How to Fight for Social Justice and Build a Better Community—Using What You've Already Got
I Have...
...Ears
Ask friends, coworkers, and neighbors how you can support them.
Listen to immigrants, people of color, Muslims, women, LGBTQ folks, people with disabilities.... (If you start to feel defensive, take a deep breath ... and keep listening)
Become a member of the Women’s Foundation of Oregon and join its upcoming community discussions at its Old Town HQ.
- Talk: The Wealth Gap (April 3)
- Talk: Mental Health (May 2)
- Talk: Economic Fragility (June 6)
Subscribe to podcasts that keep you engaged and entertained.
I Have...A Phone
Call Congress every day to share/shout your concerns with your state reps or committee heads. (It takes less than two minutes to call a congressional office. Do it!)
Sign up for Daily Action Alerts.
Organize a calling party.
Aim for your Twitter to be less than 25 percent white men.
They say our new president "tells it like it is" - but what's the debate about #PCculture really about? https://t.co/dxbaqFtR2y #PC
— Everyday Feminism (@EvrydayFeminism) March 14, 2017
I Have...Netflix & a Library Card
Read books that paved the way for intersectional feminism, question the status quo, and make you think/laugh/cry. (Remember when you read things besides Twitter?).
- Bitch Planet, Kelly Sue DeConnick
- Men Explain Things to Me, Rebecca Solnit
- Redefining Realness, Janet Mock
- Bad Feminist, Roxane Gay
- This Bridge Called My Back: Writings by Radical Women of Color
- Octavia's Brood: Science Fiction Stories from Social Justice Movements
Watch smart documentaries, social satires, and women-helmed films and TV.
- Full Frontal with Samantha Bee
- Jennie Livingston‘s Paris Is Burning
- 9 to 5, starring ‘80s-era Dolly Parton
- 13th, a crushing doc on the US prison system from Selma director Ava DuVernay
I Have...Lots of Friends
Start a book club or documentary night exploring stories by underrepresented voices.
Attend a protest (or, at the very least, stop badmouthing protesters).
Help locals transition out of homelessness by volunteering to prepare meals, style hair, or sort donations at Transition Projects.
Last night we provided a safe, warm space to sleep to an additional 300 folks in our severe weather shelters! #wehousepdx #emergencyshelter
— Transition Projects (@transitionpro) December 16, 2016
I Have...Time
Become a mentor for nontraditional female students through Portland State University’s Women’s Mentorship Program.
Hop on a bus chartered by the Bus Project—a nonpartisan advocacy group that organizes freewheelin’ volunteer canvassing road trips. Perks: free meals, face time with US senators and govs.
Tutor immigrant and refugee children through Portland’s Immigrant & Refugee Community Organization. (Bonus points if you speak Somali, Karen, Burmese, Nepali, Arabic, Spanish, Russian, Ukrainian, or Vietnamese!)
I Have...Money
Run for office with the support of orgs that help women become successful candidates. (I guarantee you’re more qualified than, ahem, some people.)
Spend your cash at businesses run by women and minorities.
Donate to organizations you believe in.
...I Can't Even
Go outside. Take deep breaths. Don’t look at the news for an hour (or even a day). Then get back to work.
Visit lady-owned sex shop She Bop. (Treat yo'self!)
Get strong. Take a class at McConnell’s Boxing Academy. Learn self-defense at WomenStrength. Perfect your deadlift at Liberation Barbell.
Pet (and even adopt!) a new furry friend at Pixie Project or the Oregon Humane Society.
