Action Trumps Hate emerged from an obsessive desire to understand the 2016 Presidential election. In the days after Donald Trump’s unexpected win I scanned Facebook and Twitter constantly, searching for the one article that would explain to me why people voted for someone who had to loudly and insistently insulted so many of us with his words, his actions, his whole life.
Unsurprisingly, I didn’t find the answer I was looking for.
Instead, what I discovered was an overwhelming call to action, a hunger to get out and do something to honor and protect America. Yes, that sounds dramatic, but that’s really how it feels out there right now. So, using the media platform that we’ve spent the better part of a decade building here at Brooklyn Based, we’ve started #actiontrumpshate, a weekly email that delivers one action, and how and why you should embrace it, to your inbox each week. I read all the social media, all the articles, call all the organizers and politicians to tell you how to be most effective in standing against racism, sexism, xenophobia, hate and abuse of power this week.
This column will be wide ranging. Some weeks I’ll ask you to make phone calls, donate or volunteer, others weeks I’ll give you a reading assignment or an overview of a movement. I’ll approach it from many different angles, including traditional political organizing, like electing more Democrats and participating in your local government, as well as ways to change the system radically–the burn it down and make it new point of view. I’ll cover the Electoral College, race, LGBTQ rights, immigration, religious freedom, reproductive rights, all in good time. #actiontrumphates will sometimes have a New York City focus, but it will always be applicable to every democracy-defending soul who wants to take action, so share with people all over, not just in Brooklyn.
Right now we’re triaging this 10 car pile-up of a year, but make no mistake, we should all be playing the long game here. We need to snap in and commit to political and personal action for the foreseeable future, #actiontrumpshate is here to help you do that.
