How to fight Trump, starting right now

Anil Dash says that once we finish grieving, we need to organize. Start by figuring out who's already fighting for racial justice, against climate change, and for civil rights (including LBGTQ rights and women's rights) in your community and commit to helping them.

Equally important: "Make stopping Trump a regular habit." That means that when the media starts running puff pieces to humanize Trump and his inner circle, remind people that Trump is on the record as being a pro-torture, racist, misogynist, rapey authoritarian. Dash says that you should commit to having two anti-Trump days every week where you "do basic community-building acts like connecting with others around direct action or advocacy campaigns" like "contact elected officials, support candidates who will run for office, work with community organizations to support those in need, or simply talk to your friends and neighbors about the work that needs to be done."

Finally Dash urges us to "Take care of yourself and others" as the demoralizing years roll out ahead of us, we need to recognize that "we'll get tired and afraid and exhausted, and when we're not, we'll have to help those around us who are."

Organizations fighting for civil rights and social justice already exist in your community. Take the time, now, to research who is providing for essentials like food and water security, education, shelter, legal representation, and policy advocacy on behalf of people at risk.

Commit to showing up to help. We all have an overwhelming number of obligations to our lives, our families, our friends and to our work and careers. It's hard to give up the one night a week we might spend hanging out, watching Netflix, but if that's the night of the City Council meeting, or when your local elected official has a public hearing, it's time to show up. Building real, sustainable infrastructure to protect those in need is a job that can't only be done virtually, or remotely. We've got to show up.

Start fundraising, now. Once you've found the organizations doing the work in your community, commit what resources you can to supporting them, and begin helping them come up with ways to be sustainable over the long term. Local businesses are going to be key to providing necessary resources (whether that's in-kind offerings or simply funding) and the time to capture their good intentions is right now while they're still feeling the full weight of Trump's win. If companies in your community say they want to do the right thing, give them the chance to.

Forget "Why?", it's time to get to work.
[Anil Dash/Medium]