The countdown has begun!

Now that Christmas is behind us, 2024 is coming up fast. You know what that means: time to dust off resolutions of the past for recycling anew, just as we have been doing for some 4,000 years, going back to the ancient Babylonians. Back then, we pledged our allegiance to the incoming or incumbent king and made promises of one kind or another to the gods to ensure their favor or at least ward off their wrath.

Today, we swear off indulgent food and promise to exercise more, buying exercise equipment that becomes a makeshift closet. I have never been one for making New Year's resolutions. Do not misunderstand me; I get it: new year, new you; new year, new circumstances; new year, new opportunities. I understand the concept of turning over a new leaf, even if that leaf is just the next page in an endless calendar. It is just that December 31st has never been the line in the sand for me to do something that I would or could–but did not–do at any other time of the year. I am never going to swear off desserts or stick to an exercise routine. For better or worse, I know that about myself.

But this year is different. This year is less about resolutions and more about being resolute, determined, unwavering, and persevering in the face of an insatiable GOP who wants nothing more than to wipe the country clean of social programs, voting rights, reproductive health care, and so much more.

Every day, we read many articles laying out the myriad charges against Trump and the pending litigation and trials he is facing. At the same time, we face that he is leading in the polls for many states where he has not been removed from the primary. And, if that does not make your blood run cold, it should.

Really.

We know what his presidency would look like. We have literally “been there, done that.” We know his policies will hurt millions of Americans, maybe even irreversibly. We know that women’s rights will be restricted even more. We know that those seeking asylum in the U.S. will be turned away in ever-increasing numbers. We know that even more voting rights will be on the chopping block. We know that gerrymandered districts will become even more distorted in an effort to keep people of color from the polls. We know that racial hate crimes will occur in more significant numbers than ever before. We know that our students will not be safe in their classrooms because gun laws will be loosened, perhaps disappearing altogether. We know that January 6, 2021, will be a prologue to the death spiral of democracy as we know it. At the risk of sounding alarmist, if Trump gets another term, we may never be rid of him. Ever.

We also know that you are tired. It has been a very long eight years. I readily admit that when he lost in 2020, I thought we had seen the last of him. Even if the door had not closed firmly behind him, he had been given his hat and directed toward the exit. Boy, was I wrong. I have never been afraid to admit I was wrong about something, but to have been wrong about that is gut-wrenching. So long as there are enough supporters to fill stadiums, it seems he will endure. He will not go until his audience wanes. So, we need to remove his thunder and wipe the slate clean of him. And we do that by doing what we did in 2020. We turn out in precedent-setting numbers in both the primary and general elections.

The first in the nation primary is only a few weeks away in New Hampshire. Although 2020 showed us that the past is not prologue (inasmuch as paths to the White House are not etched in stone), N.H. is often viewed as a bellwether for the remainder of the electoral season. A loss there could be hugely impactful in his bid for a second term.

There are almost 9.9 million in the Resistbot family, and while we will never agree on everything, one thing unites us: our desire for a more perfect union. There are many different ways to participate:

• You can provide financial support to candidates, not just those in your backyard. If you happen to live in a blue state or community, think about donating to a campaign in another area or even another state;
• You can knock on doors to advocate for your candidate and/or educate prospective voters on the issues and how to cast their ballot;
• You can chase mail-in ballots when the time comes to help ensure that every vote is counted;
• You can provide transportation to those who cannot get to their local polls;
• You can work the polls on election day, and if you are an attorney, you may be able to assist with voter protection issues that occur at the polls;
• You can run for election in your community or state;
• You can show up on election day and vote!

If you want information on casting your ballot, send vote to 50409 and check out the information we have put together on all things vote-related in your state.

Interested in running for office? Use the keyword run for information on vacant seats.

Looking to volunteer? Use the volunteer keyword to find phone banks, canvassing, and other opportunities to help. You can also use the work keyword to see if your polling location needs volunteers.

Resolve to make 2024 the year to win!

My sisters and I were raised by our aunt, who was a voracious reader. There were books throughout our home. In bookcases. On table tops. Lost in bedding. Everywhere. We were brought up to read everything from science fiction to murder mysteries. Saturdays were spent in a local bookstore called The Paperback Shack where we would spend hours getting lost in the stories and dreams of others. Inevitably, we left with bags of new-to-us books, eager to embark on new journeys. Those books gave us access to an entire universe beyond our little neighborhood. As children, we lived, loved, and learned while losing ourselves in fiction and nonfiction alike. In doing so, we developed a love of reading that has remained with us our whole lives.

When I started working on my BA in women and gender studies, I was introduced to books I had never read before—concepts and words that I had never heard of, much less understood. The reading list was intimidating. I took a dictionary to every class and used it often. Over time, I learned to distinguish between the books that broadened my mind, and those that did not. Those that gave in to stereotypes, and those that excelled at representation. Those that indulged the “it’s always been that way” narrative and those that challenged it. Those that showed how narrow-minded people can be, and those that painted rainbows.

As cliche as it may sound, reading enriches the mind. It truly does. It substantiates belief systems and tears some down. Through books, we can be whoever we want. We can live a fantasy or see new worlds. We can see our world in a whole new light. And, we can learn. Learn that some centuries-old traditions should be put to rest. Learn that the book rarely matches its cover. Learn that the world is filled with exciting places and people in every color of the rainbow and that firmly held beliefs can be cast aside and replaced with a new worldview. That is what books did for me—they gave me a new perspective. Books have the power to change lives. Forever.

Those of you who have followed this blog know that I live in Florida. A state that has become so red in recent years that we look (and often feel) like we are on fire. And our state legislature has banned books like a duck to water, leading the nation in the effort.

According to Pen.org, more than 3,300 book bans were in the 2022-2023 school year (affecting more than 1500 separate titles). The vast list includes books on all topics, including religion, sexuality, and immigrants. And, you may think that there is no harm in having some of the books on that list banned. But, when you consider that a particular book may be someone’s only access to information, the ban may be viewed in a far more different and destructive way. Take, for example, Let’s Talk About It: A Teens Guide to Sex, Relationships, and Being a Human. For many years now, parents and schools have fought against the need for a sex education curriculum. And, if there is no curriculum for students, and they happen to be part of a family that chooses not to discuss the topic and books that openly discuss sex are banned, what avenue of education remains? None. Or almost none. Those with no fundamental understanding of their body and how it works are left to their own devices with all the potentially harmful consequences.

What about The 1619 Project and its efforts to set the record straight on slavery and racism in the US? Florida’s Governor Desantis called this type of reading “indoctrination” as though the Project tries to convince readers of some alternative, fantastical history having taken place in America. As though, our nation's cruel history is a boogeyman summoned by the liberal left.

Representation matters, and when we ban books that speak to who we are as people and the diversity among us, we silence entire communities and their allies. Silence is the name of the game, and banning books does this with cruel efficiency.

So, what can we do? We can work together to keep our local school boards free of individuals who want to whitewash our history and destroy our multiplicity. Elections matter, possibly even more so on a local level, as the entities that govern the minutiae of our daily lives tend to be within our local communities and schools. Take a look at Ballotpedia's information on school board elections. If your state is one with an upcoming election, please participate.

Do you want to write to your legislature on this or any other topic? Send resist to the bot and let your thumbs do the talking. Not sure what to say? Have no fear. Choose the new AI option for help, or other members of the Resistbot family have your back with these related petitions on fighting book bans or increasing protections on librarians.

Thank you to Elena and Chris.

If you thought writing letters before with Resistbot was easy, wait until you try our newest feature: AI-written letters. It’s simple and takes only a minute.

How to Use It

1. Send copilot to the bot
2. Provide a link to a news or opinion article with a strong summary of your issue or a bill number (e.g., H. Res. 123)
3. Type a sentence or two explaining your position on the issue, like whether you're for or against the bill and why

And that's it! Sit back and watch the bot generate a letter for you. Here's a video of a user giving it a try. The more letters people generate, the better it will get over time as we continue to train it. Here's an example:

🧠 To teach me about your issue, please reply with a link to a news or opinion article or a Congressional bill (e.g., HR123) that will explain it to me.

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2024-election/ron-desantis-suspends-second-elected-prosecutor-monique-worrell-rcna98968

I got your link. Thank you! Please reply with your position on this issue, e.g., stop subsidizing oil companies, protect voting rights, etc.

Monique Worrell should not have been fired, DeSantis should reinstate her and be held accountable for this act of an autocrat

⏳ Got it, please don't text until you see my revision...

✅ Letter complete! Here you go:

The recent suspension of State Attorney Monique Worrell, the only Black woman serving in this capacity in Florida, is a troubling affront to our democratic processes. This action by Governor DeSantis, his second such move, not only disrupts local state attorney offices but also undermines the will of the voters who duly elected Worrell. Her progressive approach to justice, which includes avoiding minimum mandatory sentences for gun crimes and drug charges, and providing alternatives to incarceration for juvenile offenders, is a necessary step towards a more equitable justice system. The removal of Worrell is akin to overturning an election, a move that is reminiscent of autocratic behavior. It is imperative that immediate action be taken to reinstate Worrell and hold Governor DeSantis accountable for his actions. Upholding the principles of democracy and ensuring fair representation in our justice system is of utmost importance.

Reply with any changes you'd like me to make, or GOOD if it looks good!

How It Works

Think of the bot as a writer with a core set of values. When you provide a link to a news or opinion article, you give it something to read to educate it on a current issue. Say you wanted to tell your officials to pass Medicare for All. You can feed it a news article from Bernie Sanders, educating it about the issue and the benefits of passing it. In your position statement, you could say, "I agree with Bernie Sanders and want you to pass Medicare for All," and you're set!

Once your letter is generated, it will ask if you want the bot to make any changes. You can use natural language, and the AI will do its best to do as you ask. Here's an example from our prior letter:

Reply with any changes you'd like me to make, or GOOD if it looks good!

Include information about how Worrell was duly elected by her constituents and removing her is like overturning an election

⏳ Got it, please don't text until you see my revision...

✅ Letter complete! Here you go:

The recent suspension of State Attorney Monique Worrell, the only Black woman serving in this capacity in Florida, is a troubling affront to our democratic processes. This action by Governor DeSantis, his second such move, not only disrupts local state attorney offices but also undermines the will of the voters who duly elected Worrell. Her progressive approach to justice, which includes avoiding minimum mandatory sentences for gun crimes and drug charges, and providing alternatives to incarceration for juvenile offenders, is a necessary step towards a more equitable justice system. The removal of Worrell is akin to overturning an election, a move that is reminiscent of autocratic behavior. It is imperative that immediate action be taken to reinstate Worrell and hold Governor DeSantis accountable for his actions. Upholding the principles of democracy and ensuring fair representation in our justice system is of utmost importance.

Reply with any changes you'd like me to make, or GOOD if it looks good!

Good!

Why We Built This

We launched Resistbot in 2017, back then we had no campaigns, and folks had to write what was on their mind. Many, many folks texted in, only to be stopped cold by an inability to find the right words and arguments to express themselves, and often this leads to writing nothing, and taking no action at all.

We wrote more than one guide on how to write effectively on how to write effectively but this also takes time, and no guide can address everyone’s needs in real-time.

Then, we introduced our petitions that made sending a letter as easy as possible when you didn't know what to write. But that led to people giving up if there wasn't a readily available pre-written petition to sign. So that's more people not being heard.

Now with an AI-assisted writer, being heard is easier and more accessible than ever before. Not everyone has the ability to quickly compose a persuasive letter. Some people struggle with writing due to disabilities like dyslexia, cognitive impairments, or motor challenges. Others may not speak English as their first language and need a little help organizing their thoughts. AI lowers these barriers, ensuring that more people—not just the most confident writers—can effectively participate in democracy.

And like any other letter, these can be turned into form letter campaigns to allow anyone to sign and send it to their officials.

On Environmental Impact

The amount of energy used by this system is no different than any other function of Resistbot, like texting or sending letters. It runs on Amazon Web Services, just like everything else we do. We don’t use OpenAI, and we donate a portion of our revenue to carbon removal—not because we can afford to, but because it’s the right thing to do.

More importantly, the people using this feature are often writing their officials about climate change—pushing for clean energy, carbon reduction, and sustainability policies. If AI helps them take action when they otherwise wouldn’t, then its net environmental impact is positive. The alternative would be doing nothing while OpenAI, Bitcoin, and major corporations continue using exponentially more energy unchecked.

Engage Any Way You Like, Just Engage

We don’t care how you engage with your officials—if you’re regularly in touch with them, our job is done. But for those who have never engaged before, the easier we make it, the more likely they are to take that first step. Ask someone to make a phone call, and 9 times out of 10, they won’t bother. Tell them to navigate three different websites to send letters, and they’ll put it off. But give them a tool that makes it effortless? Suddenly, they’re taking action. They’ll sign a petition today, start with an AI letter a week later, and then feel comfortable enough to write their own. We have a lot of data to prove this ladder happens, we’ve been operating this service for eight years watching millions engage with it.

Our goal has always been to get more people involved—because that’s how change happens.

Ten years ago (almost to the day) my first article was published by the folks at Everyday Feminism and it spoke of my awakening to the reality of the world we live in and how I had come to realize that all of my doubts and questions about sexuality, gender, and race have proved to be warranted. That awakening has continued unabated ever since. Every day, I learn something new. Every day, one more scale falls from my eyes. Every day, one more thing I took for granted to be true, proves to be a lie.

To this day, one of the most important lessons I learned was that there is enormous privilege in studying oppression without having to live it. I am a woman, but I am a white woman which comes with oppression to be sure but not anything as compared to what others suffer. Our country has made great strides over the last few hundred years where women are concerned, but we still have so very far to go. We remain a land where the pinnacle of success is seemingly barred to all but a chosen few. Women are at least 50% of the population but are considered second class citizens. People of color continue to occupy the role of the other and are pigeon-holed into a narrow set of positions that are acceptable by the ruling classes as their success strikes fear in the hearts of those at the top.

Additionally, there will come a point in the not-too-distant future when humanity in its current state will be no more than a blip on Earth's timeline. As with every other being, we will evolve into newer versions in order to meet the challenges of the day and our future selves may look back on us as we do on our predecessors–as oddities that have yet to realize their full potential. And, that presumes we survive the next mass extinction (of which there have been 5 thus far). Whether we recognize our former selves when the time comes, remains to be seen. In the interim however, we should take pride in who we are and not enact laws that feed the phobias of a few.

We have become a nation ruled by legislation that fuels phobias instead of progress. And, although it may at times feel like we are screaming into the void, scream we must. We must do all that we can to keep the precipice that we stand on from falling from beneath our feet. 

“When you are writing laws you are testing words to find their utmost power. Like spells, they have to make things happen in the real world, and like spells, they only work if people believe in them.” –Hilary Mantel, Wolf Hall

States across this country have enacted voting laws that single out communities of color in the hopes of barring their access to the ballot. Many are pushing through legislation that outlaws, among other things, medical treatment for transgender individuals and calls for neighbors to report each other. And, more still are hammering away at women’s reproductive rights following the Dobbs opinion. In the freest country in the world, instead of marching forward, we find ourselves led by representatives that are trying to silence us by banning books, banning the word gay, and restricting displays of rainbows.

Want to let your representative know how you feel on these issues or any others? Text STATE to 50409 and as always, let your thumbs do the talking. Not sure what to say? The following are a few of the petitions superuser Jess Craven has written on the topics of LGTBQIA, voting rights, and the Equality Act.

https://resist.bot/petitions/PVSOOI

https://resist.bot/petitions/PEPKMR
https://resist.bot/petitions/PBZBLK

Thank you to Elena and Jessica!

As a volunteer at Resistbot one of the tasks I attend to is submitting Letters to the Editor for our users. Sounds boring? Absolutely not! I am inspired every day to read letters from users and revise slightly to make them appropriate for a newspaper rather than a letter to their elected officials.

I have been excited, saddened, but always inspired by each user letter. They are sometimes about local items or raging issues that plague our country. Our community of users put into words so much of what I feel each day.

Local letters revolve around urban issues such as bike lanes and traffic easement in Connecticut, punitive fees on electric vehicles in Mississippi; the DeSantis/Disney feud in Florida; and the ever-changing laws affecting women's health care in, oh too many states to mention.

Resistbot users have their finger on the pulse of the nation and express themselves eloquently. My task is only to smooth the edges and get it published in their local newspaper. Each day as I edit the letters, I am involved in users angst and anger over issues; their sadness about the health care situation; their outrage on the movements against trans individuals, their depression at the gun violence, and their disdain for legislators who do not see or hear their constituents.

If a newspaper will not take a letter through a form, we edit and return to user with information to submit to a specific paper. Our goal is to amplify your voice to others in your region.

Recently, I was excited to edit a letter for Jessica Craven, an activist in California, that got a headline in the Los Angeles Times. Jessica crafts an excellent daily newsletter entitled Chop Wood, Carry Water [Substack] with action items for all those who believe we can make change. She informs folks on the daily issues; giving readers the opportunity to contact their legislators in many ways including the use of Resistbot. Jessica makes it easy to be active and participate in our democracy.

Currently we have user letters published in every state but Rhode Island, so I am always on the lookout for a letter in the queue from a user in Rhode Island so the last state can be pinned.

So next time Resistbot asks if you want us to submit your letter for publication in a local newspaper, say YES. You can provide us with a paper or we will select one close by. We want your voice and concerns to be amplified. Let's Be Loud!

When discussing the right to choose, we are not just referring to reproductive issues. Included is the right to decide for yourself how and when to die when faced with a terminal illness. Whether deciding for yourself or helping a loved one, end-of-life decisions are never easy. They are fraught with emotion and uncertainty. They require us to stare down our mortality and truly face the inevitable.

Many of you will remember Jack Kavorkian, a medical pathologist who advocated for assisted suicide for those diagnosed with terminal illnesses. He went to prison for 8 years for his troubles, having been convicted of second-degree murder following the passing of his last patient. As a result, at least in part, of Dr. Kavorkian’s efforts, Oregon became the first state to pass death with dignity legislation in 1997. Since then, 8 additional states have passed similar legislation, while many more have enacted laws expressly forbidding it.

Primarily, death with dignity legislation gives terminally ill patients the ability to request medication from their treating physician that ends their life in a humane and dignified manner at a time of their choosing. Most bills have a mandatory waiting period of anywhere from a couple of days to a few weeks, and several states have a residency requirement. Still, others require that the request for life-ending medication may only be made if the terminal illness is likely to cause death within a certain period (e.g., 6 months).

A 2006 Pew Research Center study states that most Americans support right-to-die legislation. As of 2020, more than 157,000,000 have a chronic disease. That is approximately one-half of the American population. And the reality is that we all are likely to know someone who has faced a terminal illness. Their life with the disease and their ultimate death may have been an agonizing ordeal for themselves and their loved ones. There has to be a better way. The good news is that there is another way, and we have the power to make it happen.

There are currently nine states with pending death with dignity legislation:

Connecticut HB 5487 and SB 1076; Florida SB 864; Indiana HB 1020; Iowa HF 533 and HF 612; Maryland SB 845 and HB 933; Massachusetts S 1331 and H 2246; MN SF 1813 and HF 1434 and 1930; NV SB 239; NY A 995 and S 2445; PA HB 543; RI H 2510 and S 126.

Montana currently has access to death with dignity options. Despite a 2009 supreme court opinion that found the practice of medical aid in dying was not against public policy, lawmakers have proposed legislation to take that right away and criminalize it.

In the state of Vermont, after waiving their residency requirements for an individual who lives in another state, lawmakers are considering doing away with that part of the law altogether. This would allow people who live elsewhere to take advantage of Vermont’s death with dignity options.

Each person deserves the right to decide for themselves when their terminal illness is too much. If you live in one of the states with pending legislation on dying with dignity, send the state to Resistbot to lobby your officials.

Not sure what to say? Sign on to this petition, or if you want to learn more, visit www.DeathwithDignity.com.

Thank you to Jason.

Theoretically, our judiciary should be apolitical—above the fray of politics. The reality, however, is that our courts have become as polarized as the electorate. Whether the judge is nominated, appointed, or elected, they reach the high courts as a result of either a democrat or republican having thrown their name into the ring. And judges are people just like you and me. They come to the bench with preconceived notions about the law and its role in our everyday lives. No matter how hard some may try, they inevitably view everything through the lens of their own lived experience and beliefs. And the decisions that the individual state supreme courts render have a genuine impact on the lives of Americans, no matter which state you call home.

Call it naivete or willful ignorance, but some of us genuinely did not believe that Roe would fall until it did. When the Dobbs’ opinion was issued, we found that it had almost nothing to do with the fact pattern in Roe other than it was an abortion case. The conservative majority on the U.S. Supreme Court disregarded this lack of substantive similarity and took advantage of the opportunity to overturn it along with Casey. But, as Chief Justice Roberts wrote in his separate concurring opinion, the Court went too far in overturning Roe. Dobbs is what happens when a court has been hungry to revisit a particular issue–they take whatever opportunity presents itself and run with it. And, now, each state is left to pick up the pieces. For Wisconsinites, abortion is yet again on the ballot in one of the most critical elections in the state’s history and the most important American election of 2023.

The Wisconsin state Supreme Court has had a conservative majority since 2008. But, on April 4th, the state’s electorate can end that stranglehold by filling the void left by the retirement of a conservative jurist, Patience Roggensack, with the Honorable Janet Protasiewicz. And, if the pending abortion amendment passes, the states’ 1849 law, which was held at bay by Roe, may yet again be the law of the land if the case challenging the law reaches the state supreme court and the conservative majority is still in place

“For 14 years, conservatives have controlled the Wisconsin Supreme Court, issuing decisions that upheld limits on unions, affirmed a voter ID law, expanded gun rights, curbed the powers of the Democratic governor, banned absentee ballot drop boxes, and established political districts that ensured Republican dominance in the state legislature.”
–WUWM 89.7 Wisconsin NPR

In addition to abortion, there are other issues on the ballot.

To appear tough on crime, Republican legislators have proposed an amendment to the state constitution surrounding the issue of cash bail in criminal proceedings. Currently, judges in most states can grant or deny bail to individuals facing criminal charges. In doing so, they must consider the current charges, the accused’s criminal history, and the likelihood that a defendant will remain local and appear for trial. This is entirely within the judge’s discretion as there is no hard and fast rule about who must remain in custody and who may be released pending trial. Often, a very high bail will be set to ensure compliance by the accused. Sounds pretty straightforward, right? Well, not so much. What happens with high bail requirements is that those most adversely affected by such a decision are people experiencing poverty. Even if the charges are minimal and relate to a non-violent crime, a bond of any amount can be an absolute roadblock to freedom for low-income individuals. And, given the number of cases in the state courts, and the process involved in bringing them to trial, the accused could be incarcerated for years as they wait for their day in court. This means that an innocent person can be held indefinitely without a finding of guilt which flies in the face of the presumption of innocence. The League of Women Voters recommends you vote “no” on this amendment.

Also on the ballot is a question of work requirements for those who receive state benefits. Currently, many individuals receiving tax-funded benefits in Wisconsin are required to “required to participate in work, or activities to help you get ready to work, in exchange for cash assistance.” And guess what? The outcome of this referendum will not affect current laws. Instead, Republican legislators are using it as a barometer to determine Wisconsinites' view on this topic by evoking the specter of the welfare queen and doing what white America has always done–concluding that the wrongful actions of one person of color automatically equates to the criminality of all people of color. The League of Women Voters also recommends voting “no” on this.

Voting has always been important. It may now be even more so as conservative legislatures and officials aim for just about every right we enjoy. We are here to help you with all things vote-related. Need to know where your polling location is? Text polls to 50409, and we will give you the place and directions to get there. Voter ID laws? Yep, we have them as well. Registration requirements? We have got you covered. Need other information? Text vote and take your pick from a list of options. Better, create a vote drive for your preferred candidate and work to turn others out to vote, just like you would get friends to sign a petition.

Get out and vote Wisconsin! The stakes have never been higher.

“We’re born naked. The rest is all drag.”
–Ru Paul

Let’s start with the lies. There are only two sexes. Genitalia is equal to gender. Sexuality is equivalent to gender. Hetero is the only sexuality that is normal. Gender identity is static over time. What you see on the outside reflects the inside. And everything else is deviant, abhorrent. Regarding many of our norms, what has “always been” is not always right or true. And “the way it has always been” has changed considerably over time.

In middle school, a best friend’s brother, Peter, was gay. He and a few of his friends were the first openly gay people I knew. And several of them were also drag queens. Peter performed as Melissa Manchester, and it was thrilling to watch his transformation. Using make-up and the thickest tights I have ever seen, Peter became a star. Although I did not realize it then, his impact on my life was significant. Knowing him helped to shape my views about homosexuality and was quite possibly the first step towards an inclusive mindset. No one in my life told me that being gay was wrong or that my love for Peter was misplaced. Peter was just Peter, and I loved him for exactly who he was. I was privileged to have known him and to be a part of his life.

Drag dates back more than 140 years to when, in the 1880s, William Dorsey Swann became the first individual to have claimed the moniker “drag queen.” Mr. Swann lived at the intersection of racism, homophobia, slavery, and the notion of true manhood. He was also the first leader of a queer resistance group and the first to take legal action to defend queer rights. Mr. Swann laid the foundation for modern drag and its inclusion in society. Since then, drag has become more mainstream, but not completely so. As with so many others, drag and those who engage in and partake of it are a segment of the population that continues to fight for recognition and acceptance.

Anti-trans legislatures are looking to ensnare all of what they deem subversive in its net and in opposition to the false narrative of what counts as normal. They are doing this by enacting laws that criminalize who we are as humans. As of February of this year, there were 12 states actively seeking to outlaw drag, with many looking to criminalize this community in more ways than ever before. For example, West Virginia’s SB252 would make it illegal for a transgender person to exist in front of minors. South Dakota’s HB1125 tries to hide its trans-phobia behind a call for the “protection of children from certain exhibitions’ by prohibiting “singing, speaking, dancing, acting, simulation, or pantomiming, where a performer, in a lewd and lascivious manner, and in the presence of others, exhibit a gender identity that is different from the performer's biological sex through the use of clothing, makeup, or other physical markers.”

The GOP does not have America's best interest at heart, and they certainly are not doing anything to protect our children. I am here to tell you that seeing a person in drag as a child did not harm me. It taught me that humanity comes in all different shapes, sizes, and colors and is beautiful in its own way. The protection that our children need is not from drag queens. They need protection from violence. At the same time that states are looking to enact anti-trans legislation, the party looks the other way as those same children are mowed down in their schools. In his interview with Oklahoma State Sen. Nathan Dahm (R), John Stewart said it best:

“[They] do not mind infringing free speech to protect children from this amorphous thing that [they] think of, but when it comes to children who have died, [they] don’t give a flying fuck.”

12,000,000 children across the country who go to bed hungry each night? Not a problem. 2,500,000 million children who do not have a roof over their heads? Meh, so what. Those are not the children they care about. The GOP likes to be seen as doing, but they do precious little to help the average American much less their children. Seriously. Their policies provide relief to almost none of their voters. That gigantic tax break that the previous administration enacted? It benefitted only those at the top of the financial food chain and did little if any good for the rest of us. They ignore that more than 60% of Americans (including many of their voters) agree that abortion should be legal. They want to raise the retirement age, wipeout social security for tens of millions of Americans who have no other source of income, as well as to deregulate industries which leads to problems as we have seen with the railroad and the inevitable deaths that come with throwing the rule book out the window.

Living in the land of the free should not come with a list of who can participate and who cannot and should not require each of us to blend in with the person standing next to us. Humanity is beautiful in all of its iterations. And, what is considered abnormal is just another version of who we can be given the freedom to which we are entitled.

If you live in one of the states looking to criminalize transgender individuals, send state to 50409 and lobby your officials to vote no on this harmful legislation. And, if you do not know what to say, take a look at what others in the Resistbot community are saying to their leadership by checking out these petitions:

• PFJRNH (National)
• PLCLDH (Missouri)
• POSJAC (Texas)

In March of 2017, shortly after sending the first texts to Congress on International Women’s Day, co-founder and Executive Director Jason Putorti made Resistbot’s intentions clear: “The voice of the product is for the liberals and conservatives in opposition to the Trump administration.” Six years, three conservative U.S. Supreme Court justices, and a new administration later, the work of resistance remains essential. Even without “that” president in office, the ham-fisted work of saying the bigoted part loud remains standard in political discourse. “The work” stretches beyond just replacing their guy with your guy. Pursuing democracy and equity relies heavily on advocacy and holding politicians accountable. Supporting progressive organizers, particularly those who hold the line when our politicians veer off course, is vital.

At Resistbot, we extend ourselves, ensuring organizers’ needs are met with innovation and tangible support. Petitions and vote drives highlighting the issues and candidates that resonate with you are not only sharable within your network but can also be promoted to a larger pool of Resistbot members. You can organize a campaign from your phone in less than ten minutes. Our monthly members (we love you) can also build followings. That means whoever counts on them to keep them aware of current events and bills that need our attention can be kept in the loop simply by typing follow and then the person’s user name. The goal here is simple: let’s help organizers organize.

Though primarily a chatbot, our focus in the last two years has been to define our voice, heart, and soul by building a more robust community. This growth gave us a podcast, thanks in no small part to the dedicated Resistbot volunteers Athena Fulay, Christine Lu, Susan Stutz, and producer Angel Barrera. Our social media presence is ever-evolving, and the first issue of our Substack newsletter launches this week, so subscribe to catch every issue. We are also hosting our first instructive workshop with activist Jess Craven on our Discord server at the end of the month.

This past year we learned in real time how many activists, advocates, and organizers were ready to act when Roe was threatened and ultimately overturned. Activists like Texan Helmi Henkin wasted no time. She was such an excellent repository for reproductive justice information she got the nickname “The Abortion Donation Link Fairy.” Lift Louisiana appears in front of the state legislature in my home state more than any other reproductive organization. Social worker and activist Vilissa Thompson and Robin Wilson-Beattie discussed how a lack of reproductive choice impacts disabled people, adding unnecessary difficulty. Three of the four activists I mentioned are in red states. For every piece of backward, bigoted legislation, activists in southern and other red states are fighting against it with hands and feet.

Leftover sentiment from the previous administration lingers, still pushing for a society that penalizes our trans, unhoused, and disabled communities for their existence. That makes our support as an organization and community members much more critical. We will continue highlighting and supporting grassroots organizers on the non-bigoted side of history.

Even with the change in administration, the need for Resistbot’s services and community engagement has not lessened. Arkansas is going full speed with the LEARNS Act, Iowa believes child labor needs a reboot, and Florida needs help getting Ron DeSantis to say his name backward and finally get sent to the fifth dimension. Culturally, we’re too close to book burnings for my liking. The heavy lifting can’t only fall on the most marginalized among us. We can’t wait for Gen Z to save us.

So join us. I promise you; your reps are listening.

Follow or subscribe, text monthly to 50409, and become a monthly donor. Remember to register for our upcoming workshops. And finally, don’t forget to share your favorite Resistbot memory with the hashtag #ResistbotAt6. Let’s get to work!

Some things in life are bad
They can really make you mad
Other things just make you swear and curse
When you're chewing on life's gristle
Don't grumble, give a whistle
And this'll help things turn out for the best
- Monty Python

I live in Florida and when election day 2022 came to a close, I worried about finding a way forward as a political activist in the red peninsula that is my home state. My goal became finding the little nuggets of victory from across the country that I could hold on to so that the results here would not feel quite so tragic and overwhelming.

As a rule, there are two things that do not happen here in Florida: democracy and winter. Or, so it seems at times. We have a Governor whose campaign slogan was “keep Florida free” as he actively took away a woman’s right to abortion and a family’s right to make medical decisions with their transgender children who want their outside to match their inside. The Sunshine State is also where Mom’s for Liberty, with the full support of the governor, is working to ban more than 250 books including those that would engender a discussion regarding race and its impact on our everyday lives and that have LGBTQ themes. Adding insult to injury, November 8, 2022, brought to an end Florida’s time as a swing state as we became what feels like an insurmountably deeper shade of red.

I will not say good things come to those that wait. Or, that democracy is a marathon, not a sprint. We have been waiting and running full out for more than 6 years–many of us have been fighting the good fight for many decades. I will, however, say this: the anticipated national red tide was a spotting, a trickle, a pink drip at best. And, while my own home state of Florida remained red, and may have become an even deeper shade of red than before, there were wins across the country of which we can all be proud.

Dr. Oz lost. Nuff’ said.

In 30 of our 50 states, election-denying candidates ran for various offices including Secretary of State with most having found rejection at the polls. Had they won, they would have had the ability to manipulate future election results. With election deniers at the helm, we could be looking at another Trump administration with little if any regard for the actual winner and no hope of fair elections in the future. And, there is little doubt that was their aim. For those individuals who do not share our values, gone are the days in which candidates ran and won on merit or because they were qualified to serve. For many, merit, ethics, and experience are of no concern as those lacking any of the necessary traits of leadership challenged incumbents and other more qualified candidates. Some of those races also had an ill effect on those down the ballot as voters of both parties made clear that conspiracy theorists are not welcome.

January 6th insurrectionists—57 individuals who played some role in the attack on the capitol—also ran for office, including those who face criminal charges for their actions. Thankfully, they too received a resounding “No thank you!” from voters. Intimidation efforts like those in Arizona were met with a rebuke by law enforcement and the federal courts. Candidates like Kristina Karamo from Michigan claimed election fraud and tried in vain to have the court stop absentee ballot counting in the days ahead of the election. Her lawsuit, however, went the way of the 65+ lawsuits filed by Trump lawyers in 2020 as it was rebuffed by a court that made swift work of her baseless allegations.

And, significantly, anti-abortion efforts were soundly rejected in several states that proposed to put even greater barriers before their constituents' right to the governance of their own bodies. CA, VT, and MI successfully proposed to amend their constitutions to insure a woman’s right to reproductive freedom. KY and MT met with failure as they tried to remove the right to abortion altogether and to criminalize physicians and others involved in the process. From NV came one of the biggest wins of all: the passage of "the most comprehensive state version of the Equal Rights Amendment in the nation."

Four days after the election, the best news of all came out. Despite the House still being up for grabs, the battle for the Senate came to an end. With the final call in NV for Catherine Cortez Masto as the winner, a Democratic Senate was confirmed and VP Harris will continue her role as tie-breaker. Even better, should Georgia’s Warnock prevail in next month’s run-off election, a tiebreaker will not be necessary. How is this a win for democracy, you ask? Well, let me tell you.

Remember SchoolHouse Rock? Sing it with me now - “I’m just a bill...and I’m sitting here on Capitol Hill!” Although the process is a bit more complicated than the cartoon of our youth suggests, the fundamentals remain. In order for any piece of legislation to make it to the Executive’s desk, it must get approval from both the House and the Senate. Without both arms of the legislative branch, nothing can prevail. And, while that scenario has its own inherent challenges, the positive takeaway is that legislation that furthers the far right's attack on democracy does not become law. And, for some who are looking for a positive nugget, it is enough. We take our wins where we can, and this is one of those moments.

Equally important–at least from this writer's perspective–is that federal judicial vacancies, of which there are 87 currently, will be filled by an executive and congress that is more in keeping with democratic values. Holding the Senate also means that if we lose a SCOTUS member before 2024, Biden will have the nomination. SCOTUS and federal bench appointments last a lifetime–literally–and have the potential to be the most impactful legacy of an administration. There are millions of cases filed each year in the state court system and upwards of 400,000 in the federal system. Each of those cases addresses a federal law or a constitutional provision. And, given that our rights are based upon the Constitution, those cases are of paramount importance to the American people as they can make new laws and break long-standing precedents. The Dobbs decision that overturned Roe is the poster child for how important these appointments can be.

So, while it feels as though some of our states have turned their back on democracy and genuine representation of their constituents, there was a lot of good news to be had from election day 2022. And, we will take those wins where we can and continue to work towards a more perfect union. There will be new faces and old alike in Congress this coming term, and new opportunities to lobby our legislators on a wide breadth of issues.

If you have something to say, whether that is lobbying for a particular outcome or just saying thank you, Resistbot is here to bridge the gap between you and the Hill. Check out our petitions page and see what members of the Resistbot community have to say.

Thank you Elena!

Come senators, congressmen, Please heed the call
Don't stand in the doorway, Don't block up the hall
For he that gets hurt, Will be he who has stalled
The battle outside ragin', Will soon shake your windows
And rattle your walls, For the times they are a-changin'
–Bob Dylan (1964)

I have lived in Florida for well over 40 years and have experienced more hurricanes than I care to remember. I was 10 years old when David came through in 1979 and while it was only a Category 2 storm at the time of landfall in Florida, it went across the Dominican Republic and the Lesser Antilles as a Category 5 storm. More than 2,000 people died and there was $1.5 billion in damages. I remember standing on my back porch and seeing my childhood friend coming down the street on his bike during the time the eye–and the blue skies within it–went over us. I learned how simultaneously devastating and eerily beautiful the weather could be. Since then, I have spent half of every year (June through November) watching the coast of Africa as storm after storm comes rolling off of her shores.

Since 1979, there have been over 150 hurricanes that have affected Florida, and every year, the fear is the same. Will it be another Andrew (1992)? Another Irma (2017)? Well, this year, those fears once again became reality as Ian, a mere 2 miles per hour shy of officially being designated a Category 5 storm, came thundering ashore on Florida’s gulf coast. Ian left a death toll of more than 100, an estimated $47 billion in damages, and may very well turn out to be the costliest storm in Florida’s history (almost double that of Andrew).

Every year, the Hurricane season gets more frightening as more and more storms become behemoths as they travel across the not-so-narrow seas. Watching them race across the oceans on television is one thing, living in them is quite another. You only need to experience one hurricane to understand how horrific it can be. And, thanks to humanity's ongoing disregard for the environment, those deadly storms are becoming the norm. Since 1979, there have been more than 500 tropical storms in the Atlantic. With a few exceptions, every year since 1995 has seen double-digit storm numbers with more than 50 in 2020 and 2021 alone. While not all of those became Category 5 storms, they do not have to be to wreak havoc.

It does not take a rocket scientist to understand that when we pollute the planet, there are inevitably going to be devastatingly negative consequences. There is no way around it–our behavior has brought destruction to our doorstep. We pollute our skies more and more which causes more heat to bear down on our polar caps, melting the ice which in turn raises sea levels. Increased sea levels threaten wildlife, farming capabilities, and our drinking water. Greenhouse gasses trap solar emissions, the heat from which ends up being stored in our ocean. These warmer waters feed the tropical storms that then grow into something terrifying.

It is obvious that we are still not doing enough to mitigate the damage we are doing to the environment. Despite the global conversation on climate change, greenhouse gasses continue to rise and damage continues to be done to the only home humanity has ever known. While Earth's current inhabitants will not be around when our planet has finally had enough of our antics, our descendants will suffer the consequences.

And, as if we needed any more signs that our legislators are uninterested in the citizens who live in the states most adversely affected by weather catastrophes, we need only look at what happened in recent weeks. A mere handful of days after watching what was essentially a Category 5 storm thrashing Florida’s west coast, the state’s GOP legislators voted against a bill that provided funding to FEMA. Florida Senators Rubio and Scott then insisted that the Federal Government do more–and do it quickly–for the state of Florida in response to Hurricane Ian. Adding insult to injury, Rubio did not even bother to show up for the vote on FEMA funding demonstrating once again how little he cares for the people he is tasked with representing. And, he does this while he is running for reelection. The arrogance is astounding.

In the politically charged atmosphere of 2022, it should come as no surprise that there are many candidates whose interests do not align with our own. And, when we vote for those who share different values, that vote can be one cast against our own self-interests. And, not just on the issue of climate change. Our vote has consequences for women’s rights, voting rights, and education to name but a few.

Many ignore the midterms, thinking them to be less important than presidential elections. But, as election day approaches, we need to remember that whoever is elected to the Senate will serve there for the next 6 years giving them ample time to either lift up this country or hasten its demise. Governors serve 4-year terms during which much damage can be done at the state level. It is much to consider when determining who we will vote for and why.

Climate change, women’s reproductive rights, individual sexual autonomy, voting rights, and more are on the ballot in November and voting is our only way of protecting these rights and our future.

Send vote to Resistbot to see everything the bot can do to help you not only vote, but volunteer, and get other voters to the polls. Brand new for this year: a brand new version of vote drives that allow you to create a drive for a candidate up-or-down ballot in just a few seconds, just like our petitions.

Want to let your representative know how you feel about the issue of climate change? Check out these petitions from the Resistbot community.

• President Biden: Declare a Climate Emergency
• The IPCC Report was Clear, We Need To Do More on Climate
• Climate Change is Here

Want to create your own petition? You can do so with any letter that you send to either your state or federal government. Just follow the prompts after sending your letter. We also have this handy guide for organizers.

Thank you to Elena and Chris E.

In 2011, I embarked on a path of education that would change my life. The first step was in a class called “Sex, Violence, and Hollywood,” the subject of which was the portrayal of women and violence across popular culture. It was the first time that I learned that my feelings about how women are presented in books, videos, movies, and virtually every other medium, were justified. That my unease with Hollywood’s incessant use of women as objects was valid and shared by many. That the connection between sex and violence, and the acceptability of both, was not a myth of my own making. How Hollywood’s unyielding portrayal of people of color in the most negative ways was by design. This enlightenment would ultimately become an irrevocably altered worldview. And, when I wrote about the world that I saw from this new perspective, I spoke of the scales that had fallen from my eyes, and the blinders that I no longer wore. What I was also saying is that I was awake. Wide awake. Woke. Quite possibly for the first time in my life.

But, what does it mean to be “woke”? Well, that depends on who you ask and when.

One of the earliest references to being “woke” is from 1923 when Marcus Garvey called upon people of color to become more socially and politically aware. To be mindful of the basic survival tactics that people of color must employ in order to survive. Literally. Since then, others have called upon the Black community to remain woke, and vigilant. In 2014, following the death of Michael Brown and the DOJ’s investigation into the Ferguson, Missouri Police Department, being “woke” meant being mindful of police brutality and unjust law enforcement actions against people of color. It was then that being woke became a part of the Black Lives Matter vernacular as the movement called for our country to open its eyes to the violence being committed against people and communities of color.

In today’s highly charged political landscape, woke has come to mean two very different things depending upon which side of the aisle you find yourself on. On the left, to be woke is to be socially aware and act as an advocate for change. On the right, being woke is political correctness gone too far. For those on the right, there is no need to shine a light on the deeds of the past. They like their narrative just the way it is–devoid of any wrongdoing on the part of the white hegemony that rules this nation. Take, for example, the legislation in Florida known as the Individual Freedom Act (IFA) m, a/k/a the Stop WOKE Act, that dictates the subjects that may and may not be discussed in our classrooms and by whom. The IFA is but one of the many steps Florida’s leadership has taken in order to quelch disagreeing voices. They would rather silence Floridians rather than allow this nation’s history to be seen for what it truly is–brutality and trauma against people of color at the hands of a hegemonic and violent ruling mob. The lawsuit brought by employers and consultants, which argues that the IFA bars speech not conduct (and the two things are vastly different in terms of their constitutional permissiveness), has resulted in a temporary injunction against the implementation of the legislation. In the words of the Honorable Mark E. Walker, Chief Judge of the United States District Court, Northern District of Florida, Tallahassee Division, ”if Florida truly believes we live in a post-racial society, then let it make its case. But it cannot win the argument by muzzling its opponents.” While legislation may be constitutional in prohibiting certain conduct, it is a very different perspective when it attempts to limit speech. The lawsuit over Florida’s legislation will take a while to conclude. But, when it does, it may very well set the tone for the rest of the country and the legions of individuals who believe in keeping things as they are instead of growing and reaching for the more perfect union that was the promise of this country.

And, Florida is not alone in its endeavor to silence the voices of the opposition. As of July of this year, 42 states have taken one step or another to restrict the teaching of Critical Race Theory (CRT) and/or the way educators may speak on the topics of oppression, as well as the books they may use in that effort. In one of the more surreal examples of this, there is a school in Texas that is named for George Dawson, a man of color who only learned to read and write at the ripe old age of 98. The Carroll Independent School District began to look at banning a chapter on lynching in the book about Mr. Dawson’s life when it was added to the syllabus by a 7th-grade journalism teacher at Dawson Middle School.

In the opening chapter of Life is so Good, Mr. Dawson recalls the experience of witnessing his friend being lynched following accusations of rape. The same school district that found Mr. Dawson’s name worthy of being attached to a school, now says that his experiences, specifically the lynching of his friend, are not appropriate for its journalism students. Ironic is it not? Perhaps Texas is employing a little of the cancel culture they decry in trying to gloss over its own history of lynching—more than 600 lynchings occurred between 1862 and 1945—by pretending that it is a subject too weighty for students. Make no mistake, lynching is an incredibly heavy topic, but it is our country’s history and no amount of whitewashing will change that. And, what lesson is taught to our future journalists when the class created in furtherance of the 1st Amendment also provides a lesson in lying? But, it does not end there. As recently as two weeks ago, a teacher in Oklahoma was fired due to her having provided a QR Code for the Brooklyn Public Library’s initiative to make books, including those that have been banned, available to students across the country.

Those who are against CRT and certain books lean into this idea that learning about our nation's violent past serves as a prejudicial ideological tool that causes today’s students to feel guilty about or responsible for actions in which they had no part. They claim that CRT teaches that people should be judged based on their gender, race, ethnicity, or national origin rather than the reality that people are judged based upon those factors through no fault of their own. They also say that it may lead to bad feelings on the part of those same students. One can only surmise that they are referring to the truth of our racial history instead of the whitewashed version upon which so many of us were reared. The idea that the Civil War was fought, Lincoln spoke, Reconstruction began, and all has been right ever since is one of the biggest lies ever told. But, told it must be in order to maintain the mirage that racism is a thing of a bye-gone era, long eradicated, and forgotten about.

Do I think I am responsible for the actions of my ancestors? No, I do not. Do I, or even should I, have a sense of guilt over their actions? No, I do not think I should. Do I feel bad because I am white? No, I do not. Do I believe that my privilege comes at the cost of someone else? Yes, I do. Do I have an obligation to eradicate oppression where and when I can? Yes, I do. It is not a multiple-choice quiz. What is right, is right. Those that continue to live with their head in the sand, or try to force us to look away and ignore the truth are accomplices to one of the greatest crimes ever committed. The GOP fails to realize that their willful refusal to ignore this country’s racist history does not alter the truth. Rather, it serves to shine a light even brighter on the atrocities we have committed against our own. How they do not see that is dumbfounding.

The divide between the races in America is not new nor is it a result of any one recent activity. It is a divide that is thousands of years in the making. The history of our country–really, the history of humanity–is centered on one group of individuals using institutions, laws, and violence in order to maintain control over another group. Every industry in this country has at its foundation a system of oppression against women and people of color. Main Street is paved with the blood of the oppressed. And, behind it all–whether it be in academics, finances, the environment, employment practices, or sports–is white, male privilege. Women and individuals of color are oppressed in order to allow white men to continue to control almost every aspect of our lives. If they further the lie that we are inherently inferior, they continue the lie that they are inherently superior. If they recognize our equality, they must also acknowledge the lengths they have gone to–and will continue to go to–in order to ignore and repress it.

The fact of the matter is that oppression is not a blue or red issue. It is a human issue that affects us all. We either feel its bite or its kiss. Regardless, we are all implicated. Every single one of us. And, those that have privilege also have a measure of responsibility to acknowledge it and work towards equal access for everyone. When one voice is ignored, it is incumbent upon the rest of us to make our own even louder. In doing so, we must also remember that it is a privilege to educate ourselves and speak on racism instead of living it.

Want to see more CRT in your schools? Want schools to stop banning books that teach our students to think critically? Send mayor/state/federal to 50409 and lobby your legislators to insist on an accurate representation of our country’s history. The good, the bad, and the ugly.

Save the date: Season Two of Resistbot Live arrives on September 25, 2022.

Thank you to Donna!

I feel like I have been running full speed ahead for 100 years. There has not been a break in my stride since mid-2015 and I am exhausted. Completely. Only I did not realize how much so until I stood still.

I remember election night 2016. Sitting with my twin sister in our matching pink Hilary T-shirts completely blown away by what was happening across the country. I recall the bloodshot tear-swollen eyes that looked back at me in the mirror the next morning. And, it does not take much effort to conjure up the nightmare that followed over the next 4 years. I have never needed a pensieve more.

When Biden won, I felt like I could finally breathe again. While I recognize that no one person would or will ever be able to solve all the problems we face as a nation, I believed that the horrors of the previous 4 years would be laid to rest. Or so I thought. There may be a friendlier face in the White House, but at the same time, we have witnessed just how infatuated with and devoted to its prior resident the GOP is.

I say all of the above to say this: we will never be able to completely solve every political problem. There are always going to be issues that we agree and disagree on. That is the nature of democracy—having a say and working towards a common goal, agreeing and compromising where and when we can. We will win some, we will lose some. And, in the midst of it all, we have to remember to take care of ourselves. The phrase, “we are in a marathon, not a sprint” is never more true than when it comes to politics and activism. Effecting significant change, in what often feels like baby steps, takes time and stamina.

There are 9.6 million members in our Resistbot community. We are here because we care about more than just ourselves. Even when a particular issue does not affect us personally, we have empathy and compassion for those who are impacted and we work on their behalf. We speak for those whose voices are marginalized and ignored; for those who lack the resources to advocate on their own behalf. That effort can be mentally and physically taxing. And, when the exhaustion hits you, you should pay heed to what your body and mind are telling you and take a mental health break.

Think about what brings you joy: taking a walk or a hike; finishing that book series you put down months or even years ago or starting a new one; turning off your notifications–all of them–and skipping the endless news cycle; having happy hour with your besties and talking about anything but politics or current events; participating in or watching your favorite sporting event; going to the movies and getting lost in an alternate universe; or, simply sitting still and breathing.

Remember, it is okay to say that you are not okay. Your mental health is just as important as your physical health. Maybe even more so. And, the addition of a global pandemic has not made things any easier. There is no shame in admitting that what we see every day across the world is sometimes hard to bear and maybe even more difficult for some than it is for others. If you need more relief than a brief respite may offer, reach out to your mental health provider for guidance. If you do not have one, check out the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), National Institute of Mental Health, or MentalHealth.gov. All three of these sites can help you find resources in your area. And, chances are that your state has additional resources on its individual website. For example, if you live in Florida, you can check out MyFLFamilies.com, and residents of California can find help on the website for Health Care Services. Please do not let hitting the wall be the first time you notice that you need help or just a break. We also have a Mutual Aid keyword ready to help you find people to connect with in your community.

And, when you are ready to pick up the mantle once more, you can count on us to be here.

The top issues members are working on are always available on our trending petition page, have a look, and sign the ones that speak to you. The Resistbot app will also show these and allow you to more quickly invite your friends to sign.

Have time on your hands that you could use to lend a hand in your neck of the woods? Send volunteer to find phone banks, canvassing events, and other volunteer opportunities, such as postcard writing campaigns, where you live.

Feel free to check out all of our other keywords and, as always, when you have something to say, use mayor, state or federal to let your thumbs do the talking.

We are here to support your activism!

When Shakespeare published Macbeth in the early 1600s, the line “something wicked this way comes” referred to the monster that Macbeth had become. Drunk on the prospect of unlimited power, Macbeth takes into his own hands the outcome of predictions made to him by three witches by killing the reigning king to be king himself. As his power is usurped, Macbeth’s tenous reign can only be maintained through brutality and oppression. Fast forward 400 years, and much the same can be said about the lengths white men are willing to go to hold on to the reins of power.

In Dobbs, the opinion overturning both Roe and Casey, the Court has again demonstrated how the usurped privilege of white men is maintained, and how their need to control this country is accomplished by relegating women and people of color to the back alley. Those with power can rule the world, and the idea that a woman or person of color can enjoy any measure of liberty does not sit well with those who believe it is only their opinion that matters.

I, and millions of others capable of bearing children, have lived for 50 years secure in the knowledge that we have the final word over what happens to our bodies, and the decision to have children could only be made by us. When states put roadblocks in our way, Roe was the bulldozer that flattened them. Until June 24, 2022. Until Dobbs.

We have also lived these past fifty years knowing that the fight for women’s autonomy has not ended. To those who haunt the halls of power, there is only room for one form of humanity at the pinnacle. White, wealthy men have been there since the beginning, climbing there on the backs of women and people of color. Justice Alito’s majority opinion in Dobbs reifies this unearned privilege and reminds us that the perspective of white men is, and always has been, the only one that counts. They can’t maintain hegemony by becoming equals.

There are only two ways to view our Constitution and the rights enshrined therein: one with an eye toward the intervening 240 years, recognizing how society in America has evolved, and applying the legal concepts developed in the mid-1700s to the conflicts of today. The other is a strict constructionist perspective that dictates it must be interpreted as written. Generally, this means using the sight of the “founding fathers” together with what their words meant to them on the day the Constitution was written and ratified.

The phrase “all men are created equal” illustrates this idea perfectly. In this phrase, “men” is not used in the same way it is today: to reflect all of mankind. And, because of the Three-fifths Compromise—enacted one year before ratification—men and women of color were not considered fully-formed people at all; the phrase means exactly what it says—all men are created equal–all white, wealthy, land-owning, men.

Because of Judge Alito’s leaked draft opinion, we already knew justification for the Court’s decision harkens back to the 13th century. What is also clear, now that we have the concurring (Roberts, Thomas, Kavanaugh) and dissenting (Sotomayor, Kagan, Breyer) opinions, is that reproductive healthcare is not the only fundamental right that may have a date with the executioner.

Whereas Roberts and Kavanaugh manage to restrain themselves to the issue before the Court, Thomas’ separate concurring opinion is a harbinger of horrible things to come. According to Thomas, SCOTUS should “reconsider all of [the] Court’s substantive due process precedents, including Griswold [right to protection against state interference when it comes to contraception]. Lawrence [right to privacy of intimate relations for same-sex couples], and Obergefell [marriage equality for same-sex couples]. Thomas goes on to say, “[a]fter overruling these demonstrably erroneous decisions, the question would remain whether other constitutional provisions guarantee the myriad of rights that our substantive due process cases have generated” (emphasis mine). Thomas calls into question a whole host of cases decided using the due process clause of the Fifth Amendment (due process a the federal level) and the 14th Amendment (application of the Fifth Amendment to the states). To be sure, not all cases that were decided relied on substantive due process will result in the same opinion without those amendments.

Ironically, Thomas does not mention the 14th Amendment case that directly impacts him: Loving v. Virginia, a 1967 case on interracial marriage. But for Loving, Justice Thomas would not have been permitted to marry either of his two wives. Because, if we were to take a strict constructionist view and dismiss substantive due process, people of color have never been, nor will they ever be, entitled to the fruits of democracy.

Hegemonic masculinity is the monster created by the formation of the United States. Our founding documents shore up the narrative, as men like Alito have wielded power to say what is acceptable and by whom: what we do in the privacy of our own homes, decisions we make with our families, and who we get to love. They have held the gavel on extending fundamental rights to everyone, not just the men in the mirror.

If cases decided on substantive due process were reversed, hard-fought rights that women and people of color have managed to gain since our country’s founding could face significant obstacles. Voting rights, access to birth control, interracial marriage, and same-sex marriage are all on the chopping block if Thomas’ suggestion is taken up in earnest.

We can’t allow it to happen.

Macbeth paid the ultimate price for his hubris. If we do not have a governing body that resembles and reflects the country’s make-up, women and people of color will continue to pay the price by losing the recognition that we are the people.

And, let’s face it, voting doesn’t entirely solve this problem. Yes, we need to vote for legislators to share our values and encourage one or more of the 80 million people who didn’t vote for President in 2020. But we also need to rethink the power structures in this country. Do we need justices to have lifelong terms? Should appointments to our highest court rotate, and on what timeline? Should we choose jurists in the same way that we choose our representatives? What as a country can we do about a court that so blatantly disregards its rulings? Our country has changed a lot in 240 years. Gone are the days when only white men should hold power. In 2016 we saw an incoming Congress that resembled us more than ever. That needs to continue, and it only happens when we start having a new conversation.

So, what can we do?

For starters, we can join the members of our community by signing on to their petitions:

• Roe is gone. Expand the Supreme Court before we lose all of our other rights!
• Roe v. Wade
• Codify Roe vs. Wade
• Protect Roe v. Wade
• Day 30 of Writing Until Roe v. Wade is Codified

And more are being started every day.

If none of these strike the right chord, start your own by sending state congress or president to 50409. You can then share it or turn it into a petition if you like.

Send court to 50409 to send a letter to the Supreme Court.

Send run to see a list of offices you can run for.

And don’t forget to support local organizations such as the ones on this list created by our friend, Helmi Helkin, which assist those who need reproductive healthcare but do not have the means to access it.

Thanks to Elena and Chris E.

Roe was decided in 1973. I was five years old.

I did not grow up politically aware, but as I came of age, I knew that my body is my own–I am the only one who gets to decide what happens to it. That I am, we are, more than incubators. All of my reproductive years were lived with the certainty that the right to decide for myself whether or not to have a child was secure and that my reproductive rights were protected no matter how many blockades my state tried to erect. I marched, I donated, and I believed—believe—in the inalienable autonomy of women.

Call it naïveté. Wishful thinking. Hell, call it stupidity. But, deep down, I never really believed that Roe would fall. But it has.

Although the case before SCOTUS concerns Mississippi’s Gestation Age Act, other than a brief mention at the beginning of the draft, there is almost nothing else about it in the entirety of the opinion. Rather, Alito spends a considerable portion of the first 68 pages (the remaining 30 pages of the draft are an index) blathering on about what the abortion laws were in the US in the mid-1800s when the 14th Amendment was ratified. You know, when women were chattel and not permitted to have an independent thought in their little heads for anything other than child-bearing and rearing, housekeeping, and unquestioningly obeying the men in their lives. Ah, those were the days.

Alito even goes so far as to harken back to a treatise written in the 13th century by Henry de Bracton, which declared that harm to a pregnant person by either violence or poison might be considered homicide if the fetus dies. The treatise also states unequivocally that women are inferior to men. Let us think about that for a moment–the United States Supreme Court is fashioning an opinion in the year 2022, at least in part, around words written in the 1200s.

Alito also argues that there is no precedent for the right to an abortion. What he next offers is a list of cases wherein SCOTUS has opined the very opposite when it comes to an individual's right to make their own medical decisions. Take, for example, Turner v. Safley (1987) and the right to obtain contraception; Meyer v. Nebraska (1923) and the right not to be sterilized without consent; Skinner v. Oklahoma (1942) and the right not to be subjected to involuntary surgery. As with these cases, whether or not to have an abortion is a medical decision, no matter how much the anti-choice side wants to say otherwise, and it deserves recognition.

And, because our nation’s history is not replete with examples of protecting a women’s right to an abortion, coupled with the fact that our Constitution does not have the word abortion in it, according to Alito, that right has never been ours. And, true to the misogynist’s handbook, he refuses to give any agency to child-bearing individuals who are at the center of this issue until the last pages of the opinion when he states (and I paraphrase) that if we do not like it, we can run for office and/or exercise our voting privilege. These electing officials will not enact legislation that takes away our rights. In an age of the most prolific gerrymandering attempts (and successes) in our nation's history, SCOTUS’ answer is to tell us to vote. Not that women have an inalienable right to autonomy. Not that women are to be seen and heard. Not that women were not made to live in the shadow of the men in their lives. Not that we deserve to make our own decisions. What it does say is that only women have a responsibility to change the tide against women–the men in power have no obligation to respect us and take steps to protect our rights. That upon the throne from which old, white men rule the world, there is no place for women. None. Zip. Nada.

It is clear, to even the most novice of SCOTUS opinion readers, that the current overly conservative Court aimed to wait for an abortion case—any abortion case–regardless of its facts or its relation to Roe to undo a woman’s right to the governance of her own body. Alito even goes so far as to say, “a state’s regulation of abortion is not a sex-based classification and is thus not subject to the ‘heightened scrutiny’ that applies to such classification.” Really? When have you ever met a genetically male individual who was able to have an abortion? Our reproductive systems are at the very core of what separates us. There is nothing else that women can do but that men cannot. If any issue deserves such a classification, reproductive rights are it.

It is hard not to be devastated. Not to tear my hair out by the roots at the sheer madness of it all. Not to scream until the world around me implodes. My blood boils as I write. In 2022, women still do not have the agency afforded to men—control over our bodies. As a species, seven nations have gone to the moon, 12 individuals have walked on it, and every day, we come closer to realizing a (hu)manned mission to Mars. We carry mini-computers in our pockets; we work for countries around the globe from the comfort of our American living rooms; we have super-computers that capture the entire internet every few days; we have sequenced the human genome; and, yet, women still do not have the fundamental right to say what happens to their bodies. Alito’s draft relies on the fact that because women have never been in control of their bodies, we do not deserve to be so now. He might as well have written, “it has always been this way,” and called it a day. In the 60,000 years since humanity left the African continent, women remain an object to be played with by men in glass houses.

I have spent 30 years in Florida’s legal system and have seen the Court from many perspectives (although I am not an attorney). I have read more state and federal court opinions than I can shake a stick at. I recognize that there must be an end. That there has to be a final word. If no entity were permitted to make the final decision, chaos would reign supreme all day, every day. But, what Alito’s draft also demonstrates, is the unmitigated danger of being the one to have the last word. If the draft becomes the official opinion, there is nowhere left for women to go besides their state legislators. Add to the mix that at least 13 states are classified as having trigger laws, which means they are poised to outlaw abortion in all respects once Roe has officially been overturned and options become extremely limited. There are also at least ten additional states set to enact even more stringent restrictions than they already have.

But, here is the rub in all of this. Outlawing abortion will never end abortion. It will only end safe abortions for those not privileged enough to be able to afford to take time off of work and travel to states which recognize reproductive rights. Throughout humanity’s history, women have always found a way to terminate a pregnancy regardless of its legality. What Alito’s draft means for those of us who face this dilemma every day is that they must now factor in the very real prospect of their death as a result of a botched back-office procedure. Abortion is healthcare, and it will never go away. But, countless women will die due to the dismantling of Roe. And the hardest hit will be women of color and those of little means. Once again, there is a reification of America's class system by the drawing of lines between the haves and the have-nots over the issue of reproductive healthcare.

So, what can we do?

For starters, we can lobby our officials to recognize the autonomy of women and child-bearing individuals. The House already codified women's rights in the Women's Health Protection Act, but it can't defeat the Senate filibuster, having fallen 49-51 (with Joe Manchin also voting no.) Send state or senate to 50409 and send a letter to your legislators. You can then turn that letter into a petition which you can share with friends and families and put on your social media platforms for even more attention.

We also have several petitions that have been written by individuals just like you and me that you can sign on to and share:

• Codify Roe v. Wade
• Congress Needs to Codify our Right to Abortion and Expand SCOTUS Now
• Roe v. Wade Overturn (targets the Supreme Court)

With Resistbot, you can now write directly to the Supreme Court. Send court to do it now. Also, take a look at John Macgregor, who's been using TikTok and his Resistbot page to drive a new letter each day to elected officials on the subject.

We can go a step further and take Alito up on his suggestion to run for office. There are thousands of seats out there that would benefit from having a pro-choice candidate. Text run to 50409, and the bot will provide you with a list of potential seats collated by the folks at Run for Something.

Continue to support Planned Parenthood which is our country’s leading provider of reproductive healthcare.

And we can donate to organizations that provide financial resources to those that need abortion healthcare but that do not have how to obtain it. Our friend, Helmi Helkin, has created a website that lists this type of organization in every state. If you missed it, you can watch or listen to the May 8th episode of Resistbot Live, where we discussed reproductive rights.

For those interested in legal non-fiction, Becoming Justice Blackmun, written by Linda Greenhouse (Pulitzer Prize winner and former N.Y. Times Supreme Court correspondent), offers a fascinating inside look at the Court when Roe was decided, highlighting Justice Blackmun’s journey to becoming the author of one of the inarguably most important decisions ever to be handed down by our highest court.

Thanks to Ty B.

My home is my castle. My sanctuary. In my home, I am safe from the conflict that engulfs our country and our world. I am one of the lucky ones. And, chances are, so are you. But, the same cannot be said for an estimated 500,000+ Americans who have no home to go to on any given night. Of that number, approximately 65% are lucky enough to find a bed in a shelter; however, the remaining 35% must find shelter where they can, which generally means a sidewalk, an abandoned vehicle or building, or a park bench. And, as with most social challenges, people of color and indigenous people are the hardest hit as a result of the blockades that exist in academia, the housing market, employment opportunities, as well as the inequities in our court systems.

Some of the reasons underlying the unhoused problem in our country include the fallout from natural disasters, lack of access to medical care, mental health challenges that go undiagnosed and untreated, drug addiction, and the barriers to employment that pays a wage that people can actually live on. And, then there is the fact that even if you are employed, the majority of Americans live paycheck to paycheck with little or no savings to fall back on. This means that 165,000,000 people may be one unanticipated hardship away from finding themselves without a roof over their heads or food in their stomachs. And, while the lack of shelter and food are the most important aspects of being homeless, there are other consequences that most people do not think of and that we take for granted. These include a lack of sanitary products for persons with menstrual cycles and limited or no access to clean water. Potable water is life. Without it, we die. Period.

There does not seem to be a consensus on how much money it would actually take to eliminate this crisis in our country; however, there are things that we can do individually or through larger groups to lend a hand where and when we can. Consider donating to a local shelter or food bank. If you do not have extra money but do have time, consider volunteering.

And, there are also actions that we can take that do not cost anything. First, we can think about the language that we use when discussing this issue. “The word homeless has become inseparable from a “toxic narrative” that blames and demonizes people who are unhoused.” Words matter and the ones that we choose to have the potential to further demonize individuals, reify ugly narratives, and add to the challenges that already exist. Second, we can remember that the person on the street could just as easily be me or you. No matter the reason one finds themselves unhoused, they are still human beings worthy of respect and compassion. Simply making eye contact and acknowledging them instead of looking away goes a long way toward seeing their humanity and being empathetic.

According to the folks at The Right to Shower here are some other ways to help:

Make cards to promote nearby shelters. Find out who’s doing ground-level services for the unhoused in your backyard and familiarize yourself with their locations and any special populations they serve. Then make small cards with their contact info and offer them to people you meet who are living without shelter.

Donate clothes, especially socks. Shelters are always in need of new and gently used clothes, especially personal hygiene items and socks. Share on social media that you’re making the donation and volunteer to bring over any items that others chip in.

Volunteer your time. Most shelters or service organizations will welcome your on-hand assistance, and in many cases, they have staff members who cultivate volunteer relationships. Be honest about what you’re capable of, whether it’s one event or a regular shift at the shelter.

Fundraise. With social media and crowd-funding options like GoFundMe, it’s never been easier to solicit support for an organization or a cause. Don’t underestimate the power of in-person communal events like bake sales and school campaigns, though.

Participate in your city’s Point-in-Time count. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) funds networks of unhoused-serving agencies (called “continuums of care” or CoCs) in many cities. CoCs are required to conduct annual or biennial Point-in-Time Counts, where volunteer teams spread out across the city and perform a headcount of the unhoused individuals. That number then becomes an essential data point as HUD decides future funding levels.

Remember the younger unhoused. Unaccompanied teens experience the crisis of being unhoused much differently than adults do, and a different network of services addresses their specific needs. Take the time to learn about the youth shelters and unhoused-services organizations in your region, and see what kinds of donations and volunteer efforts they need as well.

Research your local candidates. Politicians can dictate your community or city’s policies and funding levels for community services and affordable housing. Take the time to learn candidates’ positions and proposed solutions and the issues that lead to them, and support those who echo your values. And, if your legislators do not share those values with you, you can lobby them to take a more compassionate approach.

You can also join others in signing this petition calling for funding to provide more community resources to support those who are unhoused.

And, if this petition does not strike the right chord for you, send mayor state governor to 50409 to send a letter to your representatives encouraging them to take steps to eliminate the unhoused crisis in your community. And, after you have sent your letter, you can turn it into a petition that you can then invite family and friends to sign.

You can also tune in to Resistbot Live on Sunday, April 24 at 1:00 p.m. on YouTube and join the conversation on the unhoused crisis in America.

In 1971, Coke released its “I Would Like to Buy the World a Coke” commercial. It was an ad born of a communal sense of frustration with the Vietnam War and was meant to show how together, we can realize a more peaceful global community. The Coke commercial included people of every color, shape, and size in a time when other companies such as McDonald’s were airing ads that included discriminatory stereotypes of people of color to sell their products. Coke’s ad stood out in a way that others did not–it was a positive portrayal, not one that furthered racist ideology. Since then, one company after another has used advertising to portray a sense of community awareness in an effort to sell more products. One of the more famous examples is Colin Kaepernick’s Nike “Just Do It” campaign which added fire to the discussions about racism and inclusion and their role in the sports world that ostracized one of its best because of his desire for a world that is truly equal, not one where it is only paid lip service.

For many years now, we have seen business after business talk about making their organizations more diverse, inclusive, and equitable. Commercials now include people who look a lot more like the faces of actual Americans as opposed to the standard heteronormative, caucasian perspective that has ruled popular culture for centuries. Additionally, many of the largest companies are hiring individuals whose primary function is to implement diversity, equity, and inclusivity (DEI) into their culture. But, what happens when those companies embark on endeavors that have the potential to richly benefit communities of color, bringing with them thousands of jobs and an influx of money? What happens to diversity then? Look no further than the city of Mason, Tennessee.

Mason City was created in 1855 on land donated by a planter named James Mason for use as a train depot and sidetracks of the Memphis and Ohio Railroad. More than half of its population is Black, which includes descendants of slaves who lived in the area before emancipation. Early on, Mason was popular with surrounding communities of color whose residents visited its nightclubs which did not have the restrictions of clubs in other areas. Since then, residents and businesses have come and gone as have the city’s officials who have been predominantly White. In 2015, almost all of the city’s White administration resigned following allegations of fraud and embezzlement, leaving the city $500,000 in debt. Since then, the predominantly Black and Democratic residents of Mason have elected Black officials across the board. And, they have been working to dig the city out of the disastrous financial situation left behind by its prior administration.

In September of 2021, Ford announced BlueOval City which is set to open in 2025 and will be the site of their newest electric truck and battery plant. One of the largest manufacturing ventures in Ford and Tennessee's history, it is but a few miles from Mason’s city limits and is expected to employ tens of thousands of construction workers beginning this summer. Once completed, the plant will provide an estimated 22,000 permanent jobs as well as pour millions of tax dollars into the community which will benefit other local businesses and their residents. Mason City is but one of the local areas that look to benefit financially from the plant but Tennessee’s conservative White officials are not interested in letting that happen.

Earlier this month, in an unprecedented move, Tennessee’s Comptroller, Jason Mumpower, sent a letter to all of Mason’s residents telling them that the City needs to relinquish its 155-year-old Charter. If it does not do so, the State would step in and the City would come under the control of GOP-led Tipton County. Mumpowers’ letter implies that Mason will only benefit from BlueOval if they relinquish their Charter but conveniently does not say how that would work. Nor does Mumpower say what steps the City would need to take in order to regain its Charter. It is hard to argue that this is not a hostile takeover by a governing body that has dollar signs for pupils and who believes that they can simply run over the communities of color that stand in their way.

Why now? Why did Mumpower and company not step in when the prior administration embezzled hundreds of thousands of dollars from its coffers? Is the timing just a coincidence? That is unlikely. Instead, as is the way in most politics, the State has laid the responsibility of the prior bad deeds of the city’s mostly White administration at the feet of the Black individuals currently in office. And, as has been the norm since America’s founding, the prospect of successful Black communities rattles the cages of White conservatives who often view the success of the “Other” as a detriment to their own prosperity. Mason City and BlueOval City are no different. The false narrative that Black success means less for Whites looms large in the minds of this country’s White population—some of whom will go to great lengths to keep that from happening. Even if that means dismantling a city that has existed for more than 150 years so that the success of the automotive plant, its workers, and surrounding communities do not benefit everyone.

There has been a lot of conversation about race and the institutions that are built on and benefit from it in recent years. For the White population who sees itself as superior to everyone else, that conversation has centered around the idea that this country’s racist history is unimportant and no longer a problem for modern America. One need only look at what is happening in Mason City to know the truth. Racism is alive and well in this country and its effects, although different, are felt as much today as in years past. It has been said before and will continue to be said in the future, it is long past time for this country to confront its racial history and look to make amends. It is the only way we will ever get close to fulfilling the promise of what we can become as a nation.

Grab Episode 24 of Resistbot Live and listen as we take a closer look at this issue. And as always, we are here to help you reach out to your officials on the issues that are most important to you. Send resist to 50409 and reach out to your local and state legislature on this topic or any other.

“Behind every successful man is a strong woman.” Blah, blah, blah. While Resistbot may be the brainchild of men, the women here are not sitting idly by while the men do all of the work. We are right out in front and damn proud to be there.

Women have been at the heart of activism going back to North America’s earliest days when Iroquois women used non-violent resistance to protest against war declarations. Women of color, whose very lives place them at the intersection of many different forms of oppression, have been at the forefront of the racial and gender equality movement. In fact, according to research done by Harvard political scientist Erica Chenoweth, as a result of a “keen sense of the best tools to use to bring about social change,” having women as part of the movement of change makes those efforts more successful than they would otherwise be. The movement to amplify America’s voice has been no different.

For the most part, all of us here at Resistbot started as users and, through one avenue or another, came to be volunteers for one of the best activist tools there is. And, while some of Resistbot’s earliest volunteers have moved on to other avenues of volunteerism, I am proud to introduce you to some of the remarkable women who were there at the beginning and who have been volunteering for several years now, as well as a few who are new to the team.

Donna Lamb

“I first used Resistbot in the summer of 2017. I had never written to my representatives before but was thrilled to find “a bot for the rest of us” that was so easy to use from my phone. When I heard they wanted volunteers, I was about to retire from a career in corporate IT, so I quickly applied. I had no idea how I could help but was eager to get involved somehow. I was mad every day at something the previous administration was doing, so I had to do something.

When I did not hear back in a week, I wrote again to say it was clear they needed help handling volunteers, so call me for heaven’s sake. Jason Putorti, the Executive Director of Resistbot, responded, and soon I was running the volunteer onboard process. At the time, there were about 10-15 new volunteers per week. I would also follow up with the volunteers to make sure they were finding their way in how best to help. At the time, there were about 10-15 new volunteers per week.

Over the next year or two, I worked on letters to the editor. In the beginning, these were Resistbot messages routed to a Slack channel, at which point a volunteer would search for the closest newspaper with a website submission form, tag the message, and move on to another. It was not a very efficient process. And, there was no way to know if a submission was published. So I set up a database of newspapers with links to their submission forms and redesigned the workflow with Gmail magic built by Lisa. I then coaxed the Resistbot developers to build and automate a U.S. map to show where our letters had been published; it’s a great source of pride for those whose letters are reflected there. It was satisfying to help users speak up in their communities and thrilling to watch Resistbot’s work reaching out across the whole country. It was also rewarding to lead a revolving team of 5 to 10 non-technical volunteers to find more ways to #resist.

Though worsening eyesight has limited my ability to do computer work, I have stayed connected to the team and am always looking for new ways to engage. Resistbot has been a lifeline for many like me who felt too helpless, too busy, or just too shy about letting elected representatives know what they want from their government.”

Elena Arena

“When Trump was elected, I knew our world had changed. My physical well-being depended on expending enormous amounts of energy on positive rather than negative action (though protest rallies are a great outlet for shouting). Resistbot offered a good way to level the playing field of lobbyists versus citizens by delivering and amplifying the will of the people.

On November 20, 2017, at the request of one of our users, I submitted a letter to the editor of Cumberland-Times News in Maryland. It was the first task I ever did as a volunteer, and I have been there ever since, submitting more than 4,600 user letters to hundreds of newspapers across all fifty states. I also began leaving Resistbot stickers in train stations in and around New York City so folks could find Resistbot and know how to use it. Yes, even the people at City Hall in New York City needed to know.

Each day I work a few hours on any project that needs doing. One of my favorites is loading the database with names and contact information for the mayors in each city where we have users. I checked every zip code of every user and researched who their mayor is as well as their contact information. Not all of our users have mayors but if they do, it is on our list. I will keep this list updated as necessary.

Other projects that have kept me sane have been reaching out to all Pennsylvania Democratic Clubs to talk them through the advantages of Resistbot for organizing; attending various political events as a representative of Resistbot with videos and posters; and, helping with the research for our covid keyword, looking at regulations and changes as they happened for each state.

When I retired, instead of holding babies or working with food pantries, I became a volunteer with Resistbot. They have empowered me to help people to be heard—there is nothing better than that.”

Jen Roth

“I began working with the Letters to the Editor team in 2017 in response to a call for volunteers on Twitter. I had a full-time job and a young child, so I welcomed a chance to contribute to the Resistbot project from wherever I was, whenever I could spare a little time. I love that we’re helping our users get their ideas heard not only by their elected officials but by their communities as well.

Lisa

“I’m not positive how I initially found out about Resistbot, but it was most likely something posted on Twitter. In June 2017, I started using the bot and ran into some trouble. I reached out to support via text, and someone named Jen replied. She and I spent some time running some tests to figure out the source of my troubles. I asked Jen if Resistbot needed any support help (I’m an engineer, but wasn’t ready to jump right into that). She said she would have Jason contact me. It turns out that they were pretty swamped with user questions and support requests since they didn’t have anyone dedicated to it. At the time, it was just him and Jen who were both working on design and coding. I came on board and quickly realized that there was a lot that I could help with!

I mostly did user support (which is interesting, to say the least) but it evolved into doing some design and coding of the texting flows on the front end, including Get Out The Vote design and support (I have literally helped users while they were voting—it was crazy!) I also ended up creating an expansive spam and profanity filter. I also set up the Letters to the Editor system, although I didn’t edit or submit letters. I moved on to other projects in December 2020, but I still use the bot quite often.”

Athena Fulay

Our boots on the ground and precinct captain in Washington, D.C., Athena has had the distinct pleasure of hand-delivering tens of thousands of user letters to members of Congress and live streaming it all at the same time. She helped save the ACA by inundating Capitol Hill with stories and letters from Americans. Always ready to offer intelligent political insight from years of organizing, Athena is also an invaluable and regular contributor to Resistbot Live.

Christine Lu

Another member of Resistbot Live is Christine, who is in the unique position of having been friends with Resistbot’s Executive Director for well over a decade. Early on, she joined the podcast, offering an insightful international perspective on various topics. Through Christine, Resistbot Live can bridge the gap between America and other countries, giving listeners a glimpse of how the outside world sees us and our country and how our actions impact others around the globe.

Melanie Dione

Melanie joined Resistbot Live in the early days, bringing with her a connection to the world of social media. Melanie’s significant breadth of experience and knowledge have made the conversations on what can be difficult topics far richer than they may otherwise have been. Tasked with handling the live interaction between the podcast and its viewers, Melanie’s snarky humor won the day. And when we decided that women would lead the podcast, she was chosen to become the full-time moderator. Melanie’s significant breadth of experience and knowledge have made the conversations on what can be difficult topics far richer than they may otherwise have been.

There have been many more women who have volunteered and contributed in many different ways. We have the image of Rosie thanks to a young lady by the name of Carrie, who is a product and visual designer. One of Resistbot’s original volunteers was Jen Aprahamian, who did significant work on the tech side when Resistbot was a mere babe in the woods. A lot of work with Amazon lambda functions, many still in use, was performed by Hannah. And the Resistbot Live all-girl band is rounded out by Angel Barrera, who handles all of the behind-the-curtain work that helps make the podcast run so smoothly. Naomi managed the letters to the editor project for four years and kept track of all the statistics for submitted and published letters. Ali Lynne converted our original website content into a format we could use in a more modern content management system. Isabelle updated the map on our website to reflect letters to the editor before it became an automated process. Anne Elizabeth created the portion of our site that allowed for the blog articles to be accessible from the homepage and tested for accessibility; Moriah added several website utilities that ensure that our data is correct as it flows through the website. Christine helped to solve some problems with date ranges in our data reporting systems. Beth and Kate started doing integration testing and QA engineering before the bot even went live. Liz architected our initial text-to-fax service. Kelly did our earliest conversational flows, and there are so many more. Resistbot has had almost 900 volunteers come through the doors since it started.

And then there is me, Susan: I began using Resistbot in May 2017 and became a volunteer in November of that same year. I initially worked on submitting user letters to their local newspapers. From there, I did state-by-state research on everything vote-related and the database I created would become a significant source of information connected to our vote keyword. I also did research that would be used to support our COVID keyword. We provided everything that we could find including what states had shut down, what businesses were operating and how, whether or not court appearances had been canceled or rescheduled, and how to apply for benefits including food stamps and public assistance. I wrote my first article for our policy blog in November 2018 and I have been writing for us ever since. And, in September of last year, I was the first female member of what has become the best all-girl band in town–our podcast, Resistbot Live.

From 2017 through the end of 2019, my identical twin sister, Paula Albright, and I would travel the state of Florida, visiting democratic groups all over the Sunshine State to teach them how to use Resistbot. Together we gave hands-on lessons to countless activists, old and young alike, so they too could use the “bot” to reach out to their legislators. We hosted tables at FDP conventions and spoke to every caucus that would give us two minutes to show them how in just two minutes, they could speak their minds and have their voices heard. In addition to spending weeknights and weekends driving up and down Florida’s highways, Paula also contributed hours of her time researching and updating the information for our covid keyword.

We owe a large measure of gratitude to the women who have come and gone over the years, each bringing with them an inestimable value of work and time that has in turn made Resistbot the success that it is today.

We thank all who have given of themselves, and those who continue to do so, in an effort to form a more perfect union. If you love the bot as much as we do, and want to work to make it better and help others be heard across the United States and the world, we want to hear from you at volunteer@resist.bot.

There was a time when most women went to college to earn a Mrs. degree, and I imagine that there are some that still do. Finishing schools were created to teach their students—primarily young ladies from affluent families—proper social etiquette and training in cultural values and norms. Secretarial courses were in abundance, and attendees hoped for jobs that would put them in contact with eligible bachelors whom they would marry, move to suburbs with, and live like June Cleaver, highball at the ready. But that is certainly not the case for all women. Some of us were, are, looking for intellectual independence and financial. Some of us want to change the world. Some of us want to rule the world. And, that takes money—lots of it.

Enter student loans.

According to U.S. News, the average cost of college tuition for the 2021-2022 school year ranges from $11,631 to $43,775, depending upon whether you attend a public or private college/university. Times that by the four years it generally takes to get a bachelor’s degree, you are looking at a cool $50,000 - $175,000 of tuition costs. If you go on to a master’s or doctorate program, the tuition increases tremendously. If you are a person of color, you are likely to owe thousands more than I do for the same degree. And, once you graduate, your repayment interest rates will also be higher than the average white graduate.

I do not know about you, but I certainly do not have thousands of dollars tucked away in my mattress. And, even if I did, it is unlikely to be used for education. So, we take out student loans that we plan to repay when we graduate and get the high-paying job that has focused on our education. It seems like a good plan, right? Yeah, not so much. For many women, the hope for that future can come crashing down as quickly as a mortarboard in the air on graduation day.

A 2021 study by the American Association of University Women found $1.7 trillion in student loan debt in the United States. Of that, women owe far more than men, and women of color, owe even more still. Although the gap borrowed by women versus men is not too large, it’s more significant when coupled with the gender wage gap and disparities in the availability of high-paying jobs.

“Taken together, the student-debt crisis and the gender gap make it difficult for women to get by–let alone ahead.” —AAUW

As most of us who have student loans know, payments went into forbearance during the pandemic, but that ends in April, which gives us less than two months until we must incorporate the loan payment back into our budgets. For those whose businesses closed or whose jobs no longer exist for one reason or another, the impact on the bottom line will be crushing.

But, it is not all bad news. There is some relief on the horizon. Earlier this month, White House Chief of Staff Ronald Klain said that President Biden is considering continuing the forbearance and even possibly issuing an Executive Order which will provide loan forgiveness to some borrowers. And, according to another Forbes article just days later, the Department of Education has identified 100,000 student loan borrowers who are now eligible for loan forgiveness due to changes made in October to the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program.

Not all of us will qualify for loan forgiveness based upon public service. Even so, we are not without options. We can lobby President Biden to flex his executive muscle and provide relief to countless families across the country.

You can send a letter to President Biden by sending president to 50409 and let your thumbs do the talking. Alternatively, you can sign on to one of the following petitions organized by members of the Resistbot community:

• Continue Student Loan Repayment Freeze and Cancel Student Debt
• Cancel 50k in Student Loan Debt
• POTUS: Extend the Pause on Student Loan Debt
• POTUS: Cancel Student Loan Debt Now
• POTUS: Cancel 50k in Student Loan Debt Now

Once you hit send, you can invite your friends and family to do the same by following the prompts.

Want to learn more? Join Resistbot Live on Sunday, March 20 at 1:00 pm Eastern as we take a more in-depth look at student loan debt, or grab the pod the next day.

Thank you to Elena.

On International Womens' Day five years ago, Resistbot was connected to the outside world and handled its first letter to the U.S. Congress. Created to solve the problem of busy signals in Congressional offices, its since grown to cover so much more. In five years, Resistbot has handled over 444 million text messages, delivered over 40 million pieces of correspondence to elected officials, and serviced nearly 10 million Americans home and abroad. Three separate studies conducted over eleven elections showed how it moved thousands of additional people to the polls, too. Resistbot members helped to save net neutrality and the dreamers in 2017, the Affordable Care Act in 2018, and the U.S. Postal Service in 2020. At the state level, Resistbot was instrumental in the 2019 Arizona teacher's strike, in the repeal of an anti-police transparency law in New York in 2020, slowing Enbridge Line 3 on Indigenous lands in 2021, and in defeating a CRT-inspired book banning law in Indiana in 2022, among other movements—and introducing millions of people to civic engagement along the way.

Beyond Lobbying

Soon after launch, volunteers added tools to allow people to register to vote, locate their polling places, check their registration to protect from voter roll purges, track mail-in ballots, and more as we needed to ensure the groundswell of activism was channeled to where it mattered most.

More tools also came to help users find nearby marches and rallies and physical and virtual town halls for their officials. During the pandemic, our volunteers sprung into action to provide testing, and later, vaccination lookups; data about local hospitals and resources like where to get masks; find farmers' markets, food banks, and co-ops; help with SNAP benefits and health care, and more.

Giving the Power to Organizers

Beyond the basics of helping everyone be heard, our volunteers have recently focused on creating accessible and cheap tools that organizers can use to build movements. The 5 million letters sent to Congress to save the USPS didn't come from us; it was sparked by Rachel in Tennessee, who, like many Americans, saw the potential problems of defunding the USPS in the middle of a pandemic and a quadrennial Presidential election. Even groups with resources use us, as we're also the easiest way to convert ordinary citizens to advocates and voters: Billie Eilish used us to get her fans to pledge to vote, KIND bars used us to advocate for the Equal Rights Amendment. These same tools are available to anyone and have only gotten more powerful. Today, you can create form letter campaigns to make action-taking easy for your friends and family, claiming a keyword (e.g., Text ROSIE to 50409), collect followers that the bot will text about all your future campaigns, and purchase text blasts to other Resistbot members cheaper than anywhere else. Our vision is that anyone should be able to create affordable and powerful lobbying or voter turnout campaigns over SMS, something that used to be difficult, complicated, and expensive—reserved for organizations with budgets and digital teams—and those movements should be transparent and public, so elected officials can't play dumb and say how they haven't heard from their constituents on your issue. Congress may lock away their correspondence, but we have all the receipts.

Creating Community

At the end of 2021, we finally launched our podcast and live show with the mission to elevate our organizers on the platform, and give voice to people who aren't being heard already on mainstream outlets. Our "all-girl band" of panelists don't look like who you usually see on Sundays, and they're your allies in activism. We also launched a new Telegram channel for organizers to share tips and help each other out in real-time.

Share Your Story

For some, Resistbot is more than just an app; it's a way of life: to regularly engage, listen to your neighbors, and speak for those who aren't heard as well as yourself. Do you have a story to share about how Resistbot helped you? Tweet it with #ResistbotAt5, and we'll share it below! If you believe in our mission of creating ever more powerful ways for citizens to build large public movements, please donate or organize a campaign now and make the change you want to see in the world. Thank you for being on this journey with us.

#ResistbotAt5

“Although we’re not responsible for history, we are responsible for what happens today, and for what happens in the future. Racism impacts all of us. And we all have a role to play in ending it.” –Derrick Anderson, Executive Director of Race Matters for Juvenile Justice

Whether the belief has centered on religion, scientific “fact,” or popular culture, white humanity has repeatedly found ways to sustain and justify the oppression and subjugation of an entire body of people. None, however, have suffered as much as the Black body and mind. Men and women who were kidnapped and brought to our shores in the disease-ridden underbelly of cargo ships. Their offspring and future generations would continue to be brutalized, all under the guise of keeping “them” in “their” place. And, this “place” was anywhere white people determined it to be. Regardless of where we find ourselves in history, white Americans continue to find new ways to shore up their sense of superiority at the cost of the black mind and body.

When speaking of the establishment of the United States and the forced removal of Native Americans from their ancestral homelands and hunting grounds, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. is known to have rejoiced over the extermination and compulsory relocation of the millions of Native Americans who had inhabited North America for at least ten thousand years before Columbus’ “discovery” in 1492.

Holmes’ statement, “and so the red-crayon sketch is rubbed out, and the canvas is ready for a picture of manhood a little more like God’s own image,” clearly illustrates the white individual’s desire to look out among the lands of their new—albeit stolen—home and see only that which mirrored themselves. As we will see, Holmes was not alone in his desire to gaze upon the masses and see “that nobly arched head, containing such a quantity of brain [...] that emblem of modesty, of delicate feelings”, which he and others like him believed represented the best part of humanity, staring back at him.

The supposition that the creation story in the book of Genesis is a tale of white individuals has flourished throughout recorded history even though the book of Genesis never mentions the color of Adam and Eve’s skin. As history has shown us, this theological belief in the superiority of the white race has been in place for centuries. Statements, such as those by Holmes, have been taken as true despite the lack of genuine evidence in support thereof. Theological beliefs, coupled with the alleged certainty that the white race reigned in intelligence and capabilities, determined that all other races were savages by comparison and therefore sub-human. This mindset encouraged a rampant lack of empathy, which resulted in the perceived justification for the control and extermination of an entire population. In time, these beliefs would leave the realm of theology and enter into the world of “science,” where such attitudes and their consequences would have further devastating effects on those that the white race saw as the “Other.”

When unpacking the scientific “discoveries," one must consider that you cannot separate science from the society in which its uses occur. Science is always profoundly enmeshed in the cultural and prevailing mindsets of the day, and it is often used to justify belief systems already in place. Additionally, visible science is most often performed by those at the top of the racial hierarchy. It is rare for observable science to have been performed by those that the dominant race believes are unworthy and incapable. If it is, less credit is given to that individual and their findings due to the prevailing thought process that the “Other” really has no such capability and can therefore produce nothing of value. Moreover, racism has meant that white scientists have regarded people of color as an undifferentiated part of the environment, a given, rather than a subject active in changing the environment.

The chronicle of the early days of scientific racism—the use of scientific theory to support white racial superiority and thus brown or black inferiority—began in 1676 with William Petty’s division of humankind into a category of several species in The Scale of Creatures. In this work, Petty gives us a window into the transformation of race from a theological perspective to one rooted in scientific “fact.” Petty explains that he has not only observed a physical difference between Europeans and Africans but that he has also observed a marked difference between their “natural manners and in the internal qualities of their minds.” By making this distinction, Petty categorizes and marginalizes not only people and their respective countries of origin but also divides white and black individuals into biologically separate species.

More than one hundred years later, Georges Cuvier would add to Petty’s theory by examining the various types of elephants and positing the idea that species could and had become extinct. In his studies regarding extinction, Cuvier did not look to natural elements. Instead, he proposed that a massacre was the culprit. Cuvier's admirer, Charles Lyell went further by suggesting that the extinction of a species stemmed not from an external force but as a result of a species’ inability to evolve. One can surmise that the argument being made was that the annihilation of the black and brown race was not due to the violent actions of Europeans, slave trading, or colonization but rather as a result of the black individual’s own failure as a people.

Cuvier, while claiming to be a believer of monogenism, also developed a theory that mirrored polygeny far more closely than monogeny. Whereas monogeny states that all humans can trace their descendants from one set of original parents, polygeny is the idea that the human race stems from multiple sets of original parents.

Following Cuvier and Petty was Louis Agassiz, a Swiss Naturalist who immigrated to the United States in the 1840s. Agassiz would develop and become one of the leading authorities on the issue of polygeny. The argument that the races are separate and apart from each other would serve as a cornerstone in the American understanding that seen as a separate life form, people of color did not need to nor should they participate equally with white people. Thanks to men such as Petty, Cuvier, Agassiz, and Lyell, no longer was racial and white supremacy rhetoric stemming from theological perspectives and individual opinions. Riding upon the words uttered by the pre-eminent men of the day, racism entered the new sphere of science.

While Petty, Agassiz, and Cuvier gave the scientific community and layperson alike grandiose theories of racial deficiency and surplus, there were others who put those theories to the test. One of the more absurd scientific tests performed was done so by Robert Knox. In The Races of Man: A Fragment, Knox suggests that because “dark races have been slaves of those lighter-skinned” since the beginning of history, it stands to reason that there must be a physical or psychological explanation that makes the dark races inferior. Knox further asserted that this innate inferiority was not necessarily “due to the lack of size in the brain but rather a lack of quality in it.” In coming to this conclusion, Knox relies on a single autopsy of a man of color which he claims revealed to him that the corpse of the black male—whose attributes were then assigned to all black individuals, men and women alike—had “a third fewer nerves in arms and legs than in a white man of corresponding size. The soul, instinct, and reason of both races must therefore, it is obvious, he maintain[ed], be different to a corresponding degree.” In Knox’s opinion, as was and is often the case, that which applies to one black individual applies to the population as a whole.

In addition to the scientific “facts” being touted at the time, the public was also provided with visual and artistic examples of how segments of the human race and their lower relatives were strikingly similar. In 1868, J.C. Nott and Geo R. Gliddon provided drawings that depicted the bust of Apollo Belvidere as the personification of white physical perfection. Apollo’s skull was thought to be perfectly formed, at least insofar as it met with Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.’s description of the epitome of the white human race. Moving through the scale of drawings, we see the caricature of the African American male portrayed with exaggerated lips and facial characteristics followed by an illustration of a young chimpanzee. These representations of serve to reify the assertion that the white man is the embodiment of perfection. In contrast, the black man is slightly separated from the chimpanzee. When faced with the question as to whether or not race is real, innate, or the product of physical and genetic differences, white humanity has answered with a resounding yes, seeing themselves as the pinnacle of perfection.

Much of our historical education has glossed over this country’s appalling treatment of African men and women, attempting to omit the atrocities our earliest citizens committed. Discussing Edward Baptist’s new book, The Half Has Never Been Told, Braden Goyette writes:

“[O]ur narrative of slavery generally goes something like this: it was a terrible thing but it was an anomaly, a sort of feudal throwback within capitalism whose demise would inevitably come with the rise of wage labor.”

On the Duckster Education Site, for example, in text that barely fills one-and-a-half pages, the history of this country’s heinous actions is so watered down that it might as well not even exist. As children, we are taught simply that the first enslaved people arrived in the colonies of our new country from their home on the African continent, Lincoln freed them, and all was well. The neglect of the ugly side of American history and capitalism does not improve much as our children get older and move into and out of high school.

What is often left out of our discourses are the conditions in which African people were expected to live as they traveled unwillingly from their homes to our shores as well as the horrific and violent conditions under which they lived, once they reached the Americas. NPR Senior Editor Cory Turner says, quoting the Southern Poverty Law Center’s report:

“Slavery is hard history [...] It is hard to comprehend the inhumanity that defined it. It is hard to discuss the violence that sustained it. It is hard to teach the ideology of white supremacy that justified it. And it is hard to learn about those who abided it.”

Although disputed by some, it is generally accepted that in August of 1619 a group of approximately 20 men and women were the first group of Africans to be sold as involuntary laborers or indentured servants in the English colonies. Those twenty men and women were brought to the then-infant America, as shackled human cargo stowed in the underbelly of a ship. And, for many:

“...the chains remain. Not the chains [they] were unable to elude upon [their] historic beginnings as human chattel whose blood, sweat, and tears mixed with the dirt in which the foundation of America rest. But chains of oppression. Chains now more mental than physical.”

As the colonies stretched their legs into being a country, more than 600,000 African men, women, and children would be herded like cattle and shipped across the ocean to meet colonists’ demand for laborers and servants. Packed into the underbelly of cargo ships like animals, many Africans did not survive. Those who perished while were tossed overboard, which only added to the tragedy as those left behind believed that death and burial were matters to be handled with the utmost care and respect. Once on American soil, African families were torn apart by their owners who gave no thought to selling children but keeping the parents, and vice-versa. Families and marriages were routinely broken, and many would go to their graves without knowing where their loved ones went, never having seen them again.

African women and girls were subjected to sexual assault at the hands of their enslavers and countless children were born and bred in the homes of slaves on the South’s antebellum plantations. As many white Americans can trace their lineage back to the earliest colonists, so too can many African American lines of descent trace their heritage back to the violent couplings of enslaved people and their enslavers.

Unable to reconcile themselves with the consequences of the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments, Southern whites sought new ways of maintaining control over the men and women who were no longer their property. Southern whites were unable to accept the idea, much less the reality, of free black men and women who would seek to enjoy control over their own lives and, in doing so, potentially achieve some level of equality with white people. Having lost the benefit of claiming ownership over the physical black body, white people now looked for alternate ways in which to maintain control. As a result, they created a system of laws, both written and unwritten, that served to dictate virtually every aspect of the black individual’s life.

Named for a stage character created by Thomas Dartmouth Rice in the late 1830s to entertain white audiences, these new laws and social dictates became known as Jim Crow. The control Southern whites had before the 1863 emancipation was regained in-part through their wide-scale implementation.

As Jim Crow served to prohibit the most benign of activities, such as black and white individuals dining in the same restaurants or riding in the same train cars, it also became the story of an entire people who were denied the basic rights of citizenship or humanity, invisible except as caricatures in the public’s mind. To maintain social and political control in a time of freed slaves, white Americans employed a system of terror, intimidation, and violence to doom the promise of Reconstruction.

In a multitude of ways and despite laws to the contrary, over the course of almost four hundred years, white America has successfully and repeatedly established new ways of maintaining control over the minds, bodies, and lives of black men and women. Whether that be through the existence or lack of housing choices, avenues for economic success, disenfranchisement, lackof academic opportunities, the war on drugs, slavery, or an unyielding system of violence, very little has changed in that people of color remain under the thumb of white supremacy. And, as black men and women live behind what W.E.B. DuBois termed the veil of identity, always reckoning their behavior with the perception of white people, whites themselves are, “but [the] hideous, groping hired hands, doing their bit to oil the raging devastating machinery.”

While racism isn’t found on the human genome, the perceived inferiority of people of color has become so ingrained in the lives of its believers that it could almost be perceived as having been handed down through bloodlines. However, our beliefs are not genetic. We are not born believing one idea over another. Rather, we are taught by others. Despite the socially constructed truth of racism, white men and women have prospered emotionally and economically in their efforts to maintain racial superiority. Every generation passes to the next, the principles of racism and of white supremacy. The success of white America in being the triumphant group depended then, as well as now, entirely upon the losses to those—the “Others,” people of color—who are deemed unworthy. In order to win, someone else must lose. And, for racist white Americans, the loser can only and ever be people of color.

What You Can Do

States all across this country are proposing and enacting legislation to keep this history–America’s real history–out of our classrooms. For the GOP, the abbreviated and wholly misleading narrative about racism is more than enough. But, their stunted story of this country’s racist beginnings, and the lengths that modern Americans are willing to go to in order to continue that false narrative, serve only to deepen the wedge between a racist or just society. Four hundred years of oppression is enough. It is past time–centuries past–to begin to live up to the promise of what this country could be. The beacon on the hill will forever be just an ember so long as we continue to oppress our brown and black brothers and sisters. This democratic experiment will never succeed if we continue to fail in recognizing the contributions made every day by millions of people of color. The American story can only truly be written when we the history of us includes us all.

To find out the status of critical race theory legislation in your state, take a look at this map. And, when you are ready, send state to 50409 and lobby your legislators on this or any other topic that is important to you. You can also check out this petition or this one, and invite your friends and family to do the same.

Thank you to Jason.

Congress has reintroduced the EARN IT act, a terrible collection of poorly thought out policies wrapped around core provisions to destroy privacy and encryption on the internet. The EFF has produced a great deep dive into all the terrifying components of the bill. The surveillance components of the bill are the most concerning parts, but I wanted to focus on another area that is less well understood – Section 230.

What is Section 230?

From the congressional research service:

Section 230 of the Communications Act of 1934, enacted as part of the Communications Decency Act of 1996, provides limited federal immunity to providers and users of interactive computer services. The law generally precludes providers and users from being held liable—that is, legally responsible—for information provided by a third party, but does not prevent them from being held legally responsible for information that they have developed or for activities unrelated to third-party content. Courts have interpreted Section 230 to foreclose a wide variety of lawsuits and to preempt laws that would make providers and users liable for third-party content. For example, the law has been applied to protect online service providers like social media companies from lawsuits based on their decisions to transmit or take down user-generated content.

What does this mean?

The host or owner of a website is not responsible for the content posted by others. This applies not just to social media giants like Facebook and Youtube, but to any site that hosts content created by others. For example if a user on your local birdwatching forum slanders another member, that user is liable but not the person who hosts the forum.

What if the New York Times posts a column online that slanders someone? Section 230 does not protect them because they don’t just post anything, they have an editorial process and curate their content. This makes them a publisher, not just an online service provider and therefore is not protected by 230.

EARN IT and Section 230

There’s been a push by both parties to make changes to Section 230 for a number of reasons, and the EARN IT act is just the most recent.

The bill removes Section 230 protection for violations of federal and state criminal and civil laws regarding child sexual abuse material (CSAM). At first glance this seems reasonable, but it opens the door to 50 different sets of rules for liability, as long as they can even be tangentially tied to CSAM. Not only that, companies would have to follow “best practices” established by the Department of Justice to receive 230 protection. Those best practices include some of those privacy and encryption-destroying provisions mentioned earlier.

The lines have blurred

Section 230 made sense in 1996 when it was added, but times have changed and things aren’t as clear. How do we determine the difference between a true publisher and just an online service provider? If Facebook is controlling what third-party content you see, aren’t they making editorial decisions, even if by an algorithm? Additionally, eliminating Section 230 entirely also doesn’t make sense for the same reasons as when it was originally created: unneeded liability exposure would cripple online service providers that host communities.

A Sensible Solution

Updating Section 230 to reflect our modern information ecosystem is preferrable, and can be done in a rather straightforward manner. For example, a two-test provision could continue to protect the intended people without giving giant social media companies an overly broad shield from legal liability. The two tests would be:

1. The online service provider does not adjust third-party content that the users see either manually or via an algorithm. They rely only on standard sorts/filters like most recent, most active, etc.
2. The online service provider has less than 50 employees and $1M in revenue.

This would continue protections for both small sites that do more curation as well as very large sites (like Reddit) that do not while forcing companies like Facebook, Youtube, Twitter, etc to decide to either stop curating their content or be more thoughtful about it because they’re now exposed to legal liability.

What do we do?

The most important thing is to prevent EARN IT from passing. Contact your senators and representatives and tell them to say no to EARN IT again by sending SIGN PVLKLV or congress to the bot to start your own.

When the U.S. was formed, Article I of our Constitution set forth how the legislative arm of government would be created and Section 2 established how many representatives each new state would have in the newly formed House of Representatives. The intent was for there to be 1 representative for every 30,000 residents in a given state which meant that the House would grow as the American population also grew. Every 10 years the U.S. Census Bureau (part of the Department of Commerce) would undertake a nationwide census and the number of representatives each state would have would be adjusted by new legislation enacted by Congress. 

However, with an eye towards having a manageable number in the House, Congress twice set the number of representatives at a total of 435. The first time was in 1911 and then in 1929, the Apportionment Act made this number permanent. This Act also set forth the procedure for an automatic reapportionment – the redrawing of district boundaries to account for population growth and reallocation of that state's representatives. This process is referred to as redistricting. Seems pretty straightforward, right? If only that were true. The problem lies with how those new maps are drawn and how the new boundaries are used to keep people of color from having equal access to representation and by extension, democracy itself. This manipulation of geographic boundaries is known as gerrymandering.

The term gerrymandering is named for a career politician, Elbridge Gerry (1744-1814). Gerry held many offices between 1772, when he was first elected to the Massachusetts House of Representatives, and his death in 1814. He was a member of the Continental Congress, president of the US Treasury Board, and has the distinct honor of being one of the signers of the Constitution.  Additionally, he served as governor of Massachusetts. During his gubernatorial career, Gerry signed legislation that created a partisan district in the Boston area the shape of which was likened to a “mythological salamander.” The editor at the time, of the Boston Gazette, in speaking to a fellow editor commented on the shape as being similar to a salamander, at which point the other editor said “Salamander! Call it a Gerrymander!”

The simplest definition of gerrymandering is the political practice that dilutes the voting power of groups of individuals as a method of voter suppression.  More times than not, this process is used to lump the largest number of racial minorities into the least number of districts possible so that their vote is diluted. This is known as packing.  The flip side of this is known as cracking which is the purposeful division of a particular group of constituents across as many districts as possible which also dilutes the impact of their vote. Generally, the groups most affected by these practices are minorities who, as a result of hundreds of years of oppression, already face significant obstacles when it comes to voting. Taken together, these practices are known as racial gerrymandering and are a go-to move by the GOP in order to either remain in power or gain more seats in the House.

What also happens as a result of GOP gerrymandering efforts is that many Representatives no longer have to campaign or work for all of their constituents in order to win or retain their seats. They get on the ballot and the rest is, as they say, history. And, while Biden won the White House in 2020, his win was by no means a magic bullet. The party in control in many states, including those labeled as battleground states, have their hands on the levers of redistricting and many of those hands belong to the GOP. Given that tens of millions came out to vote at what was the height of the pandemic (at least at that time) to vote Biden into office, the GOP is doing its level best to change the district borders in such a way that they are the party that benefits. As we all know, the GOP will take whatever action necessary in order to win regardless of how many rules they break or lies they tell.

Take Florida, for instance. In addition to those already submitted to the Florida Legislature, which is tasked with redrawing the maps in the Sunshine State, Governor DeSantis has submitted his own map and threatened to veto anything less. Dave Wasserman of the Cook Report calls DeSantis’ proposed map the “most brutal gerrymander proposed by a [Florida] Republican yet.” When asked how far Florida Republicans are willing to go in order to secure this all-important state, the answer has been a resounding “all the way.”  DeSantis, who is vying for a 2024 run at the White House, is being hailed by the GOP nationwide for his efforts.

In Wisconsin, the state’s Supreme Court heard arguments in a suit brought by organizations such as Black Leaders Organizing Communities, Voces de la Frontera, and the League of Women Voters, on which of several competing maps should be approved. When the Court reviews these maps, they are not scrutinizing them for racial bias as that is not a requirement of their review. And, this works in the GOPs favor as the maps favored them to begin with (hello gerrymandering!). In an earlier ruling, the state Supreme Court stated that redrawn maps had to adhere as closely as they could to current boundaries, accounting for a changed population. A ruling is expected soon and may lock their anti-democratic maps in for another 10 years.

In North Carolina, the issue of maps is also being taken up by the state’s Supreme Court following a ruling at the state level that the GOP drawn maps will stand. The lower court rejected a claim by the North Carolina League of Conservation Voters, among others, of racial gerrymandering parroting the SCOTUS opinion from 2019 that states racial gerrymandering of a district is not grounds for its undoing and is beyond the reach of the federal courts.

Redistricting is boring and to some degree, overwhelming for the political novice. Of that, there is no doubt. But, it is an issue that we must be concerned with as whatever boundaries are drawn now will remain in place for the next 10 years. That is 5 elections  (3 midterms and 2 presidential) that will occur with districts that may end up being some of the most egregiously gerrymandered maps in our history.

Care about the map, and maybe you will get an official that cares about you.”--Jason Putorti

Every vote, no matter who it is cast by, should carry as much weight as the next person. Inequitable maps give greater weight to some votes while others have almost no weight at all. This is not democracy. And, setting aside for a moment, the narrow-mindedness and racism of the “founding fathers,” the state of politics in this country is surely not what they intended. The only way out of the mess that our country has become is to elect leaders who understand what true leadership looks like. And, we only elect leaders who share our values when every one of us votes. Every time. In every election. Period.

What Can We Do

The Fair Representation Act, introduced by Representative Beyer (D-VA-8), seeks to establish rank choice voting and independent redistricting commissions that are not beholden to a political party. You can find more information on the issue of rank choice voting at FairVote.org or NCSL. Write to your legislators and encourage them to support the Act so that our elections going forward may be a more just and fair endeavor.

Want to know more about other litigation that is taking place across the country over the issue of fair maps? Check out the work our friends at Democracy Docket are doing.

We can also lobby our legislators to keep fighting for the John Lewis Voting Rights Act and the Freedom to Vote Act both of which will go a very long way in protecting our voting rights.

Join Resistbot Live at 1:00 p.m. Eastern, on Sunday, January 23, 2022, as we learn more about redistricting with the folks at Diversity Matters.

Special thanks to Chris E.

The last two years have been trying. So many of the ways we interact with the broader world have changed dramatically. Parents have become teachers–in more ways than usual. Friends and loved ones exchange hug emojis because in-person gatherings are few and far between. The aisles in the grocery store see more shoppers who deliver than families looking for dinner ideas. And, rooms in our homes have increasingly become permanent offices as fewer and fewer people are going back to office buildings. Teleworking is the new normal for many industries. What was thought impossible by most employers just a few years ago has become commonplace.

In a survey done by PwC, 77 percent of America’s office workers transitioned to working from home (WFH) due to the pandemic. Going back to an office is not an enticing prospect for a large percentage of those workers. And, seeing an uptick in productivity from WFH staff, the notion that telecommuting has adverse outcomes for the bottom line has been put to pasture, thanks to a reality that shows the opposite. The pandemic’s impact on our work lives will be with us for a long time to come. And, some businesses may never go back to pre-COVID work policies. But, some will revert to old practices, while others will see a hybrid of the old and the new. As we enter year three of the pandemic, only the perspective of history will tell how it all shakes out.

Undoubtedly, there are perks to being a WFH employee–sleeping later, shorter and less costly commute, and lax dress codes. It can also be the best option for persons with disabilities. They, along with their advocates, have been lobbying for flexible work schedules and remote work options for many years only to face barriers from employers who believed traditional ways of doing business were the only viable ones. Coupled with the fact that disabled persons are unemployed at rates double those of their non-disabled counterparts, the options for successful careers are limited. If anything good has come from the pandemic, it’s that we now know a lot of work can happen at the kitchen table just as well as the cubicle. And, this should—but does not—work to the benefit of disabled employees. As employers look to the future, disabled persons continue to be absent from the conversation about what that landscape looks like and their place in it. Additionally, many disabled people are living hand-to-mouth because of poverty-inducing governmental benefits.

This means that with most applications taking place primarily online, the lack of access to technology, because of a lack of resources, can put the kibosh on applying if one is disabled. Additionally, many people with disabilities do not have the luxury of an in-person application as they are more at risk than most for health complications due to the pandemic. Barriers abound. But, it does not have to be that way.

“We need to connect the dots here. If it benefits [the disabled] community, it benefits everyone, particularly the disabled community. It’s the largest minority group in the country.” —Vilissa Thompson, LMSW

However, not everyone has the advantage of a job that can be done from home. There are countless industries for which in-person attendance is the only option. And, the majority of people in these positions earn far less than those who can work from home and face higher rates of unemployment. PwC’s 2020 survey found that those earning less than $27,000 per year have an unemployment rate of 20 percent. That is significant. With the risk of just being in public, people like our cashiers, service workers, educators, and medical personnel face the brunt of the pandemic. They are paying a steep price for doing so.

And, lest we think that working from home is all ups and no downs, it is not. The problems that isolation presents for one person are different from what that looks like for others. I am an identical twin living with my husband and adult-disabled son; my sister is single. I am never alone, and she is always alone. The impact on both of our psyches is profound and, at times, challenging to navigate. And then you have the families with children who try to navigate homeschooling, teleworking, and having something left at the end of the day for their partner. The mental health struggle can be significant. Many of those who now work from home while holding class in their living rooms miss the adult-to-adult interactions and socialization that comes with working in a central location with other adults. We are, after all, social creatures that thrive in communities. The isolation of the last two years has frayed the edges of even the strongest among us.

What You Can Do

There is no shame in asking for help. If you are or know someone who struggles with mental health challenges, NAMI may be able to help you. Are you looking to make your workplace more inclusive, more diverse? Vilissa Thompson, LMSW of Ramp Your Voice has the tools to help.

Live in N.Y.? City Workers for N.Y. created this petition. Consider signing and supporting the movement for teleworkers in the Big Apple. If you live in another state, you can always pen your own and invite your friends and family to sign, text state to get started.

Join Resistbot Live on Sunday, January 16th, as we listen to and learn more about teleworking and its impact on our communities.

What happened?

Suppose we somehow missed all of what occurred in our country between November 2016 and President Biden’s inauguration. In that case, we need only look at the events of January 6th, 2021, to understand how damaged our democracy is. Our politics have become so overrun with bitterness that getting anything meaningful done on the Hill is virtually impossible.

By its very definition, the events of January 6th can only be described as an insurrection. Driven by false claims of a stolen and invalid election, the rioters at the Capitol came armed with a plan and weapons. They intended to overturn the 2020 election results using whatever force, lethal or otherwise, needed to realize that goal. And, come they did from every corner of the United States by the hundreds. They descended on Washington armed with all manner of weapons such as baseball bats, hockey sticks, stun guns, zip ties, and mace, to name but a few. Donning military-style garb, the attendees stormed the Capitol intending to take control of Congress to keep the election results from being certified. And while the election was eventually certified (which event is generally nothing more than a formality), it was not for lack of trying on the part of the Stop the Steal faction. Rioters took over the Capitol Building, breaking down doors and windows to get to the members of Congress inside. The angry mob used flag poles like swords, shattering windows, and hung from the building’s facade and scaffolding outside while cheering those who got in. Many people inside vandalized Congressional offices and threatened and abused law enforcement officers who tried in vain to stem the tide of angry mobsters. According to video footage, nearly 140 officers suffered more than 1,000 assaults as they tried to keep the mob at bay.

Most of the American right have abandoned faith in government as such. Their politics is, increasingly, the politics of the gun. —Stephen March, The Guardian

That day’s events lead to the deaths of Capitol Officers Brian Sicknick, Howard Leibengood, and Jeffrey Smith. There were also deaths among the rioters: Ashli Babbitt, Kevin Greeson, Roseanne Boyland, and Benjamin Philips, all of whom had traveled to Washington to take part in the effort to stop Congress from doing its duty. Two additional Capitol Officers, Kyle DeFreytag and Gunther Hashida, who were present at the riot, committed suicide several months later. More than 700 people were arrested on charges ranging from entering a restricted area to assaulting law enforcement offices with a deadly or dangerous weapon. On average, 1 in 5 of those charged have pled guilty, and investigations continue more than a year later.

Now what?

You might think that the insurrection was a blip on the radar, an anomaly that was but one day in American history, that it could not mean that much. It would be lovely if that were true. Alas, it is not. No matter what they may believe deep in their souls, a large number of Republicans continue to promote the lie that Biden stole the 2020 election. How they reconcile a stolen Presidential election with down-ballot wins is beyond this writer’s understanding, but I digress. Whether they actually believe the lie is less important than how they are using it to create more barriers to the ballot. At present, 14 states are in the process of redrawing their electoral maps ahead of the midterms and 2024. Many states are embroiled in litigation over these new maps, which may result in the courts ultimately determining the makeup of Congressional districts. Coupled with the reality that the party holding the White House generally does not fare well in the midterms, the GOP are endeavoring to give themselves one hell of an advantage.

In the words of our friend Debra Cleaver, founder and CEO of VoteAmerica, “a failed coup is still a coup.” Given the fact that the last time our Capitol was attacked, a civil war ensued, an alarmist view towards last year’s events is not unreasonable. If the violent mob did nothing else, they showed us that if white America can not achieve its goals through traditional democratic avenues, then violence will be their means to an end. For those that worship at the altar of guns and ammo, violence is the answer to almost any problem. And, there is nothing good that can come from such a mindset.

And, lest we forget, the underlying theme to all of the right-wing violence we have seen over the last five years is white hegemony. White supremacy is completely entrenched in the lie—that it created in the first place to justify the oppression of women and people of color—that only white men have what it takes to be at the helm of power. But, the fact that our halls of power are increasingly reflecting the faces of the communities they are charged with representing threatens—and succeeds—in revealing the lie as just that—a false narrative created to keep everyone but them under an oppressive thumb.

“As immigration, aging, intermarriage and a decline in church-going have reduced the percentage of non-Hispanic white Christians in America, right-wing ideologues have inflamed fears that traditional U.S. culture is being erased and whites are being replaced. The second is pervasive elite selfishness: The wealthy and powerful in America are broadly unwilling to pay the taxes, invest in the public services, or create the avenues for vertical mobility that would lessen their country’s economic, educational, racial and geographic gaps. The more an under-resourced government can’t solve everyday problems, the more people give up on it, and the more they turn to their own resources and their narrow identity groups for safety.” –Thomas Homer-Dixon, The Globe and Mail.

It's been a very long five years; however, there is no more important action that we can take than continuing to show up and participate in our federal, state, and local politics. Biden’s election did not solve our problems, and it would be naive to think he could do so simply by winning an election. America may not be engulfed in a blazing dumpster fire every day, but her problems remain. It will take each of us to return democracy to its rightful place. And that starts with supporting and electing legislators who share our values. That only happens if we all exercise our most significant right—voting. And not just in the presidential elections. Midterms matter and many voters skip over them. When we do not vote, we lose. The stakes have never been higher, and the mantra that failure is not an option has never been more true. The coup failed, but it came dangerously close to succeeding and what would have come after is the stuff of nightmares.

November will be here in the blink of an eye. Use the check keyword to verify your voter registration as soon as possible. The bot will also alert you if your county purges you from the rolls. If you’re not 18 years old yet, use the eighteen keyword, and the bot will remind you to register!

And, tune in to Resistbot Live on Sunday, January 9th at 1:00 pm eastern as we talk more about what the insurrection means for our future.

People have been moving around the world since our ancestors migrated out of Africa and they have moved around the globe for one reason or another for tens of thousands of years. While the United States is only one of the hundreds of countries worldwide, it has been an immigration destination for centuries. People have come here in search of a better life through economic and academic opportunities and a life free from religious persecution. They have come to reap the benefits of the land of milk and honey. They came looking for a safe harbor from the dangers they face in their homelands. They have come looking for a sanctuary of one kind or another.

In 1971, the city of Berkeley, California became the first official sanctuary city offering protection to individuals who opposed the Vietnam War. The City entered into agreements with various city officials and departments wherein it was agreed that Berkeley would not assist in enforcing federal law and rounding up or detaining detractors of the war. Since then, many of us had never heard of a sanctuary city much less understood its importance. Enter Trump.

Immediately following the 2016 election, immigration and immigrants became the focus of an administration that saw the boogeyman in every brown and black face. They have labeled them as criminals (completely ignoring the fact that those presumptions are rooted in racism), and falsely accused them of taking food off the table of hard-working ‘mericans by taking their jobs.  Within five days of taking office, Trump signed Executive Order 13768 which stated, among other things, that any city that refused to cooperate with the federal government regarding immigration, would be barred from obtaining federal funds. In order to keep tabs on the sanctuary cities, Section 9 of the Order required the Secretary of the Interior to create and maintain a Declined Detainer Outcome Report. Within days, the first of several lawsuits were filed by San Francisco against the administration specifically targeting Section 9 of the Order. In August 2018, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth District determined that the power regarding funding to states and cities lies with Congress, not the Executive. A permanent injunction was entered barring the implementation and enforcement of section 9. And, while we may not hear as much about Sanctuary Cities in the daily news as we did just a couple of years ago, they remain an important component of our immigration policies at the state level.

There is no one universal definition of what constitutes a sanctuary city; however, the following is a list of some of the common policies found in the hundreds of sanctuary cities and counties across 11 states:

• policies restricting the ability of state and local police to make arrests for federal immigration violations, or to detain individuals on civil immigration warrants;
• policies prohibiting “287(g)” agreements through which ICE deputizes local law enforcement officers to enforce federal immigration law;
• policies that prevent local governments from entering into a contract with the federal government to hold immigrants in detention;
• policies preventing immigration detention centers;
• policies restricting the police or other city workers from asking about immigration status;
• policies restricting the sharing of certain information on immigrants with the federal government;
• policies restricting local police responses to federal immigration detainers; and
• policies refusing to allow ICE into local jails without a judicial warrant.

Immigration is a highly charged topic no matter who lives in the White House. And, just because Trump is gone and Biden is now our president, it does not mean smooth sailing for immigrants or immigration policies.  In fact, the Biden administration has been ordered by a federal judge to restart the MPP program and the crisis at our borders remains troubled, to say the least.

When we say that we are a country of immigrants, it is not a sound bite, it is the truth. Most of us are the children of generations shepherded by those who came from other countries to the United States searching for better opportunities for themselves and their families. And, saying that some have come to this country the “right way,” while others have not is a form of gatekeeping only intended to informally bar people from immigrating. Those that come to America do so for a reason and no matter what that reason may be, at its core is the hope that here will be better than there.

Join us Sunday, December 12 at 1:00 p.m. Eastern time on Resistbot Live as we take the opportunity to listen and learn from Jennifer Amuzie with Sanctuary DMV.

You can also send SIGN PXCALC to add your name to the petition created by Doctors for Camp Closure and encourage President Biden to Fulfill Immigration Justice.

Send president to 50409 to urge President Biden to reverse the inhumane executive decisions by his predecessors.

Thank you to Elena and Chris E.