LRN65 - New Year, Same Timeline
At some point we got off track
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Thank you for sticking around while I got back into the writing swing! The schedule for 2025 will be slightly different from 2024, but I hope to get back into a bi-weekly (at minimum) writing cadence again. I have a few ideas for different types of newsletters that I’m going to try out this year, but I promise to never send you more than one email per week. No spam here! I am grateful to see you all here again and I look forward to interacting with you in the comments!
…and we’re back
It’s a new year, but the vibes are still off. At some point, the timeline shifted. My bet is on 4/21/2016, but maybe you have a guess too. (If so, please comment!) It feels like we have all been living in an alternate universe for the past 9 years and yet we are still here. Many have passed, but you and I and so many of us are still here.
We are still yearning for what was supposed to be freedom in this country, this world. We are still collectively mourning the loss of so many lives since 2020. We are still trying to figure out why we jumped to a new timeline. Why the world feels upside-down.
Now is the time to listen to those folks who have always lived in this ‘new’ version of America. The version where their ancestors were killed by colonists. The version where their ancestors were enslaved. The version where their ancestors fought and died for the freedom of today. The version where their ancestors built this country. We are seeing history rewritten, yet again. White-washed, yet again. Reconfigured and reordered, yet again. We need to push back. We need to organize and move. We need to resurface hope. Without it, we cannot make change happen.
So let us come together. Let us gather online and in person. Let us find ways to support one another as we move forward together. Let us not give up the fight. We can shift the timeline back to a hopeful and peaceful future. We can fight back against the forces of evil. We can beat down fascism. We can rise to the occasion. Together we can deconstruct the current state of the world and move forward despite the chaotic and disgusting behaviour of US leaders and elites. Down with oligarchy. We the people must rise.
Ways to be in movement
As you likely know, President Trump has followed through on his promise to dismantle the rights of many groups of people in the United States. That is not exactly how he framed it for his followers, but that is essentially what his executive orders and hiring/firing policies aim to do. Although it is tempting to write about all the atrocities here, I’m going to turn toward hope. I want to share with you the ways we can fight against this movement toward fascism that has now taken a stronger hold in our country. So with each post, I’ll be sharing the ways I am learning to build community and be part of the movement. I hope that these suggestions will spark movement in you as well. I hope that you will be able to join a call, attend a rally, give money, and/or follow along to stay informed.
Our Democracy might be at risk, but if we continue to gather, inform, and fight, we can win. Now is not the time to sit back and watch it burn. We had a chance to mourn the loss of a bright future and now we must get back out there and show that we are not willing to give up our freedom. We must continue to rally for that brighter future. The promise of equality for ALL is real, but it requires work. Freedom isn’t free.
Before we can move forward, we must first understand what our rights are in the United States and the ACLU can help with that. Click here to find out more: Know Your Rights! (source: aclu.org)
Trump has nominated a slate of the worst possible people to his cabinet. Here is a link to call or email your Senators to say no to the 4 most dangerous of those nominees: Nix the Noms (source: indivisible.org)
Looking to deconstruct the myths from right-wing (and sometimes even left and center) media? Well, look no further than Media Matters for America. They have been doing this media watchdog work for many years and we are very grateful for their service.
Join the Working Families Party - the party has a mass call each month where they bring together progressives to discuss the state of the country and what we can do to mobilize and make change. The next mass call will be on February 27th. Click here to sign up!
Another great group to join is Showing Up for Racial Justice (SURJ). I have been a member for several years now and recently I’ve been attending the “Gear Up program - a 10-week training series for white people to fight back under Trump”. SURJ was formed to bring white people into the fight for racial and economic justice and they have partnered with other organizations such as the Movement 4 Black Lives (M4BL), The Highlander Center, CASA, Detention Watch Network, The National Council of Incarcerated and Formerly Incarcerated Women and Girls, and the aforementioned Working Families Party, to make there mission a reality.
I hope the above suggestions are helpful and that you can find something you might enjoy doing while lending your time and efforts to the cause. We are stronger together!
Good News (and Resources) from the Stacks
If you made it this far, you deserve some good news!!
‘The Librarians’ Review: A Powerful Documentary About American Book Bans — and the Heroes Who Battle Them (source: hollywoodreporter.com)
Indie Bookstores Will Soon Be Able to Sell E-Books to Customers (source: nytimes.com)
ALA to U. S. Department of Education: Book bans are real (source: ala.org)
Colorado State Library Tool Kits for Library Staff (source: cslkits.cvlsites.org)
Digital Public Library of America (source: dp.la)
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