How to Support the Resistance Without Slowing It Down

What your organizers need you to know

The recent surge of new activists has been inspiring, and the energy, enthusiasm, and willingness to fight for democracy is heartening. I would be lying, however, if I said these first two months have gone smoothly. In fact, they’ve presented established organizers with a whole new set of frustrations and challenges.

Writing about this feels risky. I don’t want to dampen enthusiasm, shoot down new ideas, scare people off, or make anyone new to activism feel like they’ve been “doing it wrong” because I believe that fighting for social justice and democracy is always the right thing to do. My hope is that by discussing some of the issues we organizers are experiencing, we can all work better, move forward with unified voices, and do the work that needs to be done—without collapsing into exhaustion.

Your leaders are volunteers just like you

Most organizers are unpaid volunteers who dedicate their time solely out of passion and commitment. In addition to this work, we also have jobs and must walk our dogs, scoop the litterbox, get a decent night’s sleep, attend a slew of meetings, start another spreadsheet, ask for donations, and not go completely bonkers in the meantime.

We’re desperately trying to balance our activism with our professional and personal lives without burning out.

That’s why you hear us repeating the mantra, “This is a marathon, not a sprint.” We have learned the hard way that balance is key, and any additional wear and tear only increases our mental and physical exhaustion.

The current challenges

“On-boarding new members has become time-consuming,” says one group leader. “We’re trying to deal with this by sharing more responsibilities with members and our leadership team. But this takes time.”

Yes, there are a lot of new people, and while this is a great problem to have, onboarding and getting to know everyone doesn’t happen overnight. Please be patient.

“I’m encountering two different situations,” says another organizer. “The first is new people who want to strike out on their own, and I would advise them to find an established group. Then there are people who’ve found an established group. To them I would say: We realize this is new to you, but many of us have been doing this for years. Instead of assuming no one knows more than you, ask questions and learn from others. Don’t discount our years of research, effort, and iterations. They have value.”

I made this mistake early in 2017 when I bounced frantically from newly formed group to newly formed group when there were already organizations that had the necessary expertise and infrastructure in place. I suffered plenty of migraines and gained twenty pounds before I came to my senses.

Another organizer of a large activist group says, “Try to understand that this movement has existed for quite some time. Learn who does what in the group you have joined, and how they do it.”

Putting the “active” in activist

Energy and enthusiasm are important, but action turns your good intentions into real results. That means you need to be an active participant in your own story. It means not expecting others to spoon-feed you information you could easily find yourself.

If you’re asking group leaders questions that can easily be answered by a quick Google search, it’s time to buckle down and do your homework. And peppering group leaders with questions like, “What should I do if my hairdresser is MAGA?” or “What should I put on my protest sign?” is a colossal suck on their time and energy.

The same holds true when asking leaders to provide workshops on basic skills like letter writing or how to use a Google sheet. There are free online resources that can help you learn these things on your own time. We would much rather be planning workshops on how to deescalate violence at protests, holding Know Your Rights training for immigrant allies, or organizing forums on how the proposed cuts to SNAP and Medicare would affect our community.

See the difference?

“One of the things that frustrates me is when people want all information placed into their laps,” says an organizer of a group with 1,000 members. “They say, ‘I would have participated if you told me sooner.’ I can’t hold your hand. You must proactively engage with groups that post and share events and information.”

Learning to follow directions

Small details matter, and ignoring simple instructions—such as using established tools for communication or showing up on the right day or standing ten feet back from the street when asked—can make life for your organizers more difficult than necessary. If you are instructed to sign up for an event using a link, use the link. If you are told to stand back and ignore counter protesters, do just that.

Another common frustration among leaders happens when their in-boxes, social media feeds, and voicemails explode with a slew of suggestions on how to reinvent the wheel when the wheel is already in motion.

Case in point: I’d just started raising money to purchase Red Cards using a popular fundraising platform. The cards are printed with Know Your Rights information for at-risk people, and are known throughout the immigrant community as Red Cards. Within an hour of my post, a new member suggested I get quotes from a local printer (already done) and another told me I should be using a different platform (already researched). Then another new member told me that the Red Cards shouldn’t be red!

It's enough to drive a person straight into a bottle.

Understanding the difference between strategic and performative activism

Strategic actions have a specific goal, are well-planned, and are designed to have a clear impact. Performative actions give the illusion of allyship or action, but fail to deliver either. (Think about those who posted a black square as their profile pic to protest police brutality). And satisfying actions—like venting on social media—don’t usually accomplish much.

Believe me, we’ve all engaged in performative activism at one time or another. It’s a very human and understandable thing to do, especially when you feel powerless.

So before jumping in to suggest an idea, it would be useful to ask yourself the following:

1. Is what I’m proposing designed to make me feel better in the moment?

2. Is what I’m proposing designed to make me look good?

3. Is what I’m proposing clear, actionable, and geared toward accomplishing meaningful results?

If it’s #3 and you have a great idea for an event, action, or protest, go ahead and bring it to the group. Just be prepared to help.

“It’s frustrating when people say ‘you should really be doing x, y, and z’ without offering help. If you can't offer help to enact your idea, it probably won’t go anywhere,” says an organizer.

It’s true. Leaders can’t do all the heavy lifting themselves. So when you have an idea, bring a few sets of hands and a rough outline of a plan with you. If it’s strategic and effective, we will all work together to help make it happen.

Let’s get to work

If you’re new to all of this, welcome! We’re glad to have you along for the ride. We need your energy and dedication in this fight, and know that activism isn’t easy. It means embracing responsibility and initiative, learning from those who have gone before us, and striving to be a positive part of the solution. It also means weathering some growing pains.

I truly believe that no one is going to save us but us, so please stay engaged. This work is long, frustrating, and about as glamorous as an Excel document, but nothing else in the world feels better than when it works.