The April 5 Hands Off! (Shut It Down!) protests brought 5 million people into the streets in 50 states -- a true show of resistance. But to really stop Trump, we need to organize and strategize.
The story behind the story, Sat. was a tremendous success in any manner of determination or description: size, geography, enthusiasm, sign cleverness, age range, etc. How did it happen? How did it come about? Of course, there were Indivisible and "Hands Off" doing great work, but there was more. [Here is a quote from the Guardian about the"Hands Off" rallies around the world. "Protesters rallied in Frankfurt, Berlin, Paris, London and Lisbon, all in a united show of opposition against Trump’s policies." ]Much more. Who were some of the people that have been working, fighting, in one manner or another, to bring about this national day of protest--and all the days to follow--needed to win this war against Trump/Musk et al and save our democracy. With the millions of heroic protestors out with signs (or just standing in solidarity) , this April 5th (actually any and all days of protesting Trump/Musk, Tesla or any other issue), here's an updated partial list of those fighting back, foreign and domestic, every day [as of 4-6--25] I'm also adding courageous law firms who haven't caved. Besides upstanding lawyers (e.g. Brenna Trout Frey, and law-abiding honorable (present and former) judges (including James Boasberg, chief judge, D.C. District Ct.), here's a growing list of Profiles in Courage men, women, and advocacy groups who refuse to be cowed or kneel to the force of Trump/Musk/MAGA/Fox "News" intimidation:
I'll begin (again) with Missouri's own indomitable Jess[ica] (à la John Lewis's "get in good trouble") Piper/"The View from Rural Missouri," then, in no particular order, Francie Garber Pepper (1940-2025), Heather Cox Richardson/"Letters from an American," Joyce Vance/"Civil Discourse," Bernie Sanders, AOC, Rep. Maxwell Frost,, Gov. Tim walz, Sarah Inama, Rev. Mariann Edgar Budde, Rev. William J. Barber II, Jasmine Crockett, Adam Smith, Jamie Raskin, Ken Harbaugh. Ruth Ben-Ghait, Rachel Maddow, Lawrence O'Donnell, Chris Hayes, Ali Velshi, Prof. Lawrence Tribe, Stephanie Miller, Gov. Janet Mills, Gov. Beshear, Gov. JB.Pritzker, Gov. Kathy Hochul, Amb. Susan Rice, Mayor Michelle Wu, Jim Acosta, Jen Rubin And the Contrarians, Dan Rather, Robert Reich, Jay Kou, Steve Brodner, Rachel Cohen, Brian TylerCohen, Jessica Craven, Scott Dworkin, Brett Meiselas, Joy Reid, D. Earl Stevens, Melvin Gurai, Dan Pfeiffer, Anand Giridharadas Anne Applebaum, Lucian Truscott IV, Chris Murphy, Cory Booker, Jeff Merkley, Michael Bennett, Elizabeth Warren, Tammy Duckworth, Sheldon Whitehouse, Adam Schiff, Jon Ossoff, Elyssa Slotkin, Tristan Snell, Delia Ramirez,Tim Snyder, Robert B. Hubbell, Ben Meiseilas, Rich wilson, Ron Filpkowski, Jeremy Seahill, Thom Hartmann, Jonathan Bernstein, Simon Rosenberg, Marianne Williamson, Mark Fiore, Jamie Raskin, Rebecca Solnit, Steve Schmidt, Josh Marshall, Paul Krugman, Andy Borowitz, Jeff Danziger, Ann Telnaes,͏ ͏Will Bunch, Jim Hightower, Dan Pfeifer, Dean Obeidallah, Michel Zeitgeist, Liz Cheney, Adam Kimzinger, Cassidy Hutchinson, John Cusack, Judd Legum (Popular Information) Qasim Rachid, Sue Nethercott, Mary L. trump, Rep. Pramila Jayapal, Jjonathan V Last, Sarah Longwell, Andrew Egger, Aaron Parnas, Rep.Don Beyer, Greg Olear
American Bar Association, 23 blue state Attorney Generals, Indivisible. FiftyFifty one, MoveOn, DemCast, Blue Missouri, Third Act, Democracy Forward, Public Citizen, Democracy Index, Protect Democracy, DemocracyLabs, Fred Wellman/On Democracy, Hands Off, Marc Elias/Democracy Docket, Public Citizen, League of Women Voters, Lambda Legal, CREW, CODEPINK, ACLU, The 19th/Errin Haines, Working Families Party, American Oversight, Every State Blue, Run for Something, Jessica Valenti/Abortion Everyday, The American Manifesto, The Dr. Martin Luther King Center, Bulwark Media, Bill Kristol/all NeverTrumpers, The States Project, Field Team 6, The Union,AICN ( last 4 all from North Carolina) The Lincoln Project,Blue Wave, Blue Future, The Civic Center, Olivia Troy,The Politics Girl, The Dean's List/ Dean Obeidallah,
And, as Joyce Vance says, "We're in this together"--or via Jess Piper, from rural Missouri: "Solidarity." FIGHT BACK! WE ARE NOT ALONE! (Latest addition h/t , Robert B. Hubbell: Law firms, see below). All suggestions are welcome.
* Perkins Coie and Covington & Burling have resisted Trump, fighting back with the help of other courageous firms like Williams & Connolly. Per The ABA Journal, Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr, representing fired inspectors general. (Law.com)
Hogan Lovells, seeking to block executive orders to end federal funding for gender-affirming medical care. (Law.com)
Jenner & Block, also seeking to block the orders on cuts to medical research funding. (Law.com, Reuters)
Ropes & Gray, also seeking to block cuts to medical research funding. (Law.com)
Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, representing the Amica Center for Immigrants Rights and others seeking to block funding cuts for immigrant legal services. (Law.com)
Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer.
Wilmer Hale
Keker, Van Nest & Peters
Southern Poverty Law Center
500 law firms joined a court brief supporting Perkins Coie lawsuit against the Trump Administration.
Perhaps I should add our nation's motto--and on our Great Seal--the phrase "E pluribus unum" (out of many, One ). Ii's 13 letters makes its use symbolic of the original 13 Colonies which rebelled against the rule of the Kingdom of George III . . .And now we protest together against King Donald. As my rural MO. indomitable Jess Piper always says: "Solidarity."
P.S. I have misplaced several suggested additions. Pls provide names again if you don't see them listed. My bad. Thanks.
Your post makes an excellent point! From the beginning of this travesty, I keep hearing the cries of, "We won't take this! America demands better!" but no one (myself included) seems to know WHAT TO DO beyond protesting in the streets. Support for throwing out this administration doesn't seem to be a problem among the citizens. The problem is the checks and balances aren't working because those responsible for maintaining those checks and balances aren't standing up to the executive branch. THIS is where we need action. The ballot box is a threat only to Congress, and not for another year. So very much can happen in a year. If we continue to demonstrate and protest without a plan for moving beyond that, I fear that the administration will make protests illegal in the near future.
”We have not had a progressive movement that has found a way to name the commons, as I think of what we need: the common basic de minimus needs and demands that every American should have."
For instance, at the protest I attended someone carried a sign reading No New Nukes, as if we're in 1985.
We won't get anywhere without focusing hard on medicaid, medicare, cancer research, social security and retirement investments, climate change, human rights, due process... I'm missing some, I'm sure, that are among the commons. But the point is that there is enough right here that will speak to, rather than alienate, the disengaged center.
Very well said on every front. It seems more more of us are getting better educated and motivated to sustain ourselves and trust the prowess. Yesterday was a great day start but just a drop in the bucket. We can rest for a quick minute but we need to keep getting out there and doing our individual part.
Portland Oregon had speakers, 2 march options (one 2.2 miles and the other 1 miles) and then apparently info booths and a dance party. They did have trouble with speakers loud enough for everyone to hear the speakers but otherwise good bookending of info on groups to join, etc.
Some personal thoughts on thinking and acting strategically when following up the April 5th nationwide rallies:
1. Create an informal steering committee of the marvelous organizations that came together to network this beautiful day of nationwide protests. Have the steering committee ask each previously involved organization and any other organizations that might come out of the woodwork to send back to it one-line descriptions of three key threats to civil society and governance that the country faces right now (especially those the current administration is fueling). Note - each organization should only suggest three threats (essentially giving the steering committee each organization’s priority threats in this process). Compile a list of all these submissions, ranking the threats by the frequency of mention across all organizations responding.
2. Then communicate the entire compiled list (with descriptions) with the organizations that made submissions AND as widely as possible using public media. When doing this round of priority threat communication, add a call for action suggestions (to be communicated back to the steering committee) from organizations for at least the top three threats on the compiled list. Have the steering committee compile and publicize a list of legal and “doable” actions, along with “how to” suggestions that address the top three threats once the organizational responses have been received.
3. Then have the steering committee network again with the original organizing groups to have them each identify with/claim actions they want to sponsor in the communities they link to AND get them to commit to participating in these same actions nationwide. Create a calendar of ongoing rallies and actions.
Don’t force a homogenized and bland action agenda. Focus action on the key threats, but when doing so, allow the energy to build from the grassroots level into a national network of action cells. Allow for individual organizations to retain their identities while giving them coordinated bits of strategy and communications support. Through an iterative process with short turnaround cycles for information gathering, create a clean scaffolding for nationwide actions and coherence, while allowing existing organizations and the people who identify with them to retain ownership of the strategies, actions, and outcomes.
The steering committee’s role would primarily be defined as strategizing, communicating, and coordinating a growing wave of nationwide rallies and demonstrations that ultimately individual organizations would push to implement publicly in a coordinated fashion. Key questions for the steering committee’s activities to address: What are the priority threats (as defined by a broad cross section of civic organizations) to civil society and governance in the United States today? What do we want the future of civil society and governance to look like and be? What collective actions can individual organizations take to make this preferred future a reality? What resources and timeline will be required? How can action be sustained for as long as it takes?
Points One and Two are exactly what's on the agenda tonight and tomorrow with NY groups. I am seeking to avoid any duplication of effort, too, and really be focused on the top threats. You are seeing this clearly ... wanna join? :) - ac
How can I be of assistance? Democracy is a participatory movement. I don’t have any background in community organizing, but I do know from personal experience that the decline in civic engagement desperately needs to be reversed. I am on the west coast (Oregon), so time zone differences can be a challenge. But I have some flexibility with my schedule most days! If you’d benefit from having email and phone contact info, please feel free to DM me.
Next steps include going to your congressperson's local office and letting them know what's important to you -- like maybe doing their job reining in the abuses from the executive branch. they're following the news like everyone else and they see that people are not rolling over for the tyrant. Showing up in person is way more effective than phone calls or emails or signing petitions. also keep manifesting in public -- next action is April 19. follow 50501.org and its local affiliates. read Rebecca Solnit's Substack.
Yes and we want to seek and get pledges of action - and non-cooperation with Trump directives— from not only our Congress but state legislators, and also the military, law enforcemeny, but private sectors too: banks, universities, law firms, etc.
While I agree with your larger point about agreement on baseline common principles to move forward, the juxtaposition of your larger argument with the Corey Booker observation underlines the challenge. US government- Trump, Biden, Harris, Booker- support of Israel’s heinous war on Palestinians is such an affront to human rights and basic decency that where does one draw the line with those who may support a constitutional order in opposition to Trump/Musk but justify Israel’s genocidal acts as self- defense. I don’t have an easy answer but defining bottom lines regarding a united front is not a simple matter
I hear you. But we can define a few consensus priority agenda. And we must seek pledges of non-cooperation with tyranny from our elected Democratic reps and exert civic pressure on them to uphold our Constitution and rule of law.
Superb. As always in this huge diverse country, we need a freedom and justice movement that is agile, that can recognize and raise up where local forces move on a vulnerability or fracture in the other side. From such initiatives, something powerful can both emerge and be built. The Teslatakedown is a current example. Raise up where the action is always.
After being rendered mute after the election, I hosted a retreat for 4 friends equally distraught. I called it "A Place to Be". It is growing steadily and has evolved into a center-minded supportive community embracing decency, freedom and justice. We support principled leaders and organizations, and share ideas that promote wellness and inspiration to do good. We gather, vent, exhale and then get to work! We use #LearnMoreDoMore and #TellAFriend to keep us inspired. We share a periodic one page .pdf communication called "One Ask" to keep it simple along with a poem, art or inspirational quote to help sustain our efforts.
Here is an example of One Ask (raw text version of .pdf graphic)
The What:
- The March 25th Newsletter from Congressman Rich McCormick (GA 7th) reveals that he and FL Rep Salazar have written a letter to the White House RE "violations of democratic principles and human rights” in Brazil, which they call a “critically important nation”.
- Let’s call our friends Rich and Maria and agree with their patriotic statements above in red. Let’s praise them for recognizing this “alarming deterioration of democracy”.
- And then, let’s shred them for their convenient blindness and call out their hypocrisy for allowing these very things to happen in our own country!
The How:
Call:
Rich McCormick 202-225-4272
Maria Salazar 202-225-3931
Modify as you see fit:
This is ______, from _____. I wanted to thank you for recognizing the alarming deterioration of democracy in Brazil! When are you going to recognize and stand up to the very same thing happening in your own country? YOU MUST uphold the Constitution as you swore an oath to do and YOU MUST stop this administration’s recklessness and destruction of democracy.
We are sorting it out as we go, not striving for perfection, allowing things to be fluid and allowing the mission to evolve as required. We have begun to strategize with our local Dems group and will assist their efforts to turn our county and state Blue. We are not a formal entity and we are 100% volunteer based. We use our voice, our vote and our wallets and we stand ready to help!
The story behind the story, Sat. was a tremendous success in any manner of determination or description: size, geography, enthusiasm, sign cleverness, age range, etc. How did it happen? How did it come about? Of course, there were Indivisible and "Hands Off" doing great work, but there was more. [Here is a quote from the Guardian about the"Hands Off" rallies around the world. "Protesters rallied in Frankfurt, Berlin, Paris, London and Lisbon, all in a united show of opposition against Trump’s policies." ]Much more. Who were some of the people that have been working, fighting, in one manner or another, to bring about this national day of protest--and all the days to follow--needed to win this war against Trump/Musk et al and save our democracy. With the millions of heroic protestors out with signs (or just standing in solidarity) , this April 5th (actually any and all days of protesting Trump/Musk, Tesla or any other issue), here's an updated partial list of those fighting back, foreign and domestic, every day [as of 4-6--25] I'm also adding courageous law firms who haven't caved. Besides upstanding lawyers (e.g. Brenna Trout Frey, and law-abiding honorable (present and former) judges (including James Boasberg, chief judge, D.C. District Ct.), here's a growing list of Profiles in Courage men, women, and advocacy groups who refuse to be cowed or kneel to the force of Trump/Musk/MAGA/Fox "News" intimidation:I'll begin (again) with Missouri's own indomitable Jess[ica] (à la John Lewis's "get in good trouble") Piper/"The View from Rural Missouri," then, in no particular order, Francie Garber Pepper (1940-2025), Heather Cox Richardson/"Letters from an American," Joyce Vance/"Civil Discourse," Bernie Sanders, AOC, Rep. Maxwell Frost,, Gov. Tim walz, Sarah Inama, Rev. Mariann Edgar Budde, Rev. William J. Barber II, Jasmine Crockett, Adam Smith, Jamie Raskin, Ken Harbaugh. Ruth Ben-Ghait, Rachel Maddow, Lawrence O'Donnell, Chris Hayes, Ali Velshi, Prof. Lawrence Tribe, Stephanie Miller, Gov. Janet Mills, Gov. Beshear, Gov. JB.Pritzker, Gov. Kathy Hochul, Amb. Susan Rice, Mayor Michelle Wu, Jim Acosta, Jen Rubin And the Contrarians, Dan Rather, Robert Reich, Jay Kou, Steve Brodner, Rachel Cohen, Brian TylerCohen, Jessica Craven, Scott Dworkin, Brett Meiselas, Joy Reid, D. Earl Stevens, Melvin Gurai, Dan Pfeiffer, Anand Giridharadas Anne Applebaum, Lucian Truscott IV, Chris Murphy, Cory Booker, Jeff Merkley, Michael Bennett, Elizabeth Warren, Tammy Duckworth, Sheldon Whitehouse, Adam Schiff, Jon Ossoff, Elyssa Slotkin, Tristan Snell, Delia Ramirez,Tim Snyder, Robert B. Hubbell, Ben Meiseilas, Rich wilson, Ron Filpkowski, Jeremy Seahill, Thom Hartmann, Jonathan Bernstein, Simon Rosenberg, Marianne Williamson, Mark Fiore, Jamie Raskin, Rebecca Solnit, Steve Schmidt, Josh Marshall, Paul Krugman, Andy Borowitz, Jeff Danziger, Ann Telnaes,͏ ͏Will Bunch, Jim Hightower, Dan Pfeifer, Dean Obeidallah, Michel Zeitgeist, Liz Cheney, Adam Kimzinger, Cassidy Hutchinson, John Cusack, Judd Legum (Popular Information) Qasim Rachid, Sue Nethercott, Mary L. trump, Rep. Pramila Jayapal, Jonathan V Last, Sarah Longwell, Andrew Egger, Aaron Parnas, Rep.Don Beyer, Greg OlearAmerican Bar Association, 23 blue state Attorney Generals, Indivisible. FiftyFifty one, MoveOn, DemCast, Blue Missouri, Third Act, Democracy Forward, Public Citizen, Democracy Index, Protect Democracy, DemocracyLabs, Fred Wellman/On Democracy, Hands Off, Marc Elias/Democracy Docket, Public Citizen, League of Women Voters, Lambda Legal, CREW, CODEPINK, ACLU, The 19th/Errin Haines, Working Families Party, American Oversight, Every State Blue, Run for Something, Jessica Valenti/Abortion Everyday, The American Manifesto, The Dr. Martin Luther King Center, Bulwark Media, Bill Kristol/all NeverTrumpers, The States Project, Field Team 6, The Union,AICN ( last 4 all from North Carolina) The Lincoln Project,Blue Wave, Blue Future, The Civic Center, Olivia Troy,The Politics Girl, The Dean's List/ Dean Obeidallah,And, as Joyce Vance says, "We're in this together"--or via Jess Piper, from rural Missouri: "Solidarity." FIGHT BACK! WE ARE NOT ALONE! (Latest addition h/t , Robert B. Hubbell: Law firms, see below). All suggestions are welcome.* Perkins Coie and Covington & Burling have resisted Trump, fighting back with the help of other courageous firms like Williams & Connolly. Per The ABA Journal, Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr, representing fired inspectors general. (Law.com)Hogan Lovells, seeking to block executive orders to end federal funding for gender-affirming medical care. (Law.com)Jenner & Block, also seeking to block the orders on cuts to medical research funding. (Law.com, Reuters)Ropes & Gray, also seeking to block cuts to medical research funding. (Law.com)Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, representing the Amica Center for Immigrants Rights and others seeking to block funding cuts for immigrant legal services. (Law.com)Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer.Wilmer HaleKeker, Van Nest & PetersSouthern Poverty Law CenterPerhaps I should add our nation's motto--and on our Great Seal--the phrase "E pluribus unum" (out of many, One ). Ii's 13 letters makes its use symbolic of the original 13 Colonies which rebelled against the rule of the Kingdom of George III . . .And now we protest together against King Donald. As my rural MO. indomitable Jess Piper always says: "Solidarity."P.S. I have misplaced several suggested additions. Pls provide names again if you don't see them listed. My bad. Thanks.
The story behind the story, Sat. was a tremendous success in any manner of determination or description: size, geography, enthusiasm, sign cleverness, age range, etc. How did it happen? How did it come about? Of course, there were Indivisible and "Hands Off" doing great work, but there was more. [Here is a quote from the Guardian about the"Hands Off" rallies around the world. "Protesters rallied in Frankfurt, Berlin, Paris, London and Lisbon, all in a united show of opposition against Trump’s policies." ]Much more. Who were some of the people that have been working, fighting, in one manner or another, to bring about this national day of protest--and all the days to follow--needed to win this war against Trump/Musk et al and save our democracy. With the millions of heroic protestors out with signs (or just standing in solidarity) , this April 5th (actually any and all days of protesting Trump/Musk, Tesla or any other issue), here's an updated partial list of those fighting back, foreign and domestic, every day [as of 4-6--25] I'm also adding courageous law firms who haven't caved. Besides upstanding lawyers (e.g. Brenna Trout Frey, and law-abiding honorable (present and former) judges (including James Boasberg, chief judge, D.C. District Ct.), here's a growing list of Profiles in Courage men, women, and advocacy groups who refuse to be cowed or kneel to the force of Trump/Musk/MAGA/Fox "News" intimidation:
I'll begin (again) with Missouri's own indomitable Jess[ica] (à la John Lewis's "get in good trouble") Piper/"The View from Rural Missouri," then, in no particular order, Francie Garber Pepper (1940-2025), Heather Cox Richardson/"Letters from an American," Joyce Vance/"Civil Discourse," Bernie Sanders, AOC, Rep. Maxwell Frost,, Gov. Tim walz, Sarah Inama, Rev. Mariann Edgar Budde, Rev. William J. Barber II, Jasmine Crockett, Adam Smith, Jamie Raskin, Ken Harbaugh. Ruth Ben-Ghait, Rachel Maddow, Lawrence O'Donnell, Chris Hayes, Ali Velshi, Prof. Lawrence Tribe, Stephanie Miller, Gov. Janet Mills, Gov. Beshear, Gov. JB.Pritzker, Gov. Kathy Hochul, Amb. Susan Rice, Mayor Michelle Wu, Jim Acosta, Jen Rubin And the Contrarians, Dan Rather, Robert Reich, Jay Kou, Steve Brodner, Rachel Cohen, Brian TylerCohen, Jessica Craven, Scott Dworkin, Brett Meiselas, Joy Reid, D. Earl Stevens, Melvin Gurai, Dan Pfeiffer, Anand Giridharadas Anne Applebaum, Lucian Truscott IV, Chris Murphy, Cory Booker, Jeff Merkley, Michael Bennett, Elizabeth Warren, Tammy Duckworth, Sheldon Whitehouse, Adam Schiff, Jon Ossoff, Elyssa Slotkin, Tristan Snell, Delia Ramirez,Tim Snyder, Robert B. Hubbell, Ben Meiseilas, Rich wilson, Ron Filpkowski, Jeremy Seahill, Thom Hartmann, Jonathan Bernstein, Simon Rosenberg, Marianne Williamson, Mark Fiore, Jamie Raskin, Rebecca Solnit, Steve Schmidt, Josh Marshall, Paul Krugman, Andy Borowitz, Jeff Danziger, Ann Telnaes,͏ ͏Will Bunch, Jim Hightower, Dan Pfeifer, Dean Obeidallah, Michel Zeitgeist, Liz Cheney, Adam Kimzinger, Cassidy Hutchinson, John Cusack, Judd Legum (Popular Information) Qasim Rachid, Sue Nethercott, Mary L. trump, Rep. Pramila Jayapal, Jjonathan V Last, Sarah Longwell, Andrew Egger, Aaron Parnas, Rep.Don Beyer, Greg Olear
American Bar Association, 23 blue state Attorney Generals, Indivisible. FiftyFifty one, MoveOn, DemCast, Blue Missouri, Third Act, Democracy Forward, Public Citizen, Democracy Index, Protect Democracy, DemocracyLabs, Fred Wellman/On Democracy, Hands Off, Marc Elias/Democracy Docket, Public Citizen, League of Women Voters, Lambda Legal, CREW, CODEPINK, ACLU, The 19th/Errin Haines, Working Families Party, American Oversight, Every State Blue, Run for Something, Jessica Valenti/Abortion Everyday, The American Manifesto, The Dr. Martin Luther King Center, Bulwark Media, Bill Kristol/all NeverTrumpers, The States Project, Field Team 6, The Union,AICN ( last 4 all from North Carolina) The Lincoln Project,Blue Wave, Blue Future, The Civic Center, Olivia Troy,The Politics Girl, The Dean's List/ Dean Obeidallah,
And, as Joyce Vance says, "We're in this together"--or via Jess Piper, from rural Missouri: "Solidarity." FIGHT BACK! WE ARE NOT ALONE! (Latest addition h/t , Robert B. Hubbell: Law firms, see below). All suggestions are welcome.
* Perkins Coie and Covington & Burling have resisted Trump, fighting back with the help of other courageous firms like Williams & Connolly. Per The ABA Journal, Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr, representing fired inspectors general. (Law.com)
Hogan Lovells, seeking to block executive orders to end federal funding for gender-affirming medical care. (Law.com)
Jenner & Block, also seeking to block the orders on cuts to medical research funding. (Law.com, Reuters)
Ropes & Gray, also seeking to block cuts to medical research funding. (Law.com)
Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, representing the Amica Center for Immigrants Rights and others seeking to block funding cuts for immigrant legal services. (Law.com)
Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer.
Wilmer Hale
Keker, Van Nest & Peters
Southern Poverty Law Center
500 law firms joined a court brief supporting Perkins Coie lawsuit against the Trump Administration.
Perhaps I should add our nation's motto--and on our Great Seal--the phrase "E pluribus unum" (out of many, One ). Ii's 13 letters makes its use symbolic of the original 13 Colonies which rebelled against the rule of the Kingdom of George III . . .And now we protest together against King Donald. As my rural MO. indomitable Jess Piper always says: "Solidarity."
P.S. I have misplaced several suggested additions. Pls provide names again if you don't see them listed. My bad. Thanks.
Thanks for the great list Larry. yes many people have mobilized. Let's hope we can see strategic action on different priority goals now, too. AC
Your post makes an excellent point! From the beginning of this travesty, I keep hearing the cries of, "We won't take this! America demands better!" but no one (myself included) seems to know WHAT TO DO beyond protesting in the streets. Support for throwing out this administration doesn't seem to be a problem among the citizens. The problem is the checks and balances aren't working because those responsible for maintaining those checks and balances aren't standing up to the executive branch. THIS is where we need action. The ballot box is a threat only to Congress, and not for another year. So very much can happen in a year. If we continue to demonstrate and protest without a plan for moving beyond that, I fear that the administration will make protests illegal in the near future.
Right now the only group I know of positing a national strike is at general strike us.com
Add your name and join the movement!
https://generalstrikeus.com/?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR5umnrX_0fxqDoDjb5VPIfID5pCpVM8XxC-4DkoICXoqzpZ7oRc30rZk7ha-w_aem_UaxaGoztcCGTCYsjtS7b6g
I liked what you wrote on finding the common:
”We have not had a progressive movement that has found a way to name the commons, as I think of what we need: the common basic de minimus needs and demands that every American should have."
For instance, at the protest I attended someone carried a sign reading No New Nukes, as if we're in 1985.
We won't get anywhere without focusing hard on medicaid, medicare, cancer research, social security and retirement investments, climate change, human rights, due process... I'm missing some, I'm sure, that are among the commons. But the point is that there is enough right here that will speak to, rather than alienate, the disengaged center.
Very well said on every front. It seems more more of us are getting better educated and motivated to sustain ourselves and trust the prowess. Yesterday was a great day start but just a drop in the bucket. We can rest for a quick minute but we need to keep getting out there and doing our individual part.
Portland Oregon had speakers, 2 march options (one 2.2 miles and the other 1 miles) and then apparently info booths and a dance party. They did have trouble with speakers loud enough for everyone to hear the speakers but otherwise good bookending of info on groups to join, etc.
Some personal thoughts on thinking and acting strategically when following up the April 5th nationwide rallies:
1. Create an informal steering committee of the marvelous organizations that came together to network this beautiful day of nationwide protests. Have the steering committee ask each previously involved organization and any other organizations that might come out of the woodwork to send back to it one-line descriptions of three key threats to civil society and governance that the country faces right now (especially those the current administration is fueling). Note - each organization should only suggest three threats (essentially giving the steering committee each organization’s priority threats in this process). Compile a list of all these submissions, ranking the threats by the frequency of mention across all organizations responding.
2. Then communicate the entire compiled list (with descriptions) with the organizations that made submissions AND as widely as possible using public media. When doing this round of priority threat communication, add a call for action suggestions (to be communicated back to the steering committee) from organizations for at least the top three threats on the compiled list. Have the steering committee compile and publicize a list of legal and “doable” actions, along with “how to” suggestions that address the top three threats once the organizational responses have been received.
3. Then have the steering committee network again with the original organizing groups to have them each identify with/claim actions they want to sponsor in the communities they link to AND get them to commit to participating in these same actions nationwide. Create a calendar of ongoing rallies and actions.
Don’t force a homogenized and bland action agenda. Focus action on the key threats, but when doing so, allow the energy to build from the grassroots level into a national network of action cells. Allow for individual organizations to retain their identities while giving them coordinated bits of strategy and communications support. Through an iterative process with short turnaround cycles for information gathering, create a clean scaffolding for nationwide actions and coherence, while allowing existing organizations and the people who identify with them to retain ownership of the strategies, actions, and outcomes.
The steering committee’s role would primarily be defined as strategizing, communicating, and coordinating a growing wave of nationwide rallies and demonstrations that ultimately individual organizations would push to implement publicly in a coordinated fashion. Key questions for the steering committee’s activities to address: What are the priority threats (as defined by a broad cross section of civic organizations) to civil society and governance in the United States today? What do we want the future of civil society and governance to look like and be? What collective actions can individual organizations take to make this preferred future a reality? What resources and timeline will be required? How can action be sustained for as long as it takes?
Hi Angus,
Points One and Two are exactly what's on the agenda tonight and tomorrow with NY groups. I am seeking to avoid any duplication of effort, too, and really be focused on the top threats. You are seeing this clearly ... wanna join? :) - ac
How can I be of assistance? Democracy is a participatory movement. I don’t have any background in community organizing, but I do know from personal experience that the decline in civic engagement desperately needs to be reversed. I am on the west coast (Oregon), so time zone differences can be a challenge. But I have some flexibility with my schedule most days! If you’d benefit from having email and phone contact info, please feel free to DM me.
Next steps include going to your congressperson's local office and letting them know what's important to you -- like maybe doing their job reining in the abuses from the executive branch. they're following the news like everyone else and they see that people are not rolling over for the tyrant. Showing up in person is way more effective than phone calls or emails or signing petitions. also keep manifesting in public -- next action is April 19. follow 50501.org and its local affiliates. read Rebecca Solnit's Substack.
Yes and we want to seek and get pledges of action - and non-cooperation with Trump directives— from not only our Congress but state legislators, and also the military, law enforcemeny, but private sectors too: banks, universities, law firms, etc.
More on this soon.
While I agree with your larger point about agreement on baseline common principles to move forward, the juxtaposition of your larger argument with the Corey Booker observation underlines the challenge. US government- Trump, Biden, Harris, Booker- support of Israel’s heinous war on Palestinians is such an affront to human rights and basic decency that where does one draw the line with those who may support a constitutional order in opposition to Trump/Musk but justify Israel’s genocidal acts as self- defense. I don’t have an easy answer but defining bottom lines regarding a united front is not a simple matter
I hear you. But we can define a few consensus priority agenda. And we must seek pledges of non-cooperation with tyranny from our elected Democratic reps and exert civic pressure on them to uphold our Constitution and rule of law.
Superb. As always in this huge diverse country, we need a freedom and justice movement that is agile, that can recognize and raise up where local forces move on a vulnerability or fracture in the other side. From such initiatives, something powerful can both emerge and be built. The Teslatakedown is a current example. Raise up where the action is always.
After being rendered mute after the election, I hosted a retreat for 4 friends equally distraught. I called it "A Place to Be". It is growing steadily and has evolved into a center-minded supportive community embracing decency, freedom and justice. We support principled leaders and organizations, and share ideas that promote wellness and inspiration to do good. We gather, vent, exhale and then get to work! We use #LearnMoreDoMore and #TellAFriend to keep us inspired. We share a periodic one page .pdf communication called "One Ask" to keep it simple along with a poem, art or inspirational quote to help sustain our efforts.
Here is an example of One Ask (raw text version of .pdf graphic)
The What:
- The March 25th Newsletter from Congressman Rich McCormick (GA 7th) reveals that he and FL Rep Salazar have written a letter to the White House RE "violations of democratic principles and human rights” in Brazil, which they call a “critically important nation”.
- Let’s call our friends Rich and Maria and agree with their patriotic statements above in red. Let’s praise them for recognizing this “alarming deterioration of democracy”.
- And then, let’s shred them for their convenient blindness and call out their hypocrisy for allowing these very things to happen in our own country!
The How:
Call:
Rich McCormick 202-225-4272
Maria Salazar 202-225-3931
Modify as you see fit:
This is ______, from _____. I wanted to thank you for recognizing the alarming deterioration of democracy in Brazil! When are you going to recognize and stand up to the very same thing happening in your own country? YOU MUST uphold the Constitution as you swore an oath to do and YOU MUST stop this administration’s recklessness and destruction of democracy.
We are sorting it out as we go, not striving for perfection, allowing things to be fluid and allowing the mission to evolve as required. We have begun to strategize with our local Dems group and will assist their efforts to turn our county and state Blue. We are not a formal entity and we are 100% volunteer based. We use our voice, our vote and our wallets and we stand ready to help!
This is an interesting perspective: https://open.substack.com/pub/ykhong/p/protesting-is-process
Laura Flanders. to be added to the list. Forward together in Sulitarity (and Good Trouble :-)
The story behind the story, Sat. was a tremendous success in any manner of determination or description: size, geography, enthusiasm, sign cleverness, age range, etc. How did it happen? How did it come about? Of course, there were Indivisible and "Hands Off" doing great work, but there was more. [Here is a quote from the Guardian about the"Hands Off" rallies around the world. "Protesters rallied in Frankfurt, Berlin, Paris, London and Lisbon, all in a united show of opposition against Trump’s policies." ]Much more. Who were some of the people that have been working, fighting, in one manner or another, to bring about this national day of protest--and all the days to follow--needed to win this war against Trump/Musk et al and save our democracy. With the millions of heroic protestors out with signs (or just standing in solidarity) , this April 5th (actually any and all days of protesting Trump/Musk, Tesla or any other issue), here's an updated partial list of those fighting back, foreign and domestic, every day [as of 4-6--25] I'm also adding courageous law firms who haven't caved. Besides upstanding lawyers (e.g. Brenna Trout Frey, and law-abiding honorable (present and former) judges (including James Boasberg, chief judge, D.C. District Ct.), here's a growing list of Profiles in Courage men, women, and advocacy groups who refuse to be cowed or kneel to the force of Trump/Musk/MAGA/Fox "News" intimidation:I'll begin (again) with Missouri's own indomitable Jess[ica] (à la John Lewis's "get in good trouble") Piper/"The View from Rural Missouri," then, in no particular order, Francie Garber Pepper (1940-2025), Heather Cox Richardson/"Letters from an American," Joyce Vance/"Civil Discourse," Bernie Sanders, AOC, Rep. Maxwell Frost,, Gov. Tim walz, Sarah Inama, Rev. Mariann Edgar Budde, Rev. William J. Barber II, Jasmine Crockett, Adam Smith, Jamie Raskin, Ken Harbaugh. Ruth Ben-Ghait, Rachel Maddow, Lawrence O'Donnell, Chris Hayes, Ali Velshi, Prof. Lawrence Tribe, Stephanie Miller, Gov. Janet Mills, Gov. Beshear, Gov. JB.Pritzker, Gov. Kathy Hochul, Amb. Susan Rice, Mayor Michelle Wu, Jim Acosta, Jen Rubin And the Contrarians, Dan Rather, Robert Reich, Jay Kou, Steve Brodner, Rachel Cohen, Brian TylerCohen, Jessica Craven, Scott Dworkin, Brett Meiselas, Joy Reid, D. Earl Stevens, Melvin Gurai, Dan Pfeiffer, Anand Giridharadas Anne Applebaum, Lucian Truscott IV, Chris Murphy, Cory Booker, Jeff Merkley, Michael Bennett, Elizabeth Warren, Tammy Duckworth, Sheldon Whitehouse, Adam Schiff, Jon Ossoff, Elyssa Slotkin, Tristan Snell, Delia Ramirez,Tim Snyder, Robert B. Hubbell, Ben Meiseilas, Rich wilson, Ron Filpkowski, Jeremy Seahill, Thom Hartmann, Jonathan Bernstein, Simon Rosenberg, Marianne Williamson, Mark Fiore, Jamie Raskin, Rebecca Solnit, Steve Schmidt, Josh Marshall, Paul Krugman, Andy Borowitz, Jeff Danziger, Ann Telnaes,͏ ͏Will Bunch, Jim Hightower, Dan Pfeifer, Dean Obeidallah, Michel Zeitgeist, Liz Cheney, Adam Kimzinger, Cassidy Hutchinson, John Cusack, Judd Legum (Popular Information) Qasim Rachid, Sue Nethercott, Mary L. trump, Rep. Pramila Jayapal, Jonathan V Last, Sarah Longwell, Andrew Egger, Aaron Parnas, Rep.Don Beyer, Greg OlearAmerican Bar Association, 23 blue state Attorney Generals, Indivisible. FiftyFifty one, MoveOn, DemCast, Blue Missouri, Third Act, Democracy Forward, Public Citizen, Democracy Index, Protect Democracy, DemocracyLabs, Fred Wellman/On Democracy, Hands Off, Marc Elias/Democracy Docket, Public Citizen, League of Women Voters, Lambda Legal, CREW, CODEPINK, ACLU, The 19th/Errin Haines, Working Families Party, American Oversight, Every State Blue, Run for Something, Jessica Valenti/Abortion Everyday, The American Manifesto, The Dr. Martin Luther King Center, Bulwark Media, Bill Kristol/all NeverTrumpers, The States Project, Field Team 6, The Union,AICN ( last 4 all from North Carolina) The Lincoln Project,Blue Wave, Blue Future, The Civic Center, Olivia Troy,The Politics Girl, The Dean's List/ Dean Obeidallah,And, as Joyce Vance says, "We're in this together"--or via Jess Piper, from rural Missouri: "Solidarity." FIGHT BACK! WE ARE NOT ALONE! (Latest addition h/t , Robert B. Hubbell: Law firms, see below). All suggestions are welcome.* Perkins Coie and Covington & Burling have resisted Trump, fighting back with the help of other courageous firms like Williams & Connolly. Per The ABA Journal, Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr, representing fired inspectors general. (Law.com)Hogan Lovells, seeking to block executive orders to end federal funding for gender-affirming medical care. (Law.com)Jenner & Block, also seeking to block the orders on cuts to medical research funding. (Law.com, Reuters)Ropes & Gray, also seeking to block cuts to medical research funding. (Law.com)Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, representing the Amica Center for Immigrants Rights and others seeking to block funding cuts for immigrant legal services. (Law.com)Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer.Wilmer HaleKeker, Van Nest & PetersSouthern Poverty Law CenterPerhaps I should add our nation's motto--and on our Great Seal--the phrase "E pluribus unum" (out of many, One ). Ii's 13 letters makes its use symbolic of the original 13 Colonies which rebelled against the rule of the Kingdom of George III . . .And now we protest together against King Donald. As my rural MO. indomitable Jess Piper always says: "Solidarity."P.S. I have misplaced several suggested additions. Pls provide names again if you don't see them listed. My bad. Thanks.