I’m tired already and it’s only been 2 weeks into 2017.
President Obama is on his way out. Vice President Biden’s bright eyes will no longer light up my laptop screen unless it’s when I go through all the hilarious memes of him and President Obama’s brolationship.
But in all seriousness, we’re facing some seemingly insurmountable challenges with the incoming administration. Speaking as a progressive feminist and as an Asian-American womxn, I’m fearful of what the next four or more years will hold for myself and my loved ones. Honestly, there have been a lot of moments when I just wanted to hide under my blankets, laptop fully charged, and stream Broad City until the sun comes up in 2020.
Then I realize, my electricity bill would be out of control and I don’t know what I would do for food.
Really though, there’s a couple other things holding me back from falling into a deep and dark despair. The main thing is the hope and tenacity I see in a lot of my peers, from those who work with undocumented youth to those who work in the healthcare field. There exists an incredible amount of energy and almost limitless ways for people to roll up their sleeves and get the work done.
But with so many opportunities and an onslaught of media coverage about what we can do or what we should do to uphold justice, it seems…daunting. I mean these are some gut-wrenching questions around what the hell should or could we do because there are too many options and things we care about to even start.
So in 2017, I thought I would keep track of the ways I am doing one of three things:
- Resist
- Advance
- Support
Now these are super broad terms, but what this is getting at is how can we take tangible action that moves beyond ranting on social media. Because while social media is incredibly useful for spreading information and getting our frustrations out, it often times becomes an echo chamber of our beliefs with like-minded individuals. And there’s always a need for spaces where we feel like we can be heard and understood. This is not trying to demean the importance of that. But, what my hope is for practicing #DailyResistance is to move beyond thinking and discussing—to get into the practice of using our voices to stand up for what we believe in.
And at the end of the year, it will be nice to be able to see what things I’ve personally accomplished, so I can say, “yes, I did what I could to make my community more inclusive and more loving.” So, it’s a little bit self-congratulatory, but I think I know myself enough to know that I legitimately won’t get anything done if I don’t have some sort of self-induced reward system. It’s like when I reward myself with a snack for writing a paragraph of an essay. It just gets things done.
But instead of snacks, it’ll be a huge colorful jar where I write on paper the things I’ve done each day to resist, advance, or support justice (as broad of a term as that is).
So, if you’re interested in joining me on my journey of #DailyResistance in 2017, let’s get into the nitty-gritty.
As I’ve said, I’m going to try and do something each day that falls into one of three categories. I’ll try to flesh out these terms more fully below.
- Resist – Resist acts of oppression, both state-sanctioned and personally mediated. Get trained in civil disobedience and nonviolence. Call out harmful language when you hear it in conversations with friends, family, at work, or in classes. Attend sit-ins, teach-ins, and protests. Write to your congress people. Call for their attention. Boycott corporations that get into shady business dealings or support policies that are harmful. Let things get uncomfortable and be okay with being the only voice in the room who speaks up because others will follow.
- Advance – Advance my own ideas about justice and work on using my voice & being more confident/taking ownership of my beliefs. This can take the form of writing more blogs for my own site or submitting pieces for alternative media. Become more aware of how to use my voice and not apologizing for taking up space or speaking out. Speak on panels or in classes or at meetings and forums. When possible, uplift others to use their own voice and help advance their ideas too.
- Support – Support existing movements and organizations that work to advance justice. Write about the work they’re doing, donate money when possible, volunteer your time. Call your legislators when they’re doing work you believe in. Write letters to people and organizations to express your support. We all need affirmation, but we don’t always express it enough.
These are just some of the things we can do to resist, advance, and support one another in 2017. Let me know if I’m missing any ideas!
With all the negativity and very real threats to our civil liberties, doing this challenge will hopefully make me feel a little more in control of my life and my role in everything.
I’ll be updating with my progress on #DailyResistance —maybe it’ll keep me more accountable if I write about it every week.
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My act of #DailyResistance for 1/12/17:
- signing a petition to stop Sessions from becoming Attorney General
- attending a panel organized by Asian Americans Advancing Justice – LA on how to advance justice in Orange County
My act of #DailyResistance for 1/13/17:
- sending an email to Mimi Walters on why the ACA is important and shouldn’t be repealed — find your own representatives and make a call or email
ong going 