Hands Off, Hands On, Do Something

It's time to get uncomfortable for a good cause

A friend told me with downturned eyes that she was not going to march with the Hands Off 2025 protesters. “Please don’t think less of me,” she pleaded.

It truly broke my heart to know that she believed I would think less of her, or anyone else, about this kind of decision. First of all, these decisions are complex. No one should be going to a protest on a whim, unprepared for the potential immediate and long-term consequences of their choice.

Secondly, I am not marching, either, because my health won’t allow it. My friend has very different reasons for opting out. But it’s not my job to judge her or anyone else for whether they go to a march.

You see, I’ve never believed that protesting was the only way to register dissent or to create social change. It is powerful, both in its capacity to influence policies and in its ability to connect people around a shared cause. But street protests are only one way to make a difference.

Let’s Get Creative about How to Make a Difference

If you are choosing not to join the marches and demonstrations on April 5^th but would like to find other ways to support the spirit of the movement, here are some ideas:

· Amplify the message, spread the word about the protests in your area, and make sure that people know what is happening with enough time to plan to be part of it. Use technology and social media to spread the word, but don’t forget that starting conversations with people is a time-honored way of inviting people into social movements.

· Contact local media and ask them to cover the story. Push back against their excuses for not covering it. Make use of whatever platforms you are on to share the story and tag your local media.

· Offer practical support. See if your local organizers are collecting funds and make a donation. Volunteer to babysit or pet sit for someone who’d like to attend. Drive people to the staging area and pick them up afterwards. Be part of a sign-making party. If you don’t know what needs to be done, ask someone who is involved to give you some ideas.

· Use the time when your local protest is happening to engage in activities that align with your beliefs. Call or write letters to your elected representatives. Research how to volunteer with an organization whose mission you support. Write letters to the hosts of various protests and share your gratitude and words of encouragement. Make plans to shop local, vote in your upcoming election, and find other ways to make the most of the power you have.

· Vote with your dollars. It should go without saying that we have tremendous power to signal what we support through how we spend our money. Not all of us can afford or can work out the logistics to exclusively shop small/local, organic, fair trade, etc. But this is a great time to practice bringing more intentionality to how you spend. Whenever you can, choose to align with the merchants whose values and products reflect your values. If you can’t do that, consider whether you can borrow an item from a friend, library (I love the library of things at my two local libraries!), or a mutual aid society.

Most of all, this is not a time just for protest, but to build the society we want. It’s not enough to reject what offends us. We have to be living our values now, even when it feels like that isn’t enough. Without giving people an alternative vision of what could be possible, why should they change their minds?

Defy, resist, and subvert the lies that the current regime espouses. We are not separate beings out to get what’s best for us at the cost of everyone else. There is no greatness founded on systemic inequalities, hatred, fear, and isolation. The earth is not here for us to plunder.

Let’s act like we truly believe in love, interdependence, and solidarity. Find small ways to live out those values every day. Make an effort to bring joy, beauty, and harmony to your daily life and share it with others. Create. Laugh. Support one another. Find common ground, even with people “on the other side.”

There are no sides.

We are all in this together.

We have to figure out how to coexist for the sake of our shared humanity.

Get Comfortable with Discomfort

The truth is that, in order to build enough of a mass movement to create change, we’re going to have to work together with people we might never have dreamed of collaborating with in the past. We’ll have to tap into our shared vision of the future, set aside our differences, and join together in saying the current regime’s policies are wrong and must be stopped.

Otherwise, we’ll all lose.

How you protest matters less than if you protest. Don’t make excuses to stay in the status quo. March and demonstrate. Work behind the scenes to create policy change. Write letters, make calls, use social media, raise awareness. Hold current politicians and political candidates (including those for judicial positions) accountable at the polls. Connect with people and groups in your community that are doing good work. Give money if you have it. Do labor if you are able. Cheer on and lift up others, and allow them to do the same for you.

Keep building the world that you want to live in, living your vision of a good life. And keep it up, in spite of the forces that want to grind you down into confusion, despair, and entropy.

At times like this, where there is so much to do and so little of it is flashy or outwardly visible, I take comfort in this quote:

“When you set out to change the world, the job seems insurmountable, but each of us can do his or her small part to effect change.”¹

These words by Desmond Tutu, a man who knows far better than I ever will about how to sustain hope through the process of incremental change against vast systemic odds, are my gift to you.

Do your small part this Saturday. And every day. Take the leap of faith that each of our small acts, taken together, will be enough to create transformative change on the grand scale.

In solidarity,
Lori

¹ Desmond Tutu, The Book of Forgiving: The Fourfold Path for Healing Ourselves and Our World