Inspiration
posted 2025-07 to 2025-09
A reading list (roughly in reverse chronological order) of contributions to the common pool of news/analysis/resources.
— a readers travelogue ::: to bear witness
Undaunted in Defense of Free Speech
Nothing funny about standing up to a bully
from The Contrarian (Jen Rubin)
"Resistance to Donald Trump ultimately comes down to the American people. The courts, especially with this corrupt Supreme Court atop the federal judiciary, can only do so much. House and Senate Democrats in the minority can only do so much (although they’ve deftly flipped the script on Trump, making clear he is responsible for the likely shutdown). However, the power of the American people, despite significant democratic backsliding, remains an awesome force. Ordinary people along with prominent cultural figures can garner attention and affect elections in ways politicians cannot.
"While the boycotts and protests gained steam, fellow comedians swiftly responded to Kimmel’s suspension with brilliant satire, public education, and encouraging messages. Although they risked getting yanked from their platforms, they did not flinch—unlike so many craven law firms, universities and tech companies that have grovelled before Trump.
"The energy and righteous indignation from outspoken cultural figures plus popular action can inspire others. Sure enough, on Monday, the ACLU released a letter signed by 400 big stars decrying the outrageous violation of the First Amendment. 'Teachers, government employees, law firms, researchers, universities, students and so many more are also facing direct attacks on their freedom of expression,' the signers stated. Regardless of their politics, they declared that 'our voices should never be silenced by those in power—because if it happens to one of us, it happens to all of us.' They closed with a call to action: 'This is the moment to defend free speech across our nation. We encourage all Americans to join us, along with the ACLU, in the fight to defend and preserve our constitutionally protected rights.'
"Thanks to backlash, Kimmel returned to a record audience of over 6.2 million viewers on Tuesday."
Farm Aid 2025
Willie Nelson, Neil Young, Margo Price, and others make Farm Aid 40 one to remember
from The Current
"Farm Aid launched in 1985. Co-founded by Willie Nelson, the idea was struck when Nelson heard Minnesota-born Bob Dylan playing Live Aid and musing aloud that he wished some of the money being raised could help American farmers. Following the energy crisis of the 1970s, U.S. farmers found themselves with higher expenses than earnings, and many family farms went into foreclosure. A nonprofit organization, Farm Aid assists farms in many ways, using music — provided at no charge by participating artists — to bring people together in one space to raise money and awareness, and to build community.
"It feels like a family reunion of sorts backed by an amazing music lineup. 'I'm actually here because we are farmers here in Minnesota,' says Arlene Jones of Bemidji, who also runs the Sprout food hub in Little Falls. 'We're looking forward to seeing all of our friends and all of the great headliners that are here tonight, and all of the regional artists that are here as well.'
"As the event concluded, it seems fitting Huntington Bank Stadium is shaped like a bowl: Farm Aid is all about feeding people. Yes, it’s about supporting family farms, promoting sustainable practices in agriculture, and encouraging diets built on healthy foods. But it’s also about feeding people’s souls — through live music and through the messages of hope, love, cooperation, solidarity, and mutual support that cascade throughout the day, onstage and off."
Duluth Rallies for Libraries at 'Read-In'
'It’s a joyful show of solidarity — reminding our city that Duluth loves its library and depends on it,' said Erin Kreeger, executive director of the Duluth Library Foundation, in the news release
from Duluth News-Tribune
"Dozens ventured to the Duluth Public Library between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. to participate in the first Great North Star Read Together, which was part of a statewide 'read-in' rally inviting people of all ages to show support for their libraries by doing something simple and powerful — reading. More than 50 libraries statewide participated in the inaugural event. Organizers around the state plan to meet to set a permanent annual date, according to a news release from the Duluth Library Foundation."
The 25 Most Influential Works of American Protest Art Since World War II
Three artists, a curator and a writer came together to discuss the pieces that have not only best reflected the era, but have made an impact.
from T — NY Times
"On a recent afternoon, the artists Dread Scott, Catherine Opie and Shirin Neshat, as well as T contributor Nikil Saval and Whitney Museum of American Art assistant curator Rujeko Hockley, joined me on Zoom for a conversation about protest art. I had asked each to nominate five to seven works of what they considered the most powerful or influential American protest art (that is, by an American artist or by an artist who has lived or exhibited their work in America) made anytime after World War II. We focused specifically on visual art..."
Protest Art
from Hyperallergic
An evolving list of examples ...
Undaunted from the Bench
Sotomayor pulls back the curtain on MAGA Supreme Court hackery
from the Contrarian
"The six MAGA justices on the Supreme Court have obliterated the notion that they are impartial jurists bound by precedent. This week, Justice Sonia Sotomayor did a magnificent job stripping away the veneer of legitimacy they have tried to sustain. In dissenting from a widely criticized emergency docket decision running roughshod over the 4th Amendment and effectively greenlight racial profiling, Sotomayor let it rip
"She explained:
"'A Federal District Court found that these raids were part of a pattern of conduct by the Government that likely violated the Fourth Amendment. Based on the evidence before it, the court held that the Government was stopping individuals based solely on four factors: (1) their apparent race or ethnicity; (2) whether they spoke Spanish or English with an accent; (3) the type of location at which they were found (such as a car wash or bus stop); and (4) the type of job they appeared to work. Concluding that stops based on these four factors alone, even when taken together, could not satisfy the Fourth Amendment’s requirement of reasonable suspicion, the District Court temporarily enjoined the Government from continuing its pattern of unlawful mass arrests while it considered whether longer-term relief was appropriate.'"
"Instead of allowing the litigation to proceed, the Supreme Court leapt into the fray and—without briefing, argument, or explanation—summarily stayed the order. 'That decision is yet another grave misuse of our emergency docket,' Sotomayor wrote."
"'We should not have to live in a country where the Government can seize anyone who looks Latino, speaks Spanish, and appears to work a low wage job.'"
University of Minnesota, Teamsters reach deal to end strike that threatened Farm Aid concert
from Minnesota Star Tribune
"The strike involving 1,400 custodial, maintenance, food service and sanitation workers represented by Teamsters Local 320 began Monday. The walkout affected university campuses and satellite locations around the state.
"Meanwhile, the organizers of the Farm Aid 40 concert announced that the show will continue as planned. Its organizers threatened to move or even cancel the show if a deal was not reached. Board member and performer Willie Nelson even reached out to Gov. Tim Walz during discussions.
"'Today’s agreement is a reminder of what can be achieved when people come together in the spirit of fairness and solidarity. We look forward to celebrating that spirit on September 20 — alongside farmers, workers, advocates, artists and fans — in a day of music and community that honors this shared history,' Farm Aid organizers posted on the social media platform X."
The Union Leader Fighting to Defend Federal Workers
For AFGE president Everett Kelley and his 800,000-odd workers, what was once a safe career choice has become a high-wire act.
from the New Republic
"It used to be that a government job was the very definition of bland security. Land a role with the feds, and you knew you’d be safe. Your duties wouldn’t be subject to the whims of some capricious new CEO; your benefits were unlikely to suddenly double in price; you wouldn’t get axed when your company was sold to a multinational corporation. Sure, the bureaucratic machine might occasionally lag, you might find yourself tangled in the proverbial red tape, but the private sector’s blithe, cold surprises were nothing you had to fear.
"Everett Kelley, the president of the American Federation of Government Employees, characterized the government’s unprecedented attack on its own as phenomenally 'aggressive,' 'adversarial,' and 'inhumane.' The largest union of federal workers in the country, AFGE represents some 800,000 federal employees across a wide range of fields. Public servants, Kelley told me, have been 'threatened everywhere you turn.' They have been called names. Their honor and their work ethic have been impugned.
"As government jobs went from being symbols of drab dependability to a metonym for all the pointless violence of Trump’s second term, Kelley’s union responded to the president 'with a battle cry,' he said. When the Department of Government Efficiency tried to 'optimize' the federal workforce by making mass layoffs, AFGE sued. When the Office of Personnel Management let go of thousands of probationary employees, AFGE sued. When Trump tried, in an executive order, to strip government employees of their collective bargaining rights, AFGE sued. When agencies affected by the order stopped withdrawing union dues automatically from paychecks, the union signed members up to its new dues system—100,000 in less than three months."
‘We have the people’
Bernie Sanders campaigns with Zohran Mamdani as New York mayoral race enters final stretch
from the Guardian
"Bernie Sanders campaigns with Zohran Mamdani as New York mayoral race enters final stretch.
"'What you are seeing now is an oligarchy with enormous economic power and political power in both political parties ...[and] they are afraid of Mr Mamdani becoming an example of what can happen all over the country … They are scared to death,' Sanders said to rousing applause."
ICE Agents in the Park Ave Neighborhood Spark Large-Scale Protest
from WXXI NPR News
"Federal immigration agents were seemingly forced to retreat from a roofing job site Tuesday in the Park Avenue neighborhood after being confronted by more than 100 protesters.
"The group shouted 'shame' and "Gestapo,' and applauded as agents in the ICE-led action drove a Border Patrol SUV away on four flat tires, which had been slashed.
"Roofing contractor Clayton Baker identified the man taken into custody by ICE as 'Chino,' one of his employees. Baker said the man has been in the United States for about 25 years and had legal documentation to work.
"'They took my best worker that's been working with me for 5 years, and just basically, ‘See you later,’ you know?' Baker said. 'He's a family guy, and he's got a baby on the way. He's never even had a speeding ticket that I know of. He goes to church every Sunday, and he pays his taxes.
"...as time went on — the whole ordeal lasted about four hours, advocates said — representatives with the Western New York Coalition of Farmworker Serving Agencies began urging the agents to move on, arguing that the workers weren't coming down, the arrests weren't going to happen and the crowd was only continuing to grow. The agents relented, they said, and they offered to help them leave, urging protestors to step aside.
"'The coalition is committed to standing alongside farmworkers, immigrants, and migrants to ensure dignity, fairness, and access to justice,' coalition executive director Irene Sanchez said in a news release sent out Tuesday evening. 'In moments like this, our role is to make sure people know their rights and to safeguard their due process under the law.'"
Our Wins Of The Week 2025-09-07
from The Big Picture
"This past week saw Donald Trump rebuked multiple times by the courts, which have become our one consistent check against the Trump regime’s authoritarian overreach.
"In a huge decision in the wee hours of last Sunday morning, a judge blocked the Trump administration from removing unaccompanied Guatemalan minors in U.S. custody back to their home country.
"In another huge legal win, a federal judge this week ruled that the Trump administration broke the law by deploying National Guard troops to Los Angeles.
"And in a shock to many, the conservative 5th Circuit Court of Appeals found the Trump administration acted unlawfully when it invoked the Alien Enemies Act to detain and deport migrants to El Salvador."
Filling sandbags
Nine wins to be thankful for
from If You Can Keep It
"To counter an incremental assault, we also need to work incrementally. Think of it like sandbags. On their own, grains of sand — or even a burlap sack full of them — do little against a flood. No matter what, sandbags are never going to prevent all water damage. But add up enough of them, fast enough, and they can redirect the flow and ward off the worst of a disaster. They give us the chance to rebuild.
"That’s the sandbag effect.
"We’re very much in the 'holding back the flood' phase of the project to defend our democracy. We’re going to be there for a while. And, yes, it’s still far from enough — but this week the sandbags are starting to pile up."
"Authoritarianism works, in part, by attacking everywhere. It tries to overwhelm a democracy with a wave of stories that will shock, numb, and demoralize its citizens into acquiescence. But that’s never the whole story — and the wins for democracy are often just as prevalent as the losses, albeit usually less shocking."
Pritzker Responds to Trump Sending in the Troops
from Heather Cox Richardson
"At the press opportunity, Trump claimed that he saved Washington, D.C.—where crime was at a 30-year low before he took control of the Metropolitan Police Department and mobilized the National Guard—from such rampant crime that no one dared to wear jewelry or carry purses. 'People,' he said, 'are free for the first time ever.'
"This afternoon, standing flanked by leaders from business, law enforcement, faith communities, education, local communities, and politics at the Chicago waterfront near the Trump Tower there, Governor Pritzker responded to the news that Trump is planning to send troops to Chicago.
"Pritzker noted that every major American city deals with crime, but that the rate of violent crime is actually higher in Republican-dominated states and cities than in those run by Democrats. Illinois, he said, had 'hired more police and given them more funding. We banned assault weapons, ghost guns, bump stops, and high-capacity magazines' and 'invested historic amounts into community violence intervention programs.' Those actions have cut violent crime down dramatically. Pritzker pointed out that 'thirteen of the top twenty cities in homicide rates have Republican governors. None of these cities is Chicago. Eight of the top ten states with the highest homicide rates are led by Republicans. None of those states is Illinois.'"
We're Going to Win
from Chop Wood Carry Water (Jess Craven)
"I’m telling you, folks. We’re going to get through this. Trump grows more unpopular by the day (see above chart), we grow stronger, our voices get louder, and the tide continues to shift our way—partially because of your hard work!
"I’m not just blowing smoke. I feel certain that we will win. Our country may be in ruins by the time we do, but we know how to rebuild and if we must, we will, far better than before, too.
"The key thing is that we don’t give up. So let’s not."
Signs of Solidarity
Canvassing Toolkit
from NO Kings
"When businesses and communities stand together, we send a powerful message: immigrants are essential and welcome here. This guide will help you organize locally, engage business owners, and build visible, united resistance.
"Download our printable signs — one designates a private area for employees that ICE cannot enter without a judicial warrant, and others show public solidarity with immigrants. Print them, bring them to businesses, and help send a clear message that our community stands together against fear and intimidation."
Use the following link to download your choice of high-resolution posters.
How Plants and Fungi Trade Resources Without a Brain
Over the past few decades, scientists have come to increasingly appreciate plant intelligence
from NPR
"A billion years ago, there were no plants on land. Plants managed to expand from the oceans by trading with fungi and microbes, who could break rocks down into nutrients they needed.
"This led to a 90% reduction in CO2 levels," says Kiers. "We owe our atmosphere, we owe our forests, we owe our grasslands to this partnership."
"(Mycorrhizae are still responsible for drawing down so much CO2 each year—the equivalent of 1/3 the emissions from fossil fuels—that Kiers co-founded an organization, SPUN, to "protect the underground" the same way we protect the Amazon Rainforest and biodiversity hotspots like the Galapago.)
"'I do think there's something to be said about intact networks,' she says. 'They really offer a lot of resilience.'"
DNC Chair Ken Martin Rallies With TX and IL Dems in Chicago
To Take on Trump and Republicans’ Corrupt Scheme To Rig the Congressional Maps
from DNC
"Yesterday, on the eve of the 60th anniversary of the Voting Rights Act, DNC Chair Ken Martin stood side by side with Texas Democrats and Illinois Democrats, including Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, to take on Donald Trump and Texas Governor Greg Abbott’s corrupt plan to discriminate against Texas voters and rig congressional maps ahead of the 2026 midterms while exploiting the pain of Texas flood victims. As Texas Republicans ignore the needs of their own constituents to bend the knee to Donald Trump and attempt to rig their congressional maps to cling to their razor-thin majority, Democrats are standing up for Texans and for democracy in America."
Forms of Resistance and Reasons to Believe It's Working
from Heather Cox Richardson
"We are entering a period, I believe, where you are seeing both Trump and the people around him him trying to cement as much power as it is possible to do as quickly as they can because they see that it's crumbling."
Duluth Man Walks Up To 12 Miles a Day
Checking in on people living on the streets
from MPR
"Kesti's days start as early as 6 a.m. He walks 10-12 miles most days, through downpours and blizzards, heat waves and cold snaps. He recently climbed 91 flights of stairs in a single day — almost as many stairs as in the Empire State Building."
You launch a power-grab when you fear your voters
from Ezra Levin — Indivisible
"You launch a power-grab when you fear your voters. Last month, Trump signed into law the most regressive and least popular bill in modern American history which, among other things, cut emergency response services nationwide. That same day, a massive flood hit central Texas, and both the local warning system and the state/federal response were so horrifically inadequate that more than 130 Texans -- including 37 children -- died...
"It's time to fight back. The fight for justice and democracy against an authoritarian force often starts this way. The options are few. The odds are long. It looks dicey. In moments like this, you need leaders with intense strategic clarity. You need someone like a Texas State Representative James Talarico to say: 'We are not fighting for the Democratic Party. We are fighting for the democratic process, and the stakes could not be higher. We have to take a stand.'"
Democrats Refuse to Flinch
from Robert Hubbell
"On Tuesday, US Senator John Cornyn and President Trump threatened to send the FBI to arrest Democratic state legislators who fled the state to break quorum in the Texas legislature. See Texas Public Radio, Donald Trump says FBI 'may have to' get involved in ending Texas quorum break. The threat was blatantly unconstitutional and pathetically desperate. Democrats refused to flinch. Indeed, the threats seemed only to embolden Democratic state legislators.
"As Democratic Texas legislator Texas Rep. Armando Walle said,
"'The price to pay [for breaking quorum] pales in comparison to the rights of everyday people, everyday constituents that we represent proudly. Not scared. Not scared at all. Come and take it.'"
What Direct Action Does
from Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove & William J. Barber, II of Our Moral Moment
"In the spring of 1961 the Congress of Racial Equality organized a Freedom Ride from Washington, DC to New Orleans to challenge the illegal practice of racial segregation on interstate travel. It was a nonviolent direct action. White and black passengers boarded the bus and insisted on sitting together, no matter what the authorities said. They would nonviolently face whatever consequences came for their actions because they knew that what they were doing was right. John Lewis, who was 21 years old at the time, said the goal of the ride wasn't just to end segregation; it was to 'take the civil rights movement into the heart of the Deep South.'
"If you visit the International Civil Rights Museum in Greensboro, North Carolina, today, there is a wall of hundreds of mug shots, mostly taken in Mississippi that summer of 1961, before Freedom Riders were sent to the notorious Parchman Prison. After Lewis and his riding partner, Jim Zwerg, were attacked by a mob at the bus depot in Montgomery, Alabama, and another bus was fire bombed in Aniston, Alabama, others came to continue the ride. When Lewis was released from the hospital, he insisted on joining them. They took their direct action to the heart of the Deep South and served 40-day sentences, transforming the Mississippi State Penitentiary into a school for American democracy. Their mug shots cover that wall as a monument to the power of direct action to inspire a moral movement."
"The moral witness of direct actions like the Freedom Rides interrupted everyone in a system that was more fragile than it seemed. It didn't change the minds of Southern governors or Mississippi jailers, but it did force the masses who'd gone along with the quiet violence of the system to decide whether they really believed it was justified.
"This is what direct action does. It exposes the moral bankruptcy of authoritarian regimes. It compels everyday citizens to choose a side in a moral struggle."
Elizabeth Castillo — Story of Courage
from WLRN
"They saw their neighbors taken away by ICE. Then they made a plan
"At first, Castillo was on her own with a megaphone. When she saw ICE vehicles in the streets she followed them in her car, honking and shouting to warn people that they were coming. She started getting up before dawn to patrol her apartment complex. Then she contacted the National Day Laborer Organizing Network, which runs a nearby job center. Through it, she was plugged into a citywide network of people who are constantly tracking ICE's activities..."
Moral Monday with Rev Barber & Joy Reid
from Our Moral Moment
"I was glad to join my friend Joy-Ann Reid tonight for a Moral Monday on The Joy Reid Show, where she continues the important truth-telling she practiced at MSNBC, but now with more time and freedom. You can watch her new show and read her newsletter, Welcome to Joy's House! on Substack.
"Joy announced tonight that we're going to do a Moral Monday together once a month on her show, focusing on the moral issues in the news and the soul work that's needed to sustain ourselves in the long fight for justice. I hope you'll help us spread the word and make plans to join us. Our Moral Moment will deliver these episodes directly to our subscribers once a month."
Micro-Creator Training
from Indivisible
- When:
- Sep 30, 3:00pm
- Where:
- Virtual via Zoom
Join us for the kickoff of Indivisible’s brand-new Micro-Creator Training Series, a 4-part monthly program designed to turn local leaders into powerful digital storytellers.
OutFront Policy & Organizing
from Outfront MN
"Last month, the Trump administration shut down the 988 Suicide & Crisis Hotline's LGBTQ+ youth services. This decision will have devastating impact on LGBTQ+ people of all ages as we continue to withstand attack after attack on our rights. But don't forget: there are always people ready to help. The following organizations are here to assist those in crisis:
- Trans Lifeline: 877-565-8860
- LGBTQ National Youth Talkline: 1-800-246-7743
- The Trevor Project Youth Call Line: 1-866-488-7386
- The Trevor Project Yout Text Line: Text ‘START’ to 678-678
- Crisis Text Line: Text ‘HOME’ to 741741
- Black Trans Advocacy Coalition: 855-624-7715 "
The Basic Struggle Today
How to live a moral life in an age of bullies
from Robert Reich
"Throughout history, the central struggle of civilization has been against brutality by the powerful. Civilization is the opposite of brutality. A civil society doesn’t allow the strong to brutally treat the weak.
"Yet in my lifetime, I’ve witnessed a breakdown. I’ve seen a change occur — from support of decency and constraints on brutality, to tolerance of indecency and support for unconstrained cruelty.
"Trump is not the cause. He’s the culmination.
"So how do we lead moral lives in this age of bullies?"
How ICE’s Arrest of a High School Student Activated a Massachusetts Town
from Mother Jones
"The arrest of the Brazilian-native honors student has thrust Milford into the national spotlight, making it a flashpoint for President Donald Trump’s turbocharged immigration enforcement. It has also served as a catalyst for resistance in a town where dynamics around immigration have at times created fissures. 'It definitely brought the community much closer together,' said Coleen Greco, the mother of one of Gomes da Silva’s volleyball teammates. 'I hadn’t seen that kind of activation in the 22 years I’ve lived here. Nothing like it.'
"Word of Gomes da Silva’s detention spread quickly through Milford, a 30,000-person blue-collar town 40 miles southwest of Boston. When he didn’t show up to volleyball practice that Saturday morning, his teammates and coaches assumed he must have overslept. Then coach Andrew Mainini got a text from a player, an undocumented 17-year-old who was in the car with Gomes da Silva. ICE had let him go along with an exchange student from Spain, but held onto Gomes da Silva. Mainini recalled feeling shocked and helpless. 'We didn’t know what to do,' he said...
"The mobilization immediately after Gomes da Silva’s arrest struck Low as a 'pivotal moment' for Milford, where Trump won 42 percent of votes in 2024. 'It’s really the first time I can remember that there’s been a significant portion of the community speaking up on behalf of the immigrants who live here,' Low said, noting that he hadn’t heard a public official in the town espouse such a pro-immigrant stance in all his years of organizing work. 'I think that’s really important going forward.'"
What Gives Me Hope
from the Democracy Docket (Marc Elias)
"For some, hope is an emotion of optimism, a bright faith that things will inevitably improve. As a candidate, President Barack Obama defined hope as 'that thing inside us that insists, despite all the evidence to the contrary, that something better awaits us if we have the courage to reach for it and to work for it and to fight for it.' It was a stirring definition, one that inspired millions. But I didn’t buy it then, and I don’t buy it now.
"For me, hope is not a feeling of certainty about the future. It is born of the knowledge that we may do everything we can without the assurance that it will be enough. Hope is accepting that the arc of the moral universe may not bend toward justice — even if all of us push with everything we have. Hope is recognizing that evil and injustice can prevail even if we, as Obama suggested, 'reach for it, and work for it, and fight for it.'
"In other words, hope is not a naïve emotion. It is a sober responsibility. Hope is what we do when the odds are long and the options limited. It is the stubborn act of trying when despair feels easier. Rather than a passive optimism, hope is the commitment of those who believe they can make a difference, however small...
"I have hope when people refuse the cool cynicism of despair. Despair is peddled by the right to convince us that resistance is futile, and it is echoed by too many on the left who would rather sit back and say all is lost. Cynicism asks nothing of us; hope demands everything. When people choose to act rather than surrender, that is what keeps democracy alive."
New data shows No Kings was one of the largest days of protest in US history
The historic number of No Kings Day protesters and their expansive geographic spread are signs of a growing and durable pro-democracy movement.
from Waging Nonviolence
"No Kings Day on June 14 was one of the largest single days of protest in United States history, and it was probably the second-largest single day demonstration since Donald Trump first took office in January 2017. The number of participants and expansive geographic spread that day are both signs of the persistent popular opposition to the second Trump administration."
A Model for Successful Resistance
Free DC models effective resistance to Trump’s takeover
from Waging Nonviolence
"Washington, D.C. residents’ rapid response to Trump's National Guard deployment is a masterclass in how to prepare for crises and fight authoritarianism...
"On Monday, President Donald Trump ordered 800 National Guard troops to the nation’s capital — a move Princeton University professor Khalil Gibran Muhammad described as 'a slide towards fascism' and 'textbook' authoritarianism. Claiming emergency powers from the D.C. Home Rule Act, Trump also announced a takeover of the Metropolitan Police.
"As is typical with authoritarians, the pretense for these orders was an invented crime emergency...
"Free DC made clear, 'No single event or protest will fix this. What works is disciplined, connected organizing.' And they are already showing the way forward."
Pussy Riot's Cathedral Performance
Russia, 2012i — Another Lesson In Creative Cultural Resistance
from Scot Nakagawa
"In 2012, the feminist punk collective Pussy Riot staged a provocative protest performance inside Moscow’s Cathedral of Christ the Savior. Wearing colorful balaclavas and dresses, the group performed their "punk prayer," a chaotic and defiant act that criticized Russian President Vladimir Putin and the Russian Orthodox Church's complicity in authoritarianism and patriarchy. The performance lasted only minutes before security intervened, but its message echoed far beyond the walls of the cathedral.
"The performance became a flashpoint for global conversations about authoritarianism, sexism, and corruption. The harsh punishment meted out to the performers—long prison sentences for 'hooliganism motivated by religious hatred'—underscored the regime's intolerance of dissent. At the same time, the event catalyzed international solidarity campaigns, brought attention to the intersection of art and activism, and made Pussy Riot an enduring symbol of resistance."
Zohran Mamdani Shows Democrats How Not to Take the Bait
from the Intercept
"Zohran Mamdani’s shocking victory in the Democratic primary for mayor of New York City was not just a win over former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, but also over a set of Islamophobic smear tactics that have become all too familiar — and will continue to dog him in the run-up to November."
Superman just Punched Trump and MAGA in the face!
from The Dean's Report
"Why was MAGA triggered with the release of the new Superman? (In reality, MAGA is angry at everything that is not them!) Simple, the film’s director James Gunn declared while promoting the film that 'Superman is the story of America,' adding, 'An immigrant that came from other places and populated the country.' Gunn continued, 'But for me it is mostly a story that says basic human kindness is a value and is something we have lost.'"
Superman: Movie Review
from Qasim Rashid
"I feel compelled to share a powerful work of art that speaks to the human rights issues I care so deeply about. Walking into the theatre I’d seen murmurings from MAGA pundits that the movie was 'woke' (used as a pejorative of course) and even 'anti-Israel.' Not only are these claims unfounded, in reality, the film demonstrates the power of storytelling, the need for justice, and makes us wonder—who are the real superheroes in our world today?"
What I Learned From John Lewis
from Our Moral Moment
"When Things Look Bad, Lean In. How Moral Movements Overcome Evil."
"I learned from John Lewis and the many SNCC veterans who invited us into the beloved community of their movement family that the Southern Freedom Movement never turned away from America’s darkness. They rode the Freedom Rides all the way to Mississippi’s Parchman Prison because they knew that was the deepest, darkest hole in the South. And if they could shine the light of freedom there, they could expose the lie of the whole filthy, rotten system.
"They didn’t try to avoid Bull Conner in Birmingham. They designed a campaign to confront his violence with moral courage - to expose the poison of white supremacy for all the world to see on their television screens."
To the Field First, Comrades!
from Drop Site News
"The NYC chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America has pulled off another stunning upset through Zohran Mamdani’s campaign. An insider shares DSA’s grassroots strategy"
"To the New York Times, Zohran Mamdani’s insurgent mayoral campaign was 'built from nothing in a matter of months.' For the Washington Post, he was 'a political upstart with fresh ideas coming out of nowhere.' Even MSNBC’s Chris Hayes, who has covered left-wing movements more than most, told Ezra Klein that Mamdani 'genuinely came out of nowhere.'
"What makes these declarations of spontaneous inception so remarkable is not merely that they are wrong, but that they get it entirely backwards. While Mamdani’s ascent may have bypassed the traditional Democratic Party machinery, his campaign didn’t achieve this through individual genius, but through a decade of methodical collective effort."
Three Ways Trump Is Losing the Country
from Wolves and Sheep
"His approval rating is hovering near an all-time low in polling averages on sites like DDHQ, Strength in Numbers and Silver Bulletin. Across the 31 special elections held in 2025, Democrats have outperformed Kamala Harris’s vote share by a mean of 15.4 points, and a median of 13 points. This is a shift that puts states like Ohio, Florida, Alaska, Iowa and Texas into play, given the 2024 margins in those states. As such, it puts the U.S. Senate into play."
5 Stories of Courage to Fight Fascism
from Qasim Rashid
- "In one of the most moving displays of integrity and patriotism, over 200 U.S. military veterans have banded together to protect Afghan asylum seekers — many of whom once served as interpreters or guides during America’s longest war."
- "Barbara Stone, a 71-year-old grandmother and U.S. citizen, was handcuffed by ICE fascists inside a San Diego immigration court. Why? Because she dared to show up and peacefully defend immigrants."
- "In an extraordinary and unprecedented move, several leading medical organizations — including the American Academy of Pediatrics — are suing HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr."
- "Mahmoud Khalil, the peaceful protester and American resident that Trump falsely imprisoned, has filed a $20 million lawsuit against Donald Trump and his regime."
- "Here’s some real policy inspiration: In 2022, Massachusetts raised taxes on millionaires by 4%."
"I can share several more examples, but I want to close with this important point. These stories aren’t just feel-good anecdotes — they are blueprints for how we resist. From veterans keeping their oath, to doctors defending science, to grandmas defying ICE thugs, to wrongly prosecuted Americans demanding Constitutional rights, to governments prioritizing working people over the wealthy — the front lines are everywhere. And no act of courage is too small.
"We are living through a moment that demands clarity, integrity, and defiance."
Letters from the Birmingham Jail
Martin Luther King, Jr.
"From the Birmingham jail, where he was imprisoned as a participant in nonviolent demonstrations against segregation, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., wrote in longhand the letter which follows. It was his response to a public statement of concern and caution issued by eight white religious leaders of the South. Dr. King, who was born in 1929, did his undergraduate work at Morehouse College; attended the integrated Crozer Theological Seminary in Chester, Pennsylvania, one of six black pupils among a hundred students, and the president of his class; and won a fellowship to Boston University for his Ph.D."
Undaunted Search for the Truth
Julie Brown's essential reporting on Jeffrey Epstein must be commended
from the Contrarian
"If not for Miami Herald reporter Julie K. Brown, we might never have learned anything about Jeffrey Epstein's sex trafficking operation, its implication of wealthy, powerful, influential men, and the existence of massive files documenting all of it. Absent her reporting, we also would not be seeing the first significant break in the MAGA protection racket that has shielded Trump from consequences for his lies, misconduct, incompetence, and cruel policies."
Facing the Future
Getting Started On Our Long-Game
— Scot Nakagawa
"We are at a potentially paradigm-shifting moment in the history of global politics. The liberal assumption that, with the end of the Cold War, democracy would inevitably prevail was taken too literally, but it's not too late to make that prediction come true. We need to address the emergency at hand, and do so while developing a long-game through which to vet our immediate-term strategies and tactics."
Scot Nakagawa is a political strategist and organizer with more than four decades of experience exploring questions of structural racism, white supremacy, and social justice. He is the cofounder and director of the 22nd Century Initiative, a national strategy and action hub building power at the intersection of opposition to authoritarianism and expanding democratic governance in the US.
This article provides useful and specific srategies for moving forwards.
Poems of Protest, Resistance, and Empowerment
from the Poetry Foundation
Poetry is necessary and sought after during crises.
"Pithy and powerful, poetry is a popular art form at protests and rallies. From the civil rights and women's liberation movements to Black Lives Matter, poetry is commanding enough to gather crowds in a city square and compact enough to demand attention on social media. Speaking truth to power remains a crucial role of the poet in the face of political and media rhetoric designed to obscure, manipulate, or worse. The selection of poems below call out and talk back to the inhumane forces that threaten from above. They expose grim truths, raise consciousness, and build united fronts. Some insist, as Langston Hughes writes, "That all these walls oppression builds / Will have to go!" All rail against complacency and demonstrate why poetry is necessary and sought after in moments of political crisis."
In Honor of Joanna Macy, 1929-2025
Rebecca Solnit
"The woman that was Joanna Macy is gone. And still here as books, teachings, in students, friends, and through broad influence even beyond those who know her and her work. She's a tree that's fallen; she's a tree that trees have grown out of; she's now part of the past, but also she fed and nourished and loved and guided a possible future, a hopeful and demanding future, demanding in that we would have to change ourselves and our society to make it.
"It's almost strange to think about her integrity, her compassion, her generosity at a time when the news is full of stories about cruel and corrupt men and the wreckage they've strewn all around them, but she's a reminder that their opposite is also present in the world and even in the nation; the same society produced them both. Joanna Macy is gone. Joanna Macy is with us in a thousand ways..."
Angela Davis — Tanner Lectures on Human Values
Held at Yale in April
"Angela Y. Davis is professor emerita of history of consciousness and feminist studies at the University of California, Santa Cruz. An activist, writer, and lecturer, her work focuses on prisons, police, abolition, and the related intersections of race, gender, and class. She is the author of many books, from Angela Davis: An Autobiography (1974) to Freedom Is a Constant Struggle (2015). Her most recent books include Abolition. Feminism. Now., written with Gina Dent, Erica Meiners, and Beth Richie, and a book of essays Abolition: Politics, Practices, Promises, vol. 1.
"She is a founding member of Critical Resistance, a national organization dedicated to the dismantling of the prison industrial complex. Internationally, she is affiliated with Sisters Inside, an abolitionist organization based in Queensland, Australia, that works in solidarity with people in women's prisons.
"Like many educators, Professor Davis is especially concerned with the general tendency to devote more resources and attention to the prison system than to educational institutions. Having helped to popularize the notion of a "prison industrial complex," she now urges her audiences to think seriously about the future possibility of a world without prisons and to help forge a twenty-first-century abolitionist movement."
Keith Ellison is Standing Up
from Robert Hubbell
"Minnesota's Attorney General Keith Ellison has consistently used the full scope of his role to defend Minnesotans from unconstitutional federal overreach and his actions set the standard for what bold leadership looks like in this moment.
"Earlier this year, he issued a formal legal opinion declaring that local law enforcement in Minnesota cannot legally detain individuals based solely on ICE detainers. He made it clear that such actions violate constitutional rights and expose agencies to civil liability. He has also joined multistate lawsuits challenging federal attempts to undermine birthright citizenship and other core protections.
"Following the ICE detention of Columbia graduate student Mahmoud Khalil, he publicly condemned the act, stating:
"'When a government deports, threatens, [and] arrests people for First Amendment activity, that government is tyrannical. Mahmoud Khalil is being persecuted for his beliefs and free expression.'
"AG Ellison's swift legal positioning and vocal defense demonstrate precisely how AGs can wield both legal tools and public pressure to confront injustice. This is the kind of principled, aggressive leadership every state needs right now."
Cynicism Is the Enemy of Action
from Rebecca Solnit
"This is the most dire moment in the history of the United States and no one should be on the sidelines, and no one should be undermining those who are showing up for justice, human rights, and environmental protection.
"There's a remarkable passage in the (highly recommended) book Let This Radicalize You by Kelly Hayes and Mariame Kaba. They write, 'As you develop your tactics and strategize, it's important to be aware of the pervasiveness of cynicism among many of those you may be trying to reach. Cynicism is a dominant force in today's political discourse, with some good reason and a favorite approach of the world's political hobbyists.' They quote another writer, Eitan Hersh, who calls people who follow and comment on politics without really participating 'political hobbyists' and Kaba and Hayes continue: 'It is important to understand the distinction between activists, organizers, and political hobbyists. Such hobbyists will often have very strict political standards, either around respectability or radicalism, to which few activists ever seem to rise.
"If you organize anything political, you are likely to attract the criticism of hobbyists, since for some people, critique is a pastime. Of course, organizers make genuine mistakes that political hobbyists may react to, but the fact is, making mistakes is a consequence of trying. The more you take action, the more errors and missteps you will make along the way. A person who has attempted nothing can easily point to the fact that they have never failed, but what have they built? What have they healed?'"
The Rev William Barber's ‘moral movement' confronts Trump's America.
from the Guardian
"Barber, the co-chair of the revived Poor People's campaign, a national movement to challenge inequality in all its forms through moral protest and policy change, has spent years preparing people for moments like this."
Stay on task: Overwhelm the opposition
from Robert Hubbell
"We must tune out the noise and continue to drive the outpouring of pro-democracy fervor that will eventually overwhelm Trump and his MAGA extremists. The mass movement of concerned citizens is gaining momentum and heft. We must make it unstoppable, irresistible, and inevitable.
"Pro-democracy rallies have been growing slowly and steadily since Inauguration Day. The No Kings Day rallies were the largest single-day protest in our nation's history. On July 17, 2025, there will be a continuation of the No Kings Day rallies under the banner of Good Trouble Lives On..."
America: A Work in Progress, Powered by the People
Laurie Woodward Garcia and People Power United
"We are builders and dreamers, inventors and caregivers. Like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. reminded us, 'The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice'—but only because people like us rise up and help bend it. From Rosa Parks refusing to give up her seat to Dolores Huerta shouting 'Sí se puede,' our history is shaped by the courage of ordinary people who refused to stay silent.
"We are not defined by our darkest moments, but by what we choose to do in their aftermath. We are not a nation that cowers to bullies or bows to fear. We rise. We speak out. We show up. We march forward."
History ...
from Elizabeth Gurley Flynn
"History has a long-range perspective. It ultimately passes stern judgment on tyrants and vindicates those who fought, suffered, were imprisoned, and died for human freedom, against political oppression and economic slavery."
A Hero: The Senate Parliamentarian Has Reset The Game
From the Big Picture blog
"Rulings by Elizabeth MacDonough take big bites out of the GOP's 'Big Beautiful Bill'"
We Need 1,000 Melissa Hortmans Now
The leaders we are waiting for are us
Jeff Blodgett, formerly a senior aide, advisor and manager to the late U.S. Senator Paul Wellstone, writes in a commentary that years ago we turned the Wellstone tragedy into something good, and we can do it again.
"So, just as with Wellstone two decades ago, we now need a thousand Melissa Hortmans. We need people to step up where she left off. People who get to climb on Melissa's shoulders, get in there, fight for people and make a difference," Blodgett writes.
"People who will volunteer to serve their neighbors, knock on doors, join a local board, march in a rally, and, yes, run for office. And, once in office, to lead with integrity and courage.
Will that be you?"