Friends,
The journey in US democracy is… well… dramatic. We encourage folks to keep Finding Steady Ground and pay attention to what's inside your heart and your friends' hearts as much as the drama of the news.
Much of Choose Democracy's work has been connecting resources and groups. We’ve held numerous meetings and provided training to support scenario planning. (Contact us if you want us to help you with your group.)
We participated in one of the planning sessions organized by the Brennan Center, which has since been written up in mainstream newspapers, including The Guardian. These included high-ranking (retired) military, anti-Trump Republican operatives, DC insiders, and a few of us coming from grassroots organizing.
After 5 role-plays, their general conclusion: "the courts cannot be relied upon as the primary means of staving off Trump’s attacks…we [cannot] count on the military in a Trump world…" Ultimately? "Public opinion, mobilized by a powerful communications strategy, can help set boundaries on authoritarian behavior."
That's us — and the many, many people who would need to be activated. So…… what shall we do?
We have not found a clear organizing table or coalition that has this at their forefront. Meanwhile, we've been trying to assemble the best writing and thinking we can find about what a massive organized movement could look like.
Here's what we've found so far:
What Will You Do If Trump Wins?
Since Kamala Harris was selected as Presidential candidate, we've updated the book! The book now explores storylines if Harris wins and Trump attempts a coup. These additions add new layers of intrigue and relevance, reflecting the contemporary challenges we face. We also updated the title to make clear — this isn't a book about bad things happening if Trump wins, it's about exploring what we do in response.
The book continues to include the most comprehensive thinking we've seen in public about what a sustained movement would look like against a Trump autocracy.
People have been using this book in classes, group meetings, great online interviews, and even Sunday school classes! Contact us and we can ship multiple books at discount.
You can explore the entire book for free online or order the book at: whatiftrumpwins.org
Waging Nonviolence: Democracy is a Verb
Once again, we have been partnering with Waging Nonviolence to provide resources on how to stem the rising authoritarian tide. George Lakey and other researchers have gathered together a collection of those resources, divided into sections highlighting: conversations with experienced organizers and movement thinkers and original reporting and analysis from the frontlines of the democracy struggle.
We have lessons from activists who have battled authoritarianism Hungary, helped overthrow apartheid in South Africa, rebounded against political violence in the US, and overthrew their dictator in Serbia. This week they just released a great interview with Scot Nakagawa talking about what US folks need to do now to learn from other movements. We have more interviews from Brazil and more being added soon…
Anti-Authoritarian Podcast
We wanted to lift up the work of one of our ally organizations: the 22nd Century Initiative. Like Waging Nonviolence's work, they've been exploring the US assault on democracy already taking place.
Their first podcast is with Suzanne Pharr reflecting on the historic No on 9 Campaign thirty years ago in Oregon, and what democracy defenders must do in this moment to block a total authoritarian takeover.
Their most recent podcast, with Hardy Merriman and Naomi Washington-Leapheart , explores how we respond to the growing threat of political violence and how our new initiative with the Horizons Project, HOPE PV, can help make it backfire.
You can explore their podcast at: https://convergencemag.com/podcast-shows/anti-authoritarian-podcast/
If you find resources like this helpful, first donate to groups working on getting the election right — if you're still feeling generous you can
chip in to support our work financially. Thanks for your support and all your efforts.
With gratitude,
The Choose Democracy Team
