Let's Talk Resistance
The first large act of resistance after the Orange Menace won in 2016 was the 2017 Women’s March in DC (and around the world), which had double the number of people attending in DC than attended the inauguration the day before. It started because Teresa Shook, a grandmother in Hawaii, had the idea, the idea went viral, and then here’s the important part, people who knew how did the organizing and thus implemented the idea.
Here’s just one photo from the DC march:
And just for the hell of it, here’s this:
Wikipedia estimates that around 4 million people in the US, and an addition 5 million throughout the world, marched on 21 January 2017.
There is a march planned for 18 January 2025, and you can pledge to march here. If you cannot march, please consider buying merch from the site: marches cost a lot of money. I’m going to circle back around with more information later in this blog post.
Another large resistance movement was the formation of Indivisible. It’s important to remember that the people who hatched the idea, and then implemented it, were people who worked in government, and thus understood how government worked.
Over the next several months, many groups were formed. Some were aligned with Indivisible, some were completely independent, some were aligned with other social justice and related groups already in existence, all dedicated to resistance.
In the same way that Teresa Shook had a nascent idea, but it took people with skills to implement, the resistance groups had different levels of effectiveness. The most successful local groups, no matter who ran them, benefitted from leveraging the knowledge of people who knew how to implement.
These knowledge sources included government workers, political operatives, people who had organized during Vietnam, and others who “knew things.”
As we move forward, let’s look at setting up local marches on 18 January1. While there are many people who want them, successful marches need people who can pull them off. This takes knowledge to raise money, secure permits, coordinate with local police and government officials, arrange for speakers, and undertake the logistics relative to everything from transportation, parking, microphones, large TV screens and porta-potties (not a complete list). Then comes coordination with local media, the ability to advertise, and all the scut work involved in actually pulling it off successfully. For a large march, you can’t just say “gee, it sounds like a good idea, let’s all meet at the corner of A Street and B Avenue at noon.”
If YOU want to go to DC, and want a bunch of friends and compatriots to go with you, you’ll need to organize travel, and if you live far enough away, hotel rooms. You’ll need to coordinate with the March to find out where to be and when. You’ll need to either pay for the bus, train or plane tickets upfront by yourself, or collect money from people to be able to nail down the travel.
If you want to organize locally, you’ll need to start with the permits, (and some permits cost money) and then get your speakers, and then find someone who has arranged a march in the past and knows the ins and outs of your local area, and the necessary infrastructure.
I believe this is all doable for dedicated people. But it’s easier if you know the ropes. A simple example of this relates to speakers. You might know who you’d like on your agenda, but it’s easier if you know people who have personal relationships with the people you want speaking.
Personally, I am very hopeful that the DC march, and off-shoot marches around the world, end up with even more people than attended in 2017. I think this is possible, and I’m excited about it
Beyond the one-off March Day, there is the issue of actual resistance. I’ve written an overview of the types of resistance before, and they’re still valid. I have intentionally avoided listing groups that will be doing serious resistance because so much of it is, and must remain, under the radar.
2025 is not 2017.
So very much has changed. There are still a lot of new people who want to be involved. For now, from what I’ve heard, a lot of that relates to getting together and being together, and that actually does matter as we shore ourselves, and each other, up.
But there is a huge generational divide that didn’t show itself in 2017 as vividly as it does now.
The last time I saw a generational divide this extreme was during the time of the Civil Rights movement and the Vietnam War. Now, however, it’s for a completely different reason.
A lot of young women are chomping at the bit to DO SOMETHING, and if they can find appropriate leadership, they will. However, a lot of young men are thinking that the new regime is good for them, and do not understand the reality nor the ramifications. In addition, the younger an adult is, the higher the probability that they have been adversely impacted by the economy.
This is NOT to say that young people are poor, and old people are rich. Not at all. “Rich” and “poor” (and everything in between) exist at all ages. However, it is more likely that younger people are unable to pay student loans than previous generations, if only because it costs so much more to go to school now than it used to. College used to be affordable, and whole generations had the GI bill to help share the costs.
Same with housing: it used to be possible to buy a house with one income, now it’s a stretch even with two incomes. If you can find one, and thanks to the law of supply and demand, there are many fewer houses for the population. I wrote about this prior to the election, but the fundamentals haven’t changed. If you missed it, here you go:
Millennials, especially, have been unable to catch an economic break during their adult lives. Many have both kids and parents that need care, their loans are outrageous, and they keep running up against economic headwinds.
It is hard to spend time on resistance when you are struggling to make sure your kids get fed every day.
Many young people call the Democratic Party “ossified” and believe that new leadership is necessary, and that the Party must become “progressive” if it is to survive. This has a great impact on what kind of resistance these people are ready and willing to undertake. And there is a great need to get those younger people to work with people with experience so that they don’t have to re-invent the wheel.
There is a corollary impact that relates to how elected officials, especially Democratic governors, as well as heads of state at countries that are, as of November 2024, still our allies, resist or engage. It’s likely that they will resist some things, and will look for ways to work together on other things. (Yes, I know, that’s painful. But it’s reality.)
In 2016, we were all so shocked when the Orange Menace won, and we had no idea what he’d do. That’s not the case now, and our elected officials know this. One of the first decisions each governor will need to make relates to whether he/she will allow National Guard troops to help with deportations and raids, and whether they will send troops to the Southern border. If a governor says “okay”, then it is up to the local resistance groups to decide how to react. If a local group is willing to participate in actions, there needs to be firm leadership, planning, organizing, and implementation. Who will stand up to lead?
If Congress does NOT roll over and play dead, then there will be negotiations relative to financing various proposed initiatives of the regime. For the resistance to be successful in preventing the worst of the worst, there will need to be a willingness to protest even against some Democratic members of Congress, as well as Rethuglican members, with the same leadership planning, organizing and implementation along with coordination across multiple states and Congressional Districts. Groups will need to be able to keep up with legislation, especially drafts in committee.
Another consideration is communication. First, how is information about resistance actions disseminated? Second, how is information imparted to “regular people”? Third, will there continue to be legitimate journalism? My personal model is the French resistance during WW2.
I keep asking you: THINK about what you are willing to do. You don’t have to know HOW you’ll do things, just what your commitment level will be during the darkness. NOW is the time to think things through. Once you’ve made your decisions, find the right people with whom to work, and finally IMPLEMENT.
Yes, that means YOU!