Alternative News Media click here

We Enlist:

• Our representatives and government officials

• Unions and trade workers

• Democracy, faith, and social justice groups

• College students and retirees

• Our communities

We Utilize All of the Nonviolent Tools at Our Disposal

• Rallies, marches

• Strikes

• Boycotts

• Calling Members of Congress

• Disruptions

• Letters to the Editor

• Engaging our friends and neighbors

Fighting Back Against the Trump administration  The Guardian

Robert Reich Fri 24 Jan 2025

America has deep problems, which is why we can’t give up. Protect the vulnerable, organize boycotts and keep fighting

In light of Trump’s predictably cruel and bonkers beginning, many people are asking: “What can I do now?” Here are 10 recommendations.

1. Protect the decent and hardworking members of your communities who are undocumented or whose parents are undocumented

This is an urgent moral call to action. As Donald Trump’s ICE begins roundups and deportations, many good people are endangered and understandably frightened.

One of Trump’s new executive orders allows Ice to arrest undocumented immigrants at or near schools, places of worship, healthcare sites, shelters and relief centers – thereby deterring them from sending their kids to school or getting help they need.

If you trust your mayor or city manager, check in with their offices to see what they are doing to protect vulnerable families in your community. Join others in voluntary efforts to keep Ice away from schools, hospitals and shelters.

Organize and mobilize your community to support it as a sanctuary city, and to support your state as a sanctuary state. Trump’s justice department is already launching investigations of cities and states that go against federal immigration orders, laying the groundwork for legal challenges to local laws and forcing compliance with the executive branch. Your voice and organizing could be helpful in fighting back.

I recommend you order “red cards” from Immigrant Legal Resource Center and make them available in and around your community: Red Cards / Tarjetas Rojas | Immigrant Legal Resource Center | ILRC. You might also find these of use: Immigration Preparedness Toolkit | Immigrant Legal Resource Center | ILRC.

2. Protect LGBTQ+ members of your community

Trump may make life far more difficult for those who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and of other expansive identities through executive orders, changes in laws, alterations in civil rights laws or changes in how such laws are enforced.

His election and his rhetoric might also unleash hatefulness by bigoted people in your community.

I urge you to work with others in being vigilant against prejudice and bigotry, wherever it might break out. When you see or hear it, call it out. Join with others to stop it. If you trust your local city officials, get them involved. If you trust your local police, alert them as well.

3. Help protect officials in your community or state whom Trump and his administration are targeting for vengeance

Some may be low-level officials, such as election workers. If they do not have the means to legally defend themselves, you might help them or consider a GoFundMe campaign. If you hear of anyone who seeks to harm them, immediately alert law-enforcement officials.

 4. Participate or organize boycotts of companies that are enabling the Trump regime, starting with Elon Musk’s X and Tesla, and any companies that advertise on X or on Fox News

Don’t underestimate the effectiveness of consumer boycotts. Corporations invest heavily in their brand names and the goodwill associated with them. Loud, boisterous, attention-getting boycotts can harm brand names and reduce the prices of corporations’ shares of stock.

5. To the extent you are able, fund groups that are litigating against Trump

Much of the action over the next months and years will be in the federal courts. The groups initiating legislation that I know and trust include the American Civil Liberties Union, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, the Center for Biological Diversity, the Environmental Defense Fund and Common Cause. [Click Alternative News Media]

6. Spread the truth

Get news through reliable sources, and spread it. If you hear anyone spreading lies and Trump propaganda, including local media, contradict them with facts and their sources.

Here are some of the sources I (Robert Reich) currently rely on for the truth: the Guardian, Democracy Now, Business Insider, the New Yorker, the American Prospect, Americans for Tax Fairness, the Economic Policy Institute, the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, ProPublica, Labor Notes, the Lever, Popular Information, Heather Cox Richardson and, of course, my Substack.

7. Urge friends, relatives and acquaintances to avoid Trump propaganda outlets such as Fox News, Newsmax, X and, increasingly, Facebook and Instagram.

They are increasingly filled with hateful bigotry and toxic and dangerous lies. For some people, these propaganda sources can also be addictive; help the people you know wean themselves off them.

8. Push for progressive measures in your community and state

Local and state governments have significant power. Join groups that are moving your city or state forward, in contrast to regressive moves at the federal level. Lobby, instigate, organize and fundraise for progressive legislators. Support progressive leaders.

9. Encourage worker action

Most labor unions are on the right side – seeking to build worker power and resist repression. You can support them by joining picket lines and boycotts, and encouraging employees to organize in places you patronize.

10. Keep the faith. Do not give up on America

Remember, Trump won the popular vote by only one and a half points. By any historical measure, this was a squeaker. In the House, the Republicans’ five-seat lead is the smallest since the Great Depression. In the Senate, Republicans lost half of 2024’s competitive Senate races, including in four states Trump won.

America has deep problems, to be sure. Which is why we can’t give up on it – or give up the fights for social justice, equal political rights, equal opportunity and the rule of law. The forces of Trumpian repression and neofascism would like nothing better than for us to give up. Then they’d win it all. But we cannot allow them to.

We will never give up. Find room in life for joy, fun and laughter. We cannot let Trump and his darkness take over. Just as it’s important not to give up the fight, it’s critically important to take care of ourselves. If we obsess about Trump and fall down the rabbit hole of outrage, worry and anxiety, we won’t be able to keep fighting.

[11. Added by Andrew LeCompte.]

Know that Elon Musk has not been elected and that he his DOGE entity have no legal basis for firing federal works. Musk and Trump are leading a coup d’état, an unconstitutional seizure of the government, and are thus both traitors to the United States..

Emerging Resistance Resources

Civil Resistance: What Everyone Needs to Know, by Erica Chenoweth. What works.

People, Power, Change: Organizing for for Democratic Renewal by Marshall Ganz. An excellent book on organizing.

Democracy 2025 https://www.democracy2025.org/ We are the united legal frontline in the fight for people and our democracy Democracy 2025 is a coalition of 350+ organizations representing millions of people, committed to disrupting any efforts by the Trump-Vance administration to attack our rights, our freedoms, and our democracy through strategic legal action in courtrooms and communities across the country.

People Power United: America's Progressive Voice & Actions community. People Power United champions progress and power to the people. We are a group of people who believe in the possibility of change and work to make it happen. In this community, we will always speak out against racism, xenophobia, Islamophobia, antisemitism, homophobia, misogyny, sexism, ageism, ableism, sizeism, elitism, transphobia, misogynoir, and bigotry!

10 Ways to be Prepared and Grounded Now that Trump has Won Nov 4, 2024 Excellent 15-page piece by Daniel Hunter, author of “What If Trump Wins.” Published by Choose Democracy and Waging Nonviolence. Specific, inspiring advice based on lessons learned from experience fighting and, in some cases, overcoming authoritarian regimes around the world. Based on Hunter’s book “What If Trump Wins.” Hunter has been researching and planning for a Trump win for quite a while. https://wagingnonviolence.org/2024/11/10-things-to-do-if-trump-wins/

Democracy is a Verb: Resources for Resisting Authoritarianism Also published by Choose Democracy and Waging Nonviolence, this on-line guide reviews lessons learned from anti-authoritarian struggles around the world, Including Brazil, Gambia, South Africa, Serbia, Hungary, and others. Published July 18, 2024.  https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1kr0gQBEkHVc6taF9cg1f3stM-fPCB-K3IK62xaeGHSA/edit#slide=id.g30ebd8ca121_0_3168

A Practical Program for Resisting A Trump Second Term Nov 7 2024 “How to fight back against the implementation of fascism in America.” By Adam Gurri, Nov 7, 2024. Gurri is the founder of Liberal Currents. A “14-minute read” but very well-written with good advice.https://www.liberalcurrents.com/a-practical-program-for-resisting-a-trump-second-term/

Election Response Center National coalition with over 200 progressive groups. Leadership from Indivisible, Public Citizens, and Working Families Party and others. Organized first mass call as “Making Meaning of the Moment,” with over 140,000 people participating on youtube live-stream. This new site seems to be frequently updated with local, regional, and national events. https://www.mobilize.us/electionresponsecenter/event/734596/

“Worth Fighting For” Facilitator Guide Assembled by national coalition with over 200 progressive groups. Leadership from Indivisible, Public Citizens, and Working Families Party and others. Designed for anyone with good facilitation skills and the will to do this – to bring together like-minded and like-hearted people to plan how to resist this administration. https://docs.google.com/document/u/0/d/e/2PACX-1vR28nWuDMhOjf-Sa6UuMVeZ3Fc67nW5Kmn1IPDFTbYZQq1v9M6jjXKOIduMjGAoGvwN4RExMjI3Jd-4/pub?urp=gmail_link&pli=1 Google doc version you can copy, modify, and print https://docs.google.com/document/d/1faR_Rsu_TMVrZdxPm2t2nP9nvi8uKL4u3TxNvUTgxCQ/edit?tab=t.0#heading=h.eqzc4wauqut2

DFAD Campaign Plan (https://dfadcoalition.org/team/) DFAD stands for Declaration For American Democracy, a coalition of 260+ liberal organizations, including the Brennan Center, Black Voters Matter fund, Center for American Progress, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, Common Cause, End Citizens United, and others. This is a 2-page outline of a plan described as follows on the website: “a scenario in which we have a House and Senate that are adversarial towards voting rights and democracy reform - paired with a Trump presidency - would be a dangerous scenario. We already know the MAGA agenda on democracy issues - as outlined in the American Confidence in Elections Act (ACE) (https://cha.house.gov/american-confidence-in-elections-act).”  Here is a link to the DFAD 2-page plan for a Trump presidency: https://docs.google.com/document/d/180Lzas88U-mL_My0_BTfTJFwLyBAGx3UpuE51hZnRdo/edit?tab=t.0

Strategic Escalation in a Trump Era Slide show / workshop to learn effective strategies to resist autocrats, with lessons from Serbia & Chile. https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1b0duAh4Yh5ARIS2FQF9_GUFOWr7DUN1kiaNAHRknbtM/edit?pli=1#slide=id.g30b0fd406e0_0_21

 SURJ Post-Election Watch Party SURJ stands for Showing Up for Racial Justice (https://surj.org/). This excellent 12-minute video seeks to mobilize people for short-term action before the Inauguration as well as for the longer-term, and has a brief but compelling explanation of “race/class theory,” how white people in power have been effective throughout U.S. history in preventing working-class whites from allying with working-class people of color to fight for their common interests. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Qp1g70EWUPUO6Yy4QTGOdfbUE10Gqpjh/view

Stop the Coup 2025 Toolkit for Community Organizers A more accurate title would be “Stop Project 2025.” 129 pages. Excellent but very long overview of P2025, followed by very detailed information about each component of Project 2025, structured by case studies, action strategies to deal with the component, and key talking points. There are 11 “components” including DEI/Racial Justice, Reproductive Rights, LGBTQIA+ & War on Gender, Poverty & Federal Benefits, Climate Change, Immigration, etc.https://www.stopthecoup2025.org/stc-toolkit?mc_cid=8ab13463db&mc_eid=2f6d808d66

Accountable.US is a nonpartisan watchdog organization dedicated to exposing corruption and ensuring transparency in government actions that affect the public. During the first Trump administration, Accountable.US and its predecessor organizations played a leading role in making sure the American people had full visibility into President Trump’s extreme nominees. Accountable.US’s Trump Accountability War Room will provide detailed analyses and oversight of nominations, personnel decisions, executive actions, ethical issues, and legislative agenda that would fundamentally reshape the functions of the federal government and erode the safeguards and policies protecting all Americans. Sign up for updates here: https://accountable.app.neoncrm.com/np/clients/accountable/subscribe.jsp?subscription=197 And here’s the link to the War Room page: https://accountable.us/accountable-us-launches-trump-accountability-war-room/ 

Other Resources

People For the American Way https://www.peoplefor.org/ is a national progressive advocacy organization that inspires and mobilizes Americans to defend freedom, justice, and democracy from those who threaten to take them away. For more than four decades, we have been dedicated to making the promise of America real for everyone and have worked toward a vision of a vibrant America where basic rights and freedoms are upheld for all, not just the wealthy and the powerful. 

Resist Project 2025 envisions an America where all Americans have an equal say in elections that are fair and safe – where Americans from every state, not just “battleground states,” get a vote that counts towards determining who will become president, where billionaires can’t buy elections and put out disinformation, and where threats and violence are unthinkable. It envisions an America where people have control over their own bodies. Where courts administer justice to all, not just the wealthy and powerful. Where nobody lives in fear because of their color, faith, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, ancestry, or political beliefs.  You may know that women make up only 27% of Congress. But did you know that moms with young children make up less than 10% of Congress? That’s why we founded Moms Fed Up. Because we’re FED UP with watching decisions that impact our children and grandchildren be made without a fair representation of moms in the room. Amy Klobuchar etc.

MoveOn.org Political Action is a federal political action committee (PAC) MoveOn fought back. Thousands of our members called their representatives, and our voice was heard in the halls of Congress as well. 

Defend The Vote is a political action committee dedicated to preserving our democracy through ensuring voting access, education and protection. https://wedefendthevote.org/

No Vote Left Behind We exist to develop and fund voter registration drives and Get Out the Vote programs targeted to the LGBTQ community in battleground states and districts. https://novoteleftbehindpac.com/

Other National Organizations

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez – her talk, build your community https://www.instagram.com/aoc/reel/DCDRaRoxJYW/?hl=en  (long, comforting)

American Civil Liberties Union The ACLU’s nationwide network of lawyers and organizers are standing by, ready to defend our rights in the courts and on the streets.

Common Cause We will resist any actions that seek to erode our democratic values, mobilize our communities to safeguard our nation’s principles, and strengthen resilience in the face of these profound challenges

Cultures of Resistance  promotes and supports organizations, activists, and artists who seek a more peaceful, just, and democratic world. (see organizations below)

Center for Responsive Politics is the nation’s premier research group tracking money in US politics and its effect on elections and public policy. Nonpartisan, independent, and nonprofit, the organization aims to create a more educated voter, an involved citizenry, and a more transparent and responsive government. In short, the center’s mission is to inform citizens about how money in politics affects their lives, empower voters and activists by providing unbiased information, and advocate for a transparent and responsive government.  The center pursues its mission largely through its award-winning website, OpenSecrets.org, which is the most comprehensive resource for federal campaign contributions, lobbying data, and analysis available anywhere. For other organizations and news media, the center’s exclusive data powers their online features tracking money in politics—counting cash to make change.

Democracy Now! is a daily, independent, global news hour hosted by award-winning journalists Amy Goodman and Juan González. The program features on-the-ground and breaking news coverage, as well as in-depth discussions on today’s most pressing issues with a diversity of voices from the frontlines of social movements around the world.

Global Exchange [Israel, Palestine] international human rights organization

Institute for Public Accuracy (IPA) veterans

Maysles Institute [United States] production of documentary films

Southern Poverty Law Center [United States] mission is to reduce prejudice, improve intergroup relations, and support equitable school experiences for children in the United States. The organization believes that schools must educate all students for full participation in a diverse democracy. SPLC uses litigation, education, and other forms of advocacy to work towards the day when the ideals of equal justice and equal opportunity will be a reality. SPLC is among the United States’s leading providers of anti-bias resources, both in print and online.

Voices of a People’s History of the United States seeks to bring to light little-known voices from U.S. history, including those of women, African Americans, Native Americans, immigrants, and laborers. 

WITNESS [International] uses the power of video to open the eyes of the world to human rights abuses.

Zinn Education Project [United States] promotes and supports the use of Howard Zinn’s A People’s History of the United States in middle and high school classrooms across the country.

Black Resistance activism, freedom, love, family and hope.

Resist Project 2025  is a Tides Foundation initiative focused on equipping targeted communities to actively protect their rights and well-being. We provide grassroots leaders with the resources they need to defend their civil rights and ensure fair representation in the decisions affecting their communities. 

Critical Resistance / Dismantle    Through strong coalitions and strategic grassroots campaigns, we fight to dismantle the prison industrial complex, including the caging, policing, and surveilling practices and larger systems that harm, control, oppress and impoverish our communities and greater society.

Corporate Accountability 10 Milk St. Suite 610 Boston, MA 02108  Telephone 617-695-2525 We wage strategic campaigns that compel transnational corporations, and the governments that do their bidding, to stop destroying our health, human rights, democracy, and planet.

UNHCR the UN Refugee Agency works to ensure that everybody has the right to seek asylum and find safe refuge, having fled violence, persecution or war at home. UNHCR, helps to save lives and build better futures for the millions of people forced to flee their homes.

Nonprofit GIVING  

The Right to Immigration Institute (TRII) - A nonprofit based in Waltham dedicated to providing free legal assistance to asylum seekers, refugees, and undocumented members of the Greater Boston community.

Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law - We stand for equal justice and the rule of law. We work to craft and advance reforms that will make American democracy work, for all.

Brady united the nation's leading gun violence prevention organization.   

USA for UNHCR: the UN refugee agency - Families from Yemen to Ukraine from Ethiopia to Afghanistan

Doctors Without Borders - Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) cares for people affected by conflict, disease outbreaks, natural and human-made disasters, and exclusion from health care in more than 70 countries.

Project Hope     Ukraine,to Gaza, Ethiopia,to North Carolina      

Lawyers for Civil Rights (Boston-based)  We provide free, life-changing legal support, fight discrimination and foster equity through creative and courageous legal advocacy, education, and economic empowerment.

American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) Freedom Defense Fund  The ACLU has strategies and plans to fight back and stop Trump's threats to our civil rights and civil liberties, but needs your support to put our plans into action.

Corporate Accountability (Boston-based) stops transnational corporations from devastating democracy, trampling human rights, and destroying our planet.

League of Women Voters Membership & Local Leagues - Our members are passionate activists who support our work in all 50 states and in more than 700 communities.

Alternative News Media

Bowers News Media a one-person grassroots progressive activism email list run by Chris Bowers. Sign up to receive news and activism emails from Bowers News Media LLC by clicking here and filling out the form you see. 

ProPublica To expose abuses of power and betrayals of the public trust by government, business, and other institutions

The Guardian UK, world and US news

The New Republic Accurate and informative

CBC nightly news “The National.” Canada

Labor Notes Labor Education and Research Project ©

Jon Stewart a comedian, writer, producer, director, political commentator, actor, and television host of The Daily Show

Jim Stewartson The radical view of The Psychological War on Democracy

Michael Moore film director, producer, screenwriter, and author. frequently addresses various social, political, and economic topics

Robert Reich, Inequality Media Definitely get his updates

Heather Cox Richardson Letters from an American, best objective news with history, every morning, over 1.7 million subscribers.

John Oliver British-American comedian, writer, producer, political commentator, actor, and television host

Current Affairs A Magazine of Politics and Culture

BBC NewsNight Comprehensive coverage of the day's important national and international news stories.

The Chris Hedges Report on Substack Covering US foreign policy, economic realities, and civil liberties in American society.

AYMAN on MSNBC Weekends 7PM ET

Rachel Maddow on MSNBC Mondays 9PM ET

Drop Site News Independent news on politics and war

A Closer Look on Seth Meyers Comedian

The Lever know where your activism is needed

Hammer & Hope A magazine of Black politics and culture.

More Perfect Union Building power for working people

The Katie Halper Show Apple podcast, a humorous look at the news

Night School with Marc Lamont Hill a nightly YouTube program with deep discussion, intense debate, and critical analysis

Citations Needed a podcast about the intersection of media, PR, and power,

Jewish Currents committed to the thought, activism, and culture on the Jewish left

 Al-Jazeera English rely on Al Jazeera for truth and transparency

Ha’aretz Israel

Bette Dangerous By Heidi Siegmund Cuda 

Slate Online magazine of news, politics, technology, and culture. Combines humor and insight in thoughtful analyses of current events and political news.

The Bulwark | Substack Analysis and reporting on politics and culture in America.

Politico Centrist, has a Massachusetts newsletter.

Coalition on Human Needs Deborah Weinstein

People Power United Laurie Woodward Garcia