march: beyond marches

monthly creative curations on a theme

january 2017. women’s march. san jose, ca

I took a bus from NYC to DC to protest Dubya’s inauguration in January 2001. I had the flu that day, and I came really close to getting gassed by overly-activated riot police. I’ve been a part of several other human rights marches. I’ve brought my child to a few of them, and they’ve brought me to marches, as well. As an HSP in my midlife years and as a disabled person with unreliable knees, marches may not be the very best place for me to focus my activist energy, though I strongly believe in them. As we begin the month of March, I’d like to offer some effective and sustainable ways to make our voices heard. 🗣️

These round-up prism emails come out on the first day of every month, and they include my curations of music, art, fashion, beauty, and/or other areas of expression. The full experience of the monthly posts (including an awesome monthly Spotify playlist!) is accessible only to paid subscribers, but everyone gets a generous peek below and can also unlock this post in a free trial to get all the activist inspo! 💥

The overwhelming muzzle velocity of the current media makes it extremely hard to think coherently, let alone muster the energy and focus to take any sort of action — and that’s on purpose. It’s exactly the goal of the current administration. An acquaintance of mine posted this sentiment earlier this week, and it’s so true: “Your online outrage fuels and pays for the very thing you're fighting against.” Below you’ll find myriad sustainable, simple ways to effect positive change:

* Psst: If you’re not yet a paid subscriber here and you hit a paywall partway through the list below, you can access the full post for free for a week by clicking the “start trial” button. This one may be worth it.

1. ☎️ Making daily calls to local reps is actually easy now, even for introverts like me! If you do nothing else on this list, please consider this. I am someone who avoids talking on the phone, but this free app called 5 calls provides a list of issues from which you an select, displays your local reps and their numbers for you to click when ready to call, and gives you a script you can read or use as your notes while you talk. It’s brilliant, and I’ve been using it every single day. Hot introvert tip: If you call after 5pm or on weekends, you’ll get to leave a voicemail - which is even easier and still counts! (Most of my weekday calls also go to voicemail.) Please join me.

2. 🧘 If the recent barrage of distractions and chaos disguised as “news” is hijacking your nervous system, consider listening to Calm News, an endeavor put out by

   Jessica Yellin
   of
   News Not Noise
   via Glennon Doyle’s platform — designed to keep you informed without causing an anxiety attack. Consider listening to this episode as a first taste:

   And be sure to listen to this important episode, as well.

3. ⚖️ Step outside your particular news bubble. Tangle is a news source (founded by American journalist Isaac Saul) that posts an article on an issue and then says: “This is what the left is saying” and “This is what the right is saying.” Media bias watchdogs rate Tangle as "center" bias and highly accurate. Their audience is 40% liberal, 30% conservative, and 30% independent or other. Peek outside your own echo chamber to understand where others are coming from. Healthy.

4. 🗺️ Language is important. A super-quick (and effective if it goes viral) resistance task to do and share with your friends:
   1. Google Gulf of Mexico.
   2. “Gulf of America" will be the top Google answer.
   3. Click on the three little dots to the right of “Gulf of America.”
   4. Select "Send Feedback"
   5. Click on "Gulf of America" text.
   6. Select "Inaccurate content."
   7. Select "Incorrect" and type this in: "The correct name of this body of water is “Gulf of Mexico."

   

   from a meme - origin unknown

5. 🕊️ Are you of reproductive age and/or do you know any human being who is? Do you have preteens, teens, or adult children? Do your kids have friends? Well…