, they will be fine, their neighbors will be fine, their colleagues will be fine, and it really isn't that bad. 

Most white people don't have a home, a car, and security handed to them on a silver platter. Most work hard, face obstacles, and struggle sometimes. Many are on the receiving end of injustice, not because of their race, but because of a range of other circumstances. A person isn't bad simply because he or she is privileged compared to other people. And what should white people do with that privilege? That's not the subject of this blog.

The subject of this blog is - what does it mean to be "white" in the USA? Past the aforementioned, I’m not sure how else to define being white in the USA. White people don’t all listen to the same music, don’t all watch the same TV shows, don’t all eat the same foods, don’t all have the same holiday traditions, don't have the same belief systems regarding religion and ethics, don't do the same things on the weekend, don't play the same sports, and on and on. And I don’t believe that being white makes me somehow superior, or inferior, physically or intellectually, to any other people, because of race. I don’t believe I have any particular abilities because of my race. I most definitely have prejudices and privileges, but my experience over half a century has never, ever confirmed racial superiority or inferiority of any group, and, in addition, science has proven racism is bullshit:

We now know that the way we talk about race has no scientific validity. There is no genetic basis that corresponds with any particular group of people, no essentialist DNA for black people or white people or anyone. This is not a hippy ideal, it’s a fact. There are genetic characteristics that associate with certain populations, but none of these is exclusive, nor correspond uniquely with any one group that might fit a racial epithet. Regional adaptations are real, but these tend to express difference within so-called races, not between them. Sickle-cell anaemia affects people of all skin colours because it has evolved where malaria is common. Tibetans are genetically adapted to high altitude, rendering Chinese residents of Beijing more similar to Europeans than their superficially similar neighbours. Tay-Sachs disease, once thought to be a “Jewish disease”, is as common in French Canadians and Cajuns. And so it goes on. -- Adam Rutherford, former geneticist, now science writer and broadcaster in the UK; his most recent book, Creation (Viking 2013), concerns the origin of life, and genetic engineering and synthetic biology.

In other words, I don't think the American Neo Nazis and other racists (or, as they call themselves, the alt-right) want me in the white tribe, despite my oh-so-Western European pedigree confirmed a while back by Ancestry.com (still disappointed there wasn't anything at all outside Europe in my DNA).

I am white, I am privileged, and I cannot turn away from the fact that organized racist groups of white people are rapturous at the Trump election, and he's done little to distance himself from them. Trump supporters don't cheer very loudly, or at all, when he talks about jobs or an improved economy or helping people living in poverty; they cheer the loudest when he talks about deporting immigrants from Central America, when he talks about registering Muslims that are in the USA and blocking anymore from coming, and when he talks about locking up opposition candidates. Trump voters vote from and live in a place of fear. They fear that having black and Hispanic and Asian and Arab neighbors, elected officials, police, firefighters and school teachers is somehow going to erode what they value and what they are. They fear that hearing people speaking something other than English in Wal-Mart somehow is going to make English disappear. White people that scream when Toni Morrison is added to a reading list of great American writers for school children to read often haven’t even read Faulkner or Steinbeck or Twain. They aren't at the Shakespeare festivals I enjoy, both because they aren't known for their love of great literature, even when it's written by a white guy, and because, heaven forbid, there's a black American guy playing Hamlet.

But oh, heavens, don't call them racists. Or privileged!

There are things associated with white people, particularly white people in the South, that I do, truly love: I love old-time country music, the more honky tonk the better. I grew up Baptist, for the most part, but church-hopped, and though I'm an atheist, I'm pretty much always down for a church potluck. I love fried chicken and mashed potatoes and grits (things that the white people around me here in Portlandia are not at ALL down with). I laugh at old episodes of Hee Haw. I listen to NPR and read The New York Times. I love Shakespeare. I love The Beatles. I love the standing stones of Northern France and Scotland. I love Celtic anything. I love men in kilts. Damn the term "cultural appropriation": I welcome anyone, no matter what race or culture with which they identify, to enjoy all those things with me, or not. Let's go listen to some old-time country music, let's eat grits and watch Hee Haw, let's go dance amid standing stones in a kilt to The Beatles, if any of that floats your boat - I don't care what your Ancestry.com results say nor where you were born.

I'm fine with being white - but I'm not fine with being privileged. I'm ready to be lead by people that aren’t white, that aren't privileged. If you are going to lose your health insurance because of a repeal of Obamacare, please tell me what you want me to do. If you are an immigrant, or have family that are immigrants, and you fear for their safety or that they will be deported, please tell me what you want me to do. If you are a Muslim living in the USA, please tell me what you want me to do. If you are a woman that's been denied access to abortion, or that lost your job because of the time off you had to take to access abortion services, please tell me what you want me to do. If you are a member of the Standing Rock Sioux tribe or any tribal group here in the USA that are fighting for jobs, fighting for land rights, fighting against environmental degradation, please tell me what you want me to do. Point me in the direction of that nonprofit, that activist group, whatever, that ISN’T lead by white people and is trying to address social justice, environmental issues, public school education, women's rights and all the other things I care about. I’ll stuff envelopes for them, I’ll keep the web site updated, I’ll write social media messages, I’ll monitor the press, I’ll write press releases. And I’ll stand in the back, or off to the side, at organizational meetings and at public events, and let the non-white leaders stand in the spotlight, stand in the center of the video frame, and frame the message, and deliver the message. I'm ready to be lead. I'm ready to learn. And I'm ready to be an ally.

Also see:

• A citizen of nowhere
• I want a symbol for ALL of the South
• No, it wasn't about the economy
• How Trump's presidency endangers American travelers abroad
• What I'll Be Doing Over the Next Four Years
• Nonprofits to Support to Counter the Trump Presidency

Disclaimer: I’ve used the terms white and non-white. That’s offensive or, at least, inappropriate, to some people. But I reject the term Caucasian for race - it’s a racist term created by a German physiologist who believed that white people originated in the Caucasus region of southeastern Europe. And I don’t like the term people of color, as it implies I, as a white person, have no color. White is, indeed, a color. Vanilla is, indeed, a oh-so-delicious flavor. So I went with the word white.

What I'll Be Doing Over the Next Four Years

Here's what I'm doing in response to the Trump Presidency, and finding out that at least half of the citizens in my country:

1. First and foremost, I'm thinking about people that will be most at risk for harm during the Trump Presidency and Republican domination of Congress. I've compiled a list of resources to help people who will be losing their health care insurance and lose access to Planned Parenthood services, to help those whose schools will be under renewed pressure to downplay science in public school classrooms (saying that climate change isn't real, for instance), to counter police targeting of Black Americans, to help LBGTQ people regarding fears for marriage, parental and adoption rights, etc. I'll be relying on this list as I seek ways to help others and to counter attempts at civil rights roll backs. I will be vigilant in seeking stories of people in harm's way, and I will both publicize them and respond to them within my abilities. I will continue to financially support Planned Parenthood and my local National Public Radio affiliate, and I will be adding a third organization: Media Matters.
    
2. I live in a blue state. I've written my Congressional Representative and my two Senators, saying what I expect them to do over the next two-four years. They will be sorely tempted to water down stances, to appease. It's vital that every sensible person in blue states write their Congress members and re-affirm the reasons we elected them.
    
3. I will become involved in local politics. I have been accepted on my city's citizens advisory committee, and I will attend at least 11 of the 12 meetings in 2017. I will attend at least half of the city council's monthly meetings, and I will actively promote what they say and do via social media - something they don't do. I will be on the lookout for attempts by citizens or representatives to reject science, to downplay climate change, to discount or ignore ethnic minorities, to brand all Muslims as terrorists, to deride LBGTQ people, and to ignore sexism or racism.
    
4. I have signed up for the email list of every one of my national and state legislators, and follow them on every social media account they have (sadly, some have none). I will comment on what they are doing and saying, for better or worse. I will attend their local meetings with constituents and I will publicize them to like-minded people so that even more of us attend.
    
5. I am looking for how my profession is responding to the election, because it does affect our work, and I am looking for ways to respond as a part of my profession. I don't have a union - if you do, you need to look at what leadership is saying, and start pressuring them regarding responding to demagoguery, misogyny, racism and nativism (which is BAD for labor and BAD for business and BAD for our country). If Gregg Popovich and others can do it using their NBA platform, so can I.
    
6. I will not appease. I will not meet racists "half way". I will not comprimise with those who abuse and demean women. I will not put being polite and peaceful over speaking out about human rights, racism, freedom of the press, people's right to affordable health care, etc. I won't sit silently as some deplorable person says, "I'm not a racist. I don't hate women. I just wanted change." I will remind them that the policies that got the loudest, wildest cheers at Trump's rallies were never about jobs - they were about how fat or ugly a woman was, or that immigrants are terrorists or rapists or drug dealers. Every time Trump says yet another insulting thing about non-USA citizens or Muslims, every time he promotes another anti-science myth, like that vaccines cause autism, every time he and Congress work to eliminate someone's hard-fought rights or health care access, I will remind them that this is the man they voted for, this is who they stand with, and if they don't, then they have to say so, publicly, for me to believe them. And if I have to stand up and leave a meal or a meeting, if I have to ask someone to leave my house, if I have to end a relationship, so be it, because to stay silent or to stay in that person's company would mean, even just to me, that I am giving approval to racism, sexism, nativism or any other form of hate. No regrets.
    
7. I will not patronize anyone or downplay the stark seriousness of this situation by saying that "we all need to pull together" or "everything will be fine" or "choose hope!" Those are such insulting things to say to anyone feeling the depth of this situation right now. Such comments come from a place of privilege, from people who are either in denial about what's coming or who won't be deeply affected by such. Such comments are hurtful rather than helpful.
    
8. I will continue to financially support my local NPR affiliate and to listen to it and international outlets, like BBC News, the English language version of Deutsche Welle, and the English language version of Al Jazeera, as well as watching PBS News Hours, in order to continue to have access to complete news that is not beholden to advertisers. I will not watch CNN news nor CBS News, as I used to, as they have shown an incredible lack of backbone in asking hard questions and in noting clearly and quickly when Donald Trump lies.
    
9. I will let local TV stations and newspapers, national TV and radio and newspapers and appropriate nonprofits know about incidents of discrimination, bigotry, violence, harm, censorship or misinformation that I think can be traced to the agenda of Trump supporters. I will also write them and their advertisers when they appease the Trump administration or Republican-dominated Congress, when they do not ask tough questions, when they ignore their actions that harm people.
    
10. I will not listen to people who say, "Stop whining!" Anyone in this country has every right to complain. Politics isn't the same as a football game, where nothing really changes after the game except stats on the web and banners in a hall and who gets a trophy. It's particularly ironic that these calls to stop complaining and fall in line behind the incoming President are coming from the South, which still pretends it didn't lose the Civil War and that the war wasn't over slavery.
     
11. I will not listen to people who mock my activism. They are beneath contempt. 

Nonprofits to Support to Counter the Trump Presidency & Republican Congress

I've already noted resources for people that are most at risk by the policies and promises of the Trump Presidency and the Republican Congress. I hope they are helpful, and welcome additional resources in the comments section on that blog.

What follows here in this blog that you are reading now is a list of nonprofits, both (c)(3) and (c)(4), that will actively fight against the new President and Congress's nativism, misogyny, racism and fascism.

Since the election, I've struggled with the question "What do I do now?" I'm hearing others struggle with it. This is my attempt to say, "Here are some of the many options out there. Pick at least one to support. And get busy."

These organizations will actively promote pro-science, pro-human rights, and/or pro-women agendas on all public policy levels and in the media. These organizations aren't about "coming together" or "uniting" or other forms of appeasement.

This is also not a comprehensive list of every organization out there fighting the good fight, and I realize its a reflection of my own policy priorities and, therefore, leaves many out, but it's a start for those looking for initiatives to support and ways to fight against policies that will marginalize women, Black Americans, Latinos, immigrants, Muslims and more, that will promote anti-scientific ideas like that climate change is a hoax or that vaccines cause autism, etc.

Sign up for the email newsletters and blog updates from a few of these organizations, the ones that speak to you most, and "like" their Facebook pages, follow them on Twitter, share their social media messages, go to their events, and if you can, donate your time or money to them. You cannot afford to give money to and volunteer for all of them, of course. And if you share everything from their social media, you will drive all your social media friends away. Be selective.

For donating and volunteering, I suggest you pick one or two organizations to support, give it a few months, then add on or switch to others, give those a few months, etc.

Don't expect for every organization to be well-organized and ready to get you involved right away; many of these organizations are struggling with funding and/or have never been trained in volunteer management. Don't get turned off by an unreturned phone call or unanswered email. Keep calling, keep emailing, keep trying.

Just please do something. Don't just post to Facebook. And do NOT be silent.

I hope this resource is helpful, and I welcome additional ideas, and your personal experiences volunteering or working with any of the following, in the comments section.

What you can do:

Media Responsibility & Ethics

Donate to Media Matters, and/or like their Facebook page and share their status updates, as appropriate. Unlike the Society of Professional Journalists, which promotes ethics in journalism but doesn't call out journalists for not adhering to those ethics, Media Matters actively, frequently calls out unethical and/or incompetent journalism. I put this organization first because this is, by far, the most important issue to me, as it affects absolutely everything else on this list.

iMediaEthics is a not-for-profit, non-partisan news site that publishes the latest media ethics news and investigations into ethical lapses. It seems more focused on the UK than the USA, but it's a great time to be focused globally, as what's happening in the USA is happening elsewhere.

The Center for Media and Information Literacy is based at the School of Media and Communication, Temple University. It is a hub for research, outreach, education, and professional development on issues involving media literacy and information literacy locally, nationally, and internationally. It has a Media and Information Literacy Curriculum for Teachers and is  a member of the Global Alliance for Partnerships on Media & Information Literacy (GAPMIL), launched during the conference in Nigeria to give greater impetus to fostering media and information literate citizenries in the governance and development agenda.

Women's Reproductive Freedom & Health

Donate to Planned Parenthood Action Fund, like their Facebook page and publicize what they are doing.

Donate to and/or volunteer for your nearest Planned Parenthood Clinic.

Bank & Finance Reform

Support Americans for Financial Reform, a nonpartisan and nonprofit coalition of more than 200 civil rights, consumer, labor, business, investor, faith-based, and civic and community groups. Formed in the wake of the 2008 crisis, the initiative is working to lay the foundation for a strong, stable, and ethical financial system – one that serves the economy and the nation as a whole. Among its many activities is advocating for and supporting the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and advocating against predatory lenders, such as pay day lenders.

Science Education in Schools & Environmental Advocacy

Donate to Stand Up 4 Public Schools, an advocacy campaign for public schools to counter privatization efforts by National School Boards Association (NSBA).

Donate to the National Environmental Education Foundation, or at least like their Facebook page.

Sponsor a membership for a science teacher at a local high school in the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the world’s largest non-government general science membership organization and the executive publisher of Science, a leading scientific journal. Anyone can subscribe to the magazine, or like the AAAS Facebook page.

The National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA) mobilizes program and policy experts, volunteers, staff lobbyists, community organizers and communications specialists to inform and inspire the public and to influence decision makers to ensure that our national parks are well protected.

Subscribe to The Scientific American, or at least follow them on Facebook. It's not a nonprofit, but it is the oldest continuously published magazine in the US and the leading authoritative publication for science in the general media. It has an agenda to focus on scientific FACTS and assaults on scientific knowledge.

Sign up for updates from The Union of Concerned Scientists, like their Facebook page, and donate to them as well. They are a science-based, non-partisan non-profit that works with scientists and citizens to educate the public, media and policymakers about climate change.

Follow the Alliance for Climate Education on Facebook. The Alliance teaches young people how to fight climate change and take control of their future. ACE has an award-winning assembly that it's presented to more than 1.8 million students in thousands of schools. Students can sign up to be part of the Action Network or apply for a fellowship and anyone can Book an ACE Assembly.

Sign up for updates from Citizens Climate Lobby and follow them on Facebook. It is a non-partisan, grassroots advocacy organization focused on national policies to address climate change. They provide opportunities to engage at the local level with fellow volunteers and trainings on their Carbon Fee and Dividend proposal, building relationships with your elected representatives, writing letters to the editor and op-eds, facilitate presentations and events

Get involved with What We Know, which helps us understand the science behind the realities, risks and response to the climate challenge. It's an initiative of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the world’s largest non-government general science membership organization and the executive publisher of Science, a leading scientific journal.

Sign up for updates from The Climate Reality Project is bringing the facts about the climate crisis into the mainstream and engaging the public in conversation about how to solve it. They help citizens around the world reject the lies and take meaningful steps to bring about change.

Join The League of Conservation Voters works to turn environmental values into national, state, and local priorities. LCV, in collaboration with our state LCV partners, advocates for sound environmental laws and policies, holds elected officials accountable for their votes and actions, and elects pro-environment candidates who will champion our priority issues.

Join the National Center for Science Education (NCSE) is a not-for-profit, membership organization providing information and resources for schools, parents, and concerned citizens working to keep evolution and climate science in public school science education.

Join the Natural Resources Defense Council combines the grassroots power of 1.4 million members and online activists with the courtroom clout and expertise of nearly 500 lawyers, scientists and other professionals. You can find ways to get help their campaigns on their Action page.

Join the Sierra Club is the nation’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization — with more than two million members and supporters. Our successes range from protecting millions of acres of wilderness to helping pass the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, and Endangered Species Act. More recently, we’ve made history by leading the charge to move away from the dirty fossil fuels that cause climate disruption and toward a clean energy economy. In addition to working at the national level, they have local chapters.

Donate to and become involved with Voces Verdes is an independent non-partisan coalition of Latino business, public health, academic, community leaders and organizational partners who advocate for sound environmental policy to combat climate change and support clean, renewable energy. We recognize the importance of balancing economic growth, environmental protection & prosperity and are able to provide Latino data around climate change and health.

There is no "friends of the Bureau of Land Management" nonprofit group. Instead, there are dozens of locally-based groups all over the USA that support specific BLM-managed areas and advocate on their behalf that you can join, such as Friends of Malheur National Wildlife Refuge (Friends of MNWR), in Oregon; Friends of Red Rock Canyon (FORRC); Trail Tenders, Inc., in Baker City, Oregon (National Historic Oregon Trail Interpretive Center-Flagstaff Hill); Grand Staircase-Escalante Partners in Kanab, Utah (Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument); Pompeys Pillar Historical Association in Billings, Montana (Pompeys Pillar National Monument); Friends of the Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument in Ashland, Oregon (Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument); Anza Trail Coalition in Tubac, Arizona (Juan Bautista de Anza National Historic Trail); Snake River Raptors in Boise, Idaho (Morley Nelson Snake River Birds of Prey National Conservation Area), and many others. Use Google to find the ones nearest your area, using the official names of public lands and the word "volunteers" or "friends".

Civil Rights

Support the NAACP Legal Defense Fund by liking them on Facebook, signing up for their updates, and donating to them. Through litigation, advocacy, and public education, LDF seeks structural changes to expand democracy, eliminate disparities, and achieve racial justice in a society that fulfills the promise of equality for all Americans. LDF also defends the gains and protections won over the past 75 years of civil rights struggle and works to improve the quality and diversity of judicial and executive appointments.

Support the American Civil Liberties Union ACLU, which aggressively engages in litigation, communications, public education effort and legislative initiatives. They also have an excellent online training regarding what to do if you are stopped by police officers, immigration officials or the FBI.

Support the official Black Lives Matter Organization initiated by Patrisse Cullors, Opal Tometi and Alicia Garza. #BlackLivesMatter is intended to build connections between Black people and their allies to fight anti-Black racism, to spark dialogue among Black people, and to facilitate the types of connections necessary to encourage social action and engagement.

Look for organizations in your area that promote the civil rights of the incarcerated and that advocate for citizens watch dog groups over the police. Also, if your local police or sheriff's department offers a citizens academy, take it, along with other friends and associates that believe #BlackLivesMatter. Let the police know you are watching, force them to get to know you outside of their policing activities and ask the questions you think they should be answering.

Look for Latino and/or immigrant support groups, like Adelante Mujeres in Washington County, Oregon, or The Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles (CHIRLA), an advocacy and organizing group focusing on achieving human, civil, and labor rights for immigrants. Sign up for their newsletters, like them on Facebook, go to their events, and if you can, donate your time or money to them.

Support the Association on American Indian Affairs (AAIA), which is lead from by Native American people themselves. "We work in close cooperation with Native Americans and other organizations that have similar missions in determining which issues will be pursued and the amount of emphasis to be placed on each issue. The focus of AAIA's work is on areas that are vitally important but not adequately addressed by government or other organizations. AAIA is unique in that, in addition to providing assistance in the area of national policy, we also work on a grass roots level as well as being the oldest policy/advocacy Native non-profit in the country.

Join PFLAG, a national, very respected initiative committed to advancing equality for people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ), and uniting LGBTQ people with families, friends, and allies. PFLAG supports, educates and advocates.

Support the National LBGTQ Task Force. One of my dearest friends, a nationally-known Christian pastor (yes, I know, I'm an atheist - he still loves me) said that he loves it when people write him and ask which LGBTQ organization is most deserving of financial investment "and I am able to point, without a moment's hesitation, to the National LGBTQ Task Force, the nation's first, oldest and most progressive LGBTQ rights organization."

Report incidents of hateful intimidation and harassment to local law enforcement first. After reporting such an incident, submit a description of the incident to the Southern Poverty Law Center using this online form. This will help them in their work of monitoring incidents around the USA. The SPLC also is working to stop workplace exploitation and other human rights abuses of immigrants and all working people – filing strategic lawsuits, exposing civil rights violations, educating the public and the media, and pressing the federal government to act. The SPLC is also working in the courts to ensure that LGBT people achieve full equality under the law, including legal challenges to young people subjected to "conversion therapy", a disproven, tortuous form of therapy supported by the incoming vice-president.

Look at the web sites for all of the churches, temples and mosques in your city or county. Look for those that have inter-faith events and, if you are a believer in any of the religions involved, go to such events and help publicize them. If any of these communities of faith are involved in human rights advocacy, and/or inter-religious education and tolerance, consider finding out more and, if appropriate, get involved. If you are a member of an intolerant, anti-Gay congregation, such as the Methodists, "like" the Methodists in New Directions Facebook page, to learn how to change this policy within your church and at the church leadership level - or join an open and affirming congregation, such as United Church of Christ.

Regulating Gun Ownership & Advocating for Gun Safety

Support the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence in its work to change laws, change the gun industry and change the culture regarding gun laws in the USA. They are not working to ban guns but, rather, to cut the epidemic of gun deaths in the USA.

Support Americans for Responsible Solutions, founded by Congresswoman Gabby Giffords and her husband, Mark. "As gun owners and strong supporters of the Second Amendment, Gabby and Mark know we must protect the rights of Americans to own guns for collection, recreation, and protection. But they also agree with the vast majority of Americans, including gun owners, that commonsense protections from gun violence can prevent shootings from shattering communities like Tucson, Aurora, and Newtown. Even commonsense solutions to protect our communities from gun violence have been hard to achieve. Why? Because entrenched interests like the gun lobby have used big money and influence to stop Congress from acting. Until now, the gun lobby’s political contributions, advertising and lobbying have dwarfed the influence of average, law abiding citizens. No longer. With Americans for Responsible Solutions and likeminded friends engaging millions of people about ways to reduce gun violence and supporting lawmakers willing to take a stand for responsible policies, legislators will no longer have reason to fear the gun lobby and their dangerously deep pockets.

World Affairs

Contact the International Rescue Committee to ask what groups in your area support refugees and then contact those organizations and ask how you can help.

Find and join your nearest chapter of the United Nations Association or the World Affairs Council, go to their events, sign up for their updates, like their Facebook pages, and become better-versed in world affairs and international policy and the consequences of more than 60 million people in the USA supporting Donald Trump and the Republicans in Congress.

Not really an advocacy group regarding public policy, but if you are looking to donate a nonprofit fighting poverty in the developing world and helping the most vulnerable, I suggest CARE International.

Political Representatives

Write your Congressional Representative and Senators that are members of the Democratic Party and your state legislators that are members of such, if any, and tell them you expect them to not engage in appeasement and, instead, to stand strong against all policies that will marginalize women, Black Americans, Latinos, immigrants, Muslims and more, that will promote anti-scientific ideas like that climate change is a hoax or that vaccines cause autism, etc. Here's an example of such a letter.

Look at the web site for your city and county governments. Look for the names of the citizens advisory committees/commission. The planning commission will be one. Some cities have arts commissions. Some have public safety commissions. Try to join one. Keep trying to join one until you get on board. Look for ways to advance a progressive agenda, an anti-Trump, anti-Republican, anti-fascist agenda via that membership.

Final thoughts

Should you become involved in the local Democratic Party, or the League of Women Voters, or any other partisan or non-partisan group that works to educate and register voters? Sure. But focus your efforts as a part of those or any other organization on unregistered voters and young people; you cannot change the mind of a fascist, including someone who is in denial about such. I will make no more efforts to change the hearts and minds of those that vote for xenophobia and racial supremacy, who want to assault the civil liberties of others, whose disdain for women and minorities, civil liberties and scientific fact is celebrated in screams and memes that shame me to the core. Remember that, after WWII, the allies focused their education efforts on young people in Germany, on putting into place institutions and policies that would prevent a rise in fascism there. The fascists there didn't change - they just died off.

There are non-violent ways you can actively fight against the new President and Congress's nativism, misogyny, racism and fascism.  Pick at least one to support. And get busy.

Hijacking each other's causes

Like so many thousands of other people, I was beyond saddened by the senseless, pointless killing of Cecil the Lion. The lion population continues to plummet, lions that are still in the wild are getting smaller (because trophy hunters are killing the biggest), and communities are deprived of the significant, long-term economic prosperity living lions bring. Plus, who in the hell wants to live in a world without lions in the wild?!

But the pushback against those of us that expressed our sadness was immediate: on my own social media, I got chastised by a vegan friend who felt my outrage was misplaced and misguided. I saw another friend reprimanded by someone who said she should be more upset about the soldiers killed in Chattanooga. I saw anti-choice/forced-birth activists go after people upset about Cecile. I saw people rebuked by others who said it was insulting that they were talking about a lion in Africa “instead of” #blacklives matter.

How did it make me feel when someone tried to hijack sadness about Cecil? Angry. In fact, it made me instantly double-down, to post MORE about Cecil and related issues, not less. It did not make me want to start posting about the aforementioned causes at all - and many of those causes are ones I support and frequently post about (but NOT the anti-choice/forced-birth folks).

As an activist regarding various causes since the 1980s, I know that pushing a cause always inspires “but why aren’t you protesting such-and-such” pushback. Always. But these days, it seems fashionable to try to hijack someone else’s cause. The most recent example are the people that rushed the stage when Bernie Sanders tried to speak in Seattle. They demanded the crowd give 4 1/2 minutes of silence for Michael Brown, the young man killed by police in Ferguson, Missouri last year. I cringed, just like I cringe when someone demands I bow my head in prayer (I’m an atheist - I will NOT do it) or demands I put my hand over my heart and recite the Pledge of Allegiance - which I will NEVER do. The #blacklivesmatter activists refused to let Sanders speak at all. It wasn’t enough for them to get their message out - they wanted to shut down the event and not allow any other message to be said. And as a result, they turned away some potentially really great allies.

I’m not vegan, but I’m happy to significantly reduce the amount of meat in my diet - I know now, through the education efforts of others, that a plant-based diet is healthy, and that meat is not raised in a healthy manner in the USA or a lot of other places - and I'm  happy to hear about delicious vegan recipes - but if you’re going to belittle my compassion for another animal-related cause, I’m going to turn away from you. I’m going to unfollow you on Facebook and turn down your invitations to get together. I am horrified by the murders in Tennessee - but I’m going to stop communicating with you if you badger me about that every time I post about the murders in Charleston or Lafayette, saying, “But why don’t you care about OUR TROOPS and Islamic terrorism?!?!?” I am horrified by the systematic racism in law enforcement and the denial about that racism, and I’m trying to promote ways to improve that as a part of my professional, daily consulting work - I want to be an advocate in every way, not just on the weekends and on social media - but I will not support shouting down allies or demands to adhere to a particular script.

Yes, activism often is most effective when it's in-your-face, when it's disruptive, when it's loud and it's impossible to ignore it. Queer Nation's tactics in the 1990s are a great example of this. But their tactics generated not only awareness, but allies - like me. I credit them with waking up me, a straight girl, about gay rights. They made me an ally. They made me WANT to be an ally.

I will listen. I do listen. Talk to me, not at me. Be explicit in describing what it is you want me to do to support your cause in a meaningful way. Educate me. But don't just shout slogans. And don't belittle my compassion. This isn't about who shouts the loudest - it's about changing hearts and minds.