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Please, the situation is catastrophic. Donate and speak about us urgently.

Low level actions are things that mostly publicly broadcast support: signing your name on a letter to management; participating in an email reply-all action; wearing a union tee shirt or pin on the same day; attending a lunchtime rally in the break room, etc.

Medium level actions are things that are more confrontational and might actually inconvenience management: an email action designed to overwhelm a manager's inbox and make it unusable; doing a work-to-rule day; participating in a march on the boss.

High level actions are things that are even more confrontational or involve withholding labor: public shaming, a sufficiently heated march on the boss; a lunch time "practice picket"; a limited-duration work stoppage; and, of course, an indefinite strike.

Obviously strikes are the thing everyone thinks of, but here's the thing: even the most ideologically committed union member will not be willing to go on strike the first day of your contract campaign.

They just won't. You need to work up to that. You need to get people comfortable with doing less intense things first, and once those seem normal to them, you move up the scale.

People need to see that nothing bad happens after they participate in an action, and they need to see all their co-workers participating, too. They need to see that, yes, this was uncomfortable and maybe even scary, but it was fine and other people here had my back.

This is a lesson the labor movement learned many decades ago that I think other activist groups and activist-minded people would do well to absorb, too:

The Low Level Stuff Is What Makes The Big Stuff Possible

Don't assume that "when it gets bad enough" you'll step up then. Because by then, things will be even more intense than they are now. The needs will be greater and the risks will be scarier. And you will think to yourself, "Everyone else has just been going along with this, so if I take a stand, I'll just get crushed."

Take a small stand now. Go to protests; call Congress; donate money; attend community meetings; join a local political group or get involved with your local democratic party; join or form a tenants union; become a clinic escort; etc. etc. etc.

Take a small stand now and do it over and over until it becomes normal to you.

Image one: Most people imagine they would know what to do if armed nazis began going door-to-door rounding people up.

"Ah, this is it. This is the moment where we use force."

Leaving aside people's capacity for self-delusion, I'd also argue that threats do not present themselves clearly until far too late.

Image two: Examples of direct action tactics in the middle of the spectrum:

Physically blocking an ICE deportation bus with your bodies

Working with a tenants' union to do eviction defense (blocking sheriffs or security guards from evicting a family)

Organizing an "Underground Railroad" type network

Image three: The purpose of mid-spectrum direct action is to increase the cost & complexity of the enemy's operations, while putting the enemy in a dilemma.

Their dilemma is: "How do we achieve our objectives without overreacting so much that we galvanize more resistance?"

Basic counter-insurgency doctrine.

Image four: No enemy has infinite resources. Not even the US government.

If resistance is widespread, at multiple levels, your enemy will achieve fewer things, at higher cost and more slowly.

Resistance over here means they have to shift focus from over there, taking pressure off other resistance groups.

Image five: It's unfortunate that the history of the Civil Rights movement has been rewritten as "We marched peacefully until our enemies grew a conscience".

MLK and SNCC accomplished a major shift in policy using a deliberate, low-grade insurgency carried out with incredible skill and decades-long strategy.

I am Ahmed Halas from the besieged North Gaza, I have created my campaign to help my family and save them from the suffering they are living. Our lives, hopes and ambitions have been destroyed, our livelihood has been destroyed, we have lost dear friends and many relatives, our house has been completely destroyed, we live in a plastic tent in the middle of an UNRWA school and we suffer from the heat of the sun which causes headaches, migraines, body allergies and many diseases. There is no food, water, medicine or basic life requirements and the prices are terribly high, we cannot afford to buy anything.

In the meantime, this fundraising campaign has been started so that people can donate so that we can regain momentum in case the unfortunate circumstances cannot be fixed. Ahmed Halas and his family have already registered and are likely to be called to leave soon. This money is for their evacuation. Let's aim to evacuate them all together!!!

Ahmed's message:

Hello, I am Ahmed from the Gaza Strip, I am still alive after ten months of war. This is my fifth war too. But this war is unlike any other. I am trying to raise money for me and my family, as we are determined to leave to safety while this disaster continues. We want to leave the Gaza Strip towards Egypt through the Rafah crossing and Hala Company.

This was a very difficult decision for me, but this is my fate and the fate of my family. I feel ashamed to ask you to donate enough to save me and my family of 20, most of whom are young children, by raising enough money to reach safety. "Hala Company details are at the bottom of the article." Please participate, even if it is a small part. Donate any small amount, share my photos, share your story, anything that makes a difference. I have complete hope in you and your generosity.

Father Fathi suffers from heart disease, diabetes and high blood pressure, and son Mahmoud suffers from back and cartilage pain, which is why he does not have a medical mattress due to sleeping on the floor, which makes him feel severe pain.

Oh my God, what happened to us, I lost my memories and dreams that I have dreamed of for a long time, my house where I lived my childhood, nothing remained inside it, it was a pile of fire, and I lost my source of livelihood and my baby clothes store was completely destroyed, which led to the accumulation of debts that I was committed to from merchants that I obtained a few days before the current wave of war.

Note: Ahmed will try, when the circumstances are complete and I collect a sufficient amount and I am able to reunite the entire family here in Gaza, by moving my family to a safe place and regaining some comfort or trying to go to Egypt, knowing that the cost per person now is $ 5,000 for an adult and $ 2,500 for a child. The price may fluctuate. Please help us by donating even the simplest things or by participating in our campaign, and I will be grateful to you

Three fundraisers have recently been brought to my attention in particular for individuals who've lost their entire families and homes to the zionist occupation.

Hamdy: a video of him carrying his dead baby sister following an attack on their home has made been widely circulated on Instagram. He didn't just lose his baby sister, but his mother and nearly all of his siblings, cousins, nephews, and nieces. Everything he knew gone in the blink of an eye. He and his sister and father are now stranded without help.

Hossam Bardaweel: having lost all his parents and siblings, he is now responsible for caring for his siblings' wives and their children. Despite the unsurmountable pain he and his brothers' widows are in, they still need to find a way to care for the surviving orphaned children. He needs help in caring for them while he battles his own grief.

Mahmoud Bardawil: he lost his entire family in the bombing of his home. He is the last survivor of his family, unable to say goodbye to them while he himself was being treated at the hospital for an injury he sustained in the bombing. His treatment did not go well and he needs to get treated outside of Ghazzah but it will be expensive. He needs help to evacuate and start a new life.

art by the.gauntlets

Dr. Huda Abu Khater's Instagram

gofundme to help them

He had just gotten a real adult job this year, moved in with his girlfriend and two cats, and was planning on beginning a real life for himself. He said once he gets out and over probation, he would like to propose to his girlfriend.

I'm also sharing this on Reddit threads but if y'all could share this around I would appreciate it. This GoFundMe is for his legal fees so that we can hopefully get him the support he needs to be released asap. He doesn't deserve to have his life ruined because of decisions he made as a poor, black kid with barely any support outside of his grandma.

Thank you all in advance.

STOP. STOP STOP STOP STOP STOP.

FOR YOUR SAFETY, S T O P.

DO NOT VOLUNTEER TO HOST RANDOM STRANGERS. DO NOT AGREE TO BE HOSTED BY A RANDOM STRANGER.

DO NOT PUBLICLY POST THAT YOUR HOUSE WILL BE AN ABORTION SAVE HAVEN. OFFICIAL NETWORKS TO DO THIS ALREADY EXIST, NETWORKS THAT HAVE THE ABILITY TO BACKGROUND CHECK, AND SHIELD THEIR VOLUNTEERS FROM LAW ENFORCEMENT.

Even IF you personally know every person you’re offering this to and know with 100% certainty that they’re legit: YOU HAVE JUST CREATED A POTENTIALLY LEGALLY DAMNING DIGITAL PAPER TRAIL.

I know how obnoxious this is to say, but please: reblog this. I see these posts a lot, and I know most of you have good intentions. But these unoffical auntie networks are dangerous, both for those trying to help, and those seeking help. Law enforcement sees you. Violent anti-abortion extremists see you.

Being older now and having an art job it’s…kind of essential. 

So: a quick primer for those of you who are like ‘ok but how do i actually go about doing this warmup thing.’ 

1) you may be tempted to do ‘a warmup drawing’ which is just a drawing that will take longer than it needed to and probably be frustrating and kind of bad because you didn’t warm up first. It’s tempting but always a trick your brain is playing on you! Do not trust! 

2) warmups will vary based on what feels good to you/what task you’re about to do/what motor skills you want to practice. That being said, some good standbys:

a) circles. Just a whole page of circles on whatever drawing surface you’re going to be using, whether that’s your tablet or your sketchbook or a drawing pad on an easel. For these circles you should make sure that you’re drawing from your shoulder and not your wrist. In fact, you want to be drawing from your shoulder rather than your wrist most of the time! forever! your wrist is delicate please preserve it! 

In order to ensure that you’re drawing from your shoulder, when you’re holding your pencil or whatever drawing tool you’re using, the only part of your hand that should be touching the drawing surface is part of the last two fingers–some people prefer the finger tips, but I tend to favor the first knuckles. Either way, the fingers should really be ghosting over the surface, providing guidance rather than support. 

I usually start with big circles and then go to smaller circles and lines of ellipses, and then try to fit circles and ellipses inside other shapes i’ve already drawn as a precision exercise, but i don’t do that unless i’m feeling loose

b) spirals! i don’t always do spirals, but if i’m stiff and the circles just aren’t cutting it, spirals are a good fall back. I start from the center and work outward, going both clockwise and counterclockwise until i feel comfortable with the whole range of motion. Some people really care about getting perfect spirals but for me it’s all about making sure i’m comfortable with how i’m moving so who really even cares about how the spirals look. Not me! 

c) lines! straight lines! in parallel! i do a mix of vertical, horizontal, and diagonal. These are often more from the elbow than the shoulder, especially if I’m working on a smaller surface. For this exercise, I recommend holding the drawing tool perpendicular with the surface

d) connect the dots. This is a precision and accuracy exercise and takes two forms. The first is to draw two dots and then draw a straight line between them. The second is to draw three dots and draw the curve that connects them. This sounds a lot simpler than it is in practice. Take time to ghost over the line you plan to draw before actually committing to your line. (I don’t always remember where I picked up my warm up exercises, but I’m pretty sure I got this one from Scott Robertson. His how to draw and how to render books are very technical but also accessible and worth checking out)

e) cubes, spheres, cones, and cylinders. These help get your brain into a more volumetric space. I draw multiples of each, rotating the forms around, and I’ll often take the time to do some rough shading on at least a few of them

f) spidermans! This one is really good if you’re going to be storyboarding or working on dynamic poses. Just fill a page full of spidermans doing all sorts of acrobatics. 

g) beans. I don’t do beans too much anymore, but I know a lot of people like it so I’m mentioning it here. Fill an area with different size bean shapes without lifting your pencil off the paper. 

h) short medium and long line repetition. draw a short, medium, and long line on your page, and then draw directly on top of them 8 to 12 times, doing your best to exactly trace what you’ve already drawing. Repeat with a wavy line. I’m bad at this one, which means I probably need to do it more. 

And there are lots more options too! Hit up youtube to see what other people recommend, put together your own go-to list, mix it up when you’re getting bored, etc. 

This is a long list, I know, but I usually don’t take more than 10 to 15 minutes to warm up, and I can warm up one handed while I’m drinking coffee, so, multitasking hurrah. 

Sometimes I’ll advance to a precision warmup and find that I haven’t loosened up enough yet; it’s totally ok to go back to an earlier exercise! Also, all of this has the added benefit of kind of ritualistically getting you into the drawing mode so even if I’m not feeling it before I start, by the time I’ve gotten to the end I’m usually Ready For Drawin’. Brain hacks. 

https://youtu.be/NBE-RTFkXDk