VERY SPECIFIC ACTIONS YOU CAN TAKE BETWEEN NOW AND NOV 5!

Ideas and links and exclamation points galore!

Hey there. Hi. Wow. Whoa. What a…month?!

We have [checks internet and also calendar to see what day of the week it actually is] 80 days to defeat a hideous slurring fascist loser and elect ***Kamala Harris and Tim Walz*** (and win many critical down-ballot Congressional and state-level races too!)

I’m all in. Full-stop, no cap, brat, coconuts, etc etc etc.

this stands for LET’S FUCKING GO!!! in case you are unaware

Shit is wild. Time is short. World is burning. Bombs still falling. Here’s what we have: energy, momentum, and, dare I say it, excitement. You feeling it? Good. Let’s harness it.

(You not feeling it, especially for reasons that have to do with Gaza and bombs and core progressive values and the still-existing rot of the Democratic party machine? I get it. I really do. And maybe the following list isn’t for you (but maybe this call from the DNC with Not Another Bomb is)—I respect that. I’m down to talk, if you want. But I’m also focused, eyes on prize, and I believe in this moment of leverage, power, and collective energy.)

So! In the spirit of Do the Work, the antiracist activity book that I co-wrote with the one and only W. Kamau Bell (you’re subscribed to his Substack, right?) here are a bunch of concrete *THINGS YOU CAN DO* between now and November 5.

Feel free to share any and all of these ideas—and add your suggestions please!

DONATE YOUR $$$

Please give your precious dollars directly to grassroots voting rights orgs who are on the ground registering, organizing, empowering, and protecting voters in swing states (AND ALSO BUILDING POLITICAL POWER AND IMPACTING COMMUNITIES BEYOND ELECTION CYCLES). Did I mention that these orgs help register voters and then make sure they get to the polls and cast their ballots safely?!

Check out these orgs (links go directly to DONATE pages b/c I’m making things very easy for you). Can you give $5 to each one? 10$? More?!

• New Georgia Project in Georgia

• LUCHA in Arizona

• Detroit Action in Michigan

• BLOC (Black Leaders Organizing for Communities) in Wisconsin

• OnePA in Pennsylvania

• Black Voters Matter This is the org that I’ve directed most of my donations and volunteer time to for the last several election cycles

Also check out:

• Movement Voter Project An amazing resource for funding multiple grassroots orgs in swing states. You can go to this page and browse tons of vetted groups who could use support.

• Flip The Vote, which directs 100% of donations to grassroots orgs in 8 swing states

DO A SPECIFIC THING! OR SEVERAL! DO LOTS OF THINGS!

So many options! Get in where ya fit in!

• REGISTER PEOPLE TO VOTE! ESPECIALLY YOUNG PEOPLE!

  • There are a number of ways to do this. Checking with your local chapter of an org like League of Women Voters is a great start. What about your local high schools? Community colleges? Are there voter reg drives happening there? If not CAN YOU HELP MAKE THAT HAPPEN!?

  • LWV also has this helpful site —share it so people can look up their polling places, etc

  • You can get voter reg forms from your local government or board of elections, and

  • THE DEADLINE TO REGISTER TO BE ABLE TO VOTE ON 11/6 IS DIFFERENT IN EACH STATE SO LOOK YOURS UP AND GET TO WORK

• JOIN A ZOOM

  • Women Wednesdays is a mass Zoom call happening every Wednesday at 8:30pm ET

Tired of being on Zooms? Great. You can

• CALL PEOPLE ON THE PHONE

  • Make phonecalls to Georgia voters from anywhere with the New Georgia Project

  • Join the Many Over MAGA movement and make calls with SURJ and other supporting orgs

Don’t want to call people? Fine. How about you

• WRITE POSTCARDS TO VOTERS

  • Join a virtual postcard party and write postcards to Black voters with Black Voters Matter

  • Get FREE postcards from Moms Rising

Wanna do more than send mail? Love to travel? Yay! You can

• TRAVEL TO A SWING STATE

  • Go to NC, WIS, NEV, or AZ with Showing Up for Racial Justice (SURJ)

  • Also check out Seed the Vote for clear info on how to travel to knock on doors!

Prefer to stay home? Solid. How about you

• HOST A DNC WATCH PARTY

  • Host a DNC Watch Party with this toolkit from Indivisible

Yes extrovert! I see you! Next you can

• TALK TO YOUR NEIGHBORS

  • You can just have a conversation on your own, or check out this structured approach called Neighbor2Neighbor

Speaking of your immediate community

• DON’T SLEEP ON LOCAL POLITICS!

  • What’s happening in your immediate town/city/county this November? Who’s running for city council? Are there book-banners gunning for your school board? Are there crucial bond measures to rally for or against?

Or just SHOW your neighbors who you’re supporting when you

• BUY MERCH

  • Official Harris/Walz store here. Including stuff by fancy designers and also the iconic camo hat

  • But also unofficial stuff like this gem for the old punks that references Husker-Du (thanks Christopher Pepper!) and this shirt that hilariously references Chicka Chicka Boom, a children’s book that I used to read to my kids ALL THE TIME, or maybe your vibe is ‘young goth butch’.

  • Look, so many clever yard signs. Which one will YOU choose?!

  • The week after Biden stepped down/Harris stepped up, we did a cross-country drive from Texas to CA. Before we left I bought a bunch of stickers from Redbubble and they are now affixed to the walls and ceilings of gas station bathrooms and other spots along I-40 (well, I’m sure some of them have been removed by now. But hey! It was a good effort). You, too, can put stickers everywhere!

  • Don’t wanna buy stuff? DIY it—grab a Sharpie and make your own sign/shirt/etc

    

    

    as seen in Texas, Arizona, New Mexico, and the desert-y parts of Southern California that are basically Arizona

Remember the Women’s Marches?! Weren’t those amazing! Good news! You can

• MARCH AGAIN!

  • Women’s March happening on NOVEMBER 2!

Hey Kate, how can I take actions but also leverage my pro-peace, pro-Palestine beliefs? Heard.

• SIGN THE ‘NOT ANOTHER BOMB’ PETITION

Hey Kate, how do you find out about all of this stuff?!

• I LOOK IT UP ON THE INTERNET! You can too! Here’s a great place to start!

  • Ok ok, I’m not just googling random stuff (all the time). The main orgs I’m linking to in this newsletter are ones I’ve either worked with or worked adjacent to, or have known about/followed for a while. But also: it’s pretty easy to look stuff up! If there’s something you want to do, or an idea you have, look it up! See what’s out there! Or make it happen yourself!

But also, you can

• CONNECT WITH AN EXISTING ORGANIZATION!

All of these groups are active, fired up, and ready for more volunteers. Go to their sites, find a chapter, sign up, and go.

• Showing Up for Racial Justice (SURJ)

  • SURJ is where I’m putting my own time + energy this season—they’re focused on organizing white people in the fight for racial justice, and I really believe in the work they’re doing right now AND beyond the election. Please check them out and join me!

• Swing Left

• People’s Action

• Indivisible

• Women’s March

• Win With Black Women

• Not Another Bomb

IN CONCLUSION, this is NOT an exhaustive or complete list by any means, and these are FAR from the only ways you can get involved and take action. This is merely me spending an hour (ugh ok fine it’s taken longer than an hour) on a Friday morning trying to compile a helpful list to kickstart some VERY NECESSARY SHIT.

Thanks, friends. Now get out there and GO.