- Saturday, August 16, United We Stand with TX and DC: Fight the Trump Takeover 12:00pm–1:00pm Coolidge Corner, Brookline. Consider wearing red, white and blue, carrying flags and bringing signs that say “United We Stand….” or (and?) Fight the Trump Takeover
- Monday, August 18 What is One Million Rising (OMR) and Where Do I Fit In? 7:00pm–8:15pm Presentation and Discussion about Indivisible’s OMR trainings. United Parish Church Brookline
- Monday, August 18 Postcard Writing Research Project 6:45pm– 8:45pm United Parish Church, Brookline. GOOD NEWS: Don’t let heat stop you from joining us. We are meeting in a cool well lit room. Bring your own stamps or purchase from us for $17. This is the last day of postcarding until September.
- Monday, August 25 Make Posters for the Labor Day March 6:45pm–8:45pm United Parish Church, Brookline
- Monday, September 15, Follow up Meeting for One Million Rising Community Gathering Participants and Hosts 6:45pm–8:45pm United Parish Church, Brookline
- Wednesday, September 24, Speaking Truth in the Face of Mis- and Disinformation 6:45pm–8:45pm United Parish Church, Brookline What exactly are we confronting and what can YOU do?
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DC activists weren’t surprised when Trump took over the police and deployed the National Guard. They had been preparing and had actually run almost this exact scenario 6 months ago. Early on Monday Free DC held a press conference and rally — pre-empting both Trump’s announcement and Mayor Bowser’s compliance.
The rapidly consolidating authoritarian coup requires us all to prepare. At Activist Evenings, we seek to strengthen our communities and coalitions. We also engaged in educating ourselves. We don’t have to be suprised because much of what is happening is what autocratic regimes have done historically. Our power is greater than we realize. This short explanation of the pillars of support can help you understand where we are going as a movement. It’s hard for a dictator to stand up to sustained nonviolent noncooperation.
We encourage you to prepare. Watch the One Million Rising training and then talk to friends and neighbors about what you learn. On Monday, we are hosting a conversation for people to deepen our community’s understanding of where we are and where we are going.
We did not choose this moment, but this is the moment we find ourselves in.
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We can no longer lend our cooperation to an evil system.… [One] who passively accepts evil is as much involved in it as [one] who helps to perpetrate it.
Dr. King
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Protesting won’t change Trump but it does help build our movement. It strengthens that small voice in bystanders who are not yet speaking out. Marching with others or seeing a montage of protests from a single week, helps us remember that we are far from alone. There are millions of us willing to stand up for what we believe.
PLUS, sometimes these protests have an impact. Tesla Takedowns took Musk down a peg or two and we’ve heard that Bearing Witness at ICE has resulted in reduced transfers on Wednesdays.
- Bearing Witness at ICE, Every Wednesday 11am–1pm 100 Division Ave. Burlington, MA and every Saturday, 11am–1pm Burlington Mall Road and Division Ave
- United We Stand with TX and DC: Fight the Trump Takeover, Saturday, August 16 12:00pm–1pm
- Tesla Takedown, Saturday, August 16 12:00pm–2:00pm at the Prudential Center in Boston and Tesla showrooms everywhere. (times vary)
- Youth Against Deportations March Monday, August 18 Boston City Hall, Activist Evenings will meet at the stone benches near the Government Center T
- Boston’s First Labor Day Parade Monday, September 1 9:30am Boston Common
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- Sign up for the weekly call to action, Calls with Friends. This tested (on our friends) project makes it easy to reach out to the people we know in other states so they can make the calls to legislators that we can’t. Here’s a sample invitation to out of state friends. When you sign up, you’ll get a cut and paste email with a script and you’ll add personalized legislative contact info. Even very busy people can be motivated to take 5 minutes to make a few calls when it’s this easy.
- With a Governor, and majorities in both chambers of the legislature, Massachusetts has a Democratic trifecta. “When Democrats control the governorship and both chambers of the legislature, they can act fast and boldly to block, blunt, and beat back Trump’s most dangerous moves. They can sue. They can pass laws. They can create safe zones and legal shields. And they can lead by example.” (from Indivisible’s Blue State Defiance) Here are actions you can take to demand our leaders act to protect the people of the Commonwealth. NOW.
- Send a note of support and encouragement to an institution or individual doing the work of standing up for democratic principles like free speech and due process. Suggestions: Are you the alum of a college that is resisting? Harvard alums can join Crimson Courage for more actions.
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- Sister District learned from the GOP that supporting state legislative candidates pays off. Small investments yield huge returns In 2025, they are focusing on Virginia where a solid Democratic win will energize the country.
- Run for Something is smoothing the way for young progressives outside traditional power structures to run and win elections. From school boards to congress, they have an impressive track record supporting tens of thousands of potential candidates and notching up wins across the country in red, purple and blue districts.
- The midterms will happen and candidates actually do need money. Ignore those haranguing texts and emails and consider supporting Force Multiplier’s Early Midterm slate.
- Movement Voter Project takes a long view, funding grassroots groups that are there long before and after elections. They also enable donors to target projects, like growing progressive media, states or issues.
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- The Answer to Redistricting Math? More Democratic State Legislatures. The Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee is (finally) embracing the playbook the GOP has been using for decades. See Sister District (above in $, not time) to support this crucial initiative.
- How authoritarians build permission for violence Authoritarians need enemies to scapegoat and cast out in order to explain the failures to deliver on what they promise. The writing is on the wall. If you can still read, you have seen that Trump’s enemy list is widening to include anyone capable of independent thought.
- “Authoritarianism is a political system built on a logic of betrayals: betrayals of others and betrayals of self. It cultivates, and rewards, a state I call moral deregulation: a rolling back of civic and ethical norms against defrauding, silencing, bullying, and physically harming others.” Read more from Ruth Ben-Ghiat
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- What’s the Plan?, Thursdays at 3:00pm, weekly discussion with Indivisible’s co-founders
- DNC Virtual Briefing on Organizing nationally, Wednesday, August 20 at 3:00pm
- One Million Rising, Indivisible and NoKings have a strategy that we can collectively use to persuade institutions (societal pillars in education, media, labor, business, etc) to resist the authoritarian takeover. While some institutions like Columbia, CBS, the Washington Post, and law firms, have already capitulated, there is still time to persuade others not to. Watch and then take action. Join Indivisible Wednesday August 13 to close out the One Million Rising training series and learn how to take our power back. Watch and then join other new and experienced activists to talk about how we fit in at Activist Evenings on Monday 8/18.
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