Song to Sing All Over This Land

In case you missed this in my first post, to celebrate "Giving Tuesday", p ut some worthy organizations "on the drip" (monthly recurring automatic donation).  Here are the ones I have researched and believe to do great work for civil rights: ACLU Southern Poverty Law Center  (especially their fantastic curriculum for schools, "Teaching Tolerance") Planned Parenthood I also added a local environmental organization to my giving list, namely The River Otter Ecology project , which does research on river otters to the benefit of the health of our watersheds here in the Bay Area. What grassroots organizations fight for your local community?  How can you support them?

Recommend this movie, "Denial," about Deborah Lipstadt, an American professor of Holocaust Studies who fought a notorious British Holocaust denier named David Irving in a British court. Review and interview on NPR: http://www.npr.org/2016/10/02/496317258/denial-recounts-professors-legal-battle-with-holocaust-denier

Support the incredibly brave Native American men, women and youth (as well as supporters) protesting the Dakota Access Pipeline. They seek to prevent destruction of precious water, not only where they live, but also for millions who would be affected downstream from an oil spill. You can send a message, sign a petition, make a phone call. You can send money to help pay for blankets, heaters, food, etc. as the winter season has arrived. And of course, you can join them at the site of the protest, or in solidarity from wherever you live. http://standwithstandingrock.net/ The choices we make every day shape the world we live in, and the world we leave for future generations. Make a choice to do One Good Thing each day to improve your life and the lives of others.

So, I love it that Laurie has joined as a blog author here!!  A genuinely good-hearted feisty and brilliant woman. Action Ideas for Today: 1. Support real news!  Expanding on what Laurie wrote about making sure you're reading real news, if you have the money, support real news by subscribing or donating.  I've just rearranged my spending plan so I can pay for a New York Times subscription as well as an online subscription to The Guardian . Other ideas for legitimate journalism (although always do your sanity-checks even with these): Washington Post BBC Wall Street Journal NPR 2. Get real about narcissists!  I have no doubt that #45 is a raging narcissist (or the very least, borderline personality) and I mean this in a "DSM V" kind of way.  What does that mean to you and me?  It means we have to accept the idea that no amount of shaming or negative attention will convince him to change his behavior.  Blasting shaming tweets at him?  Not worth it.  We

The choices we make every day shape the world we live in, and the world we leave for future generations. Make a choice to do One Good Thing each day to improve your life and the lives of others. One good thing: Share this link to help reduce the effect of "fake news." http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/fake-news-guide-facebook_us_5831c6aae4b058ce7aaba169

I was pointed to this very beautifully-made site (started by two women) called (W)ALL OF US. It promises to give concrete actions to block harmful action that Trump takes and resist the tide of bigotry that his campaign has emboldened. https://www.wall-of-us.org/ So your action idea for today is to go sign up with these gals! In their own words: he promised a wall. he will be stopped by a wall of us. FOUR CONCRETE ACTS OF RESISTANCE DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX EACH WEEK

A silver lining these days, for me, is the energizing sense that I can be useful. And I would advocate to my sisters and brothers (all over this land...) that in order to be really sharp and have stamina for a freedom fight, we need to take radically good care of ourselves. Today's Action Ideas: 1. Get fit for the fight!  So, if you haven't already, step away from the cacophony for a little while.  Put that oxygen mask on yourself so you can help others. For me, this takes the form of eating real food.  It's helpful that industrial, junky, soul-sucking "food" reminds me so directly of the President-Elect.  Exhibit A: the Cheeto.  Florescent orange, fatty, salty, sugary, made from all kinds of Monsanto madness and chock full of lies and illness. Get some sleep, exercise, get fresh air (while you can.)  Here are some of my favorite resources on eating and living well: Forks Over Knives Kris Carr Rich Roll 2. Make a phone call to your representativ

With apologies and thanks to Pete Seeger and Lee Hays, I start this little blog with the "If I Had a Hammer" song running through my head, giving me hope in what feels like a dark and scary time. Every day since the election of November 9, 2016, I have found inspirations and actions that I can take to fight to keep our civil rights and voice my solidarity with peace-loving people. And I want to compile them here, mostly for myself.  But if they are helpful to someone else, great.  I want to share in this space-that-is-not-Facebook. My intention is to post at least one thing a day that someone like me could do - beyond the shouting into the echo chamber - to rise up, defeat racism, protect the vulnerable, speak truth to power and contribute to the beautiful thing that is a civil society.  I have been so extraordinarily lucky to have been born in this time and in this place and experience the freedoms that everyone should have - and I feel those freedoms are being threa