#action item

(this list is mainly ways non-locals can donate but by extension offers a lot of resources and places to volunteer in the Twin Cities + there are specific ways to donate time under the cut which can be adjusted to your local neighborhood)

full credit to cataloo from r/minnesota [x]

🩵Immigrant support

Immigrant Defense Network – coalition of 90+ groups organizing rapid response and collecting evidence.

Immigrant Law Center of MN – free immigration legal representation to low-income immigrants and refugees.

COPAL – advocacy, organizing, phone hotline. Focus on Latine community.

Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee (MIRAC) – education and protest organizing.

Interfaith Coalition on Immigration – advocacy, aid, events.

Monarca MN – training and phone hotline.

Unidos MN – education, protests, advocacy.

Center for Victims of Torture – advocacy and mental health services for immigrants and refugees.

International Institute of Minnesota – refugee resettlement group that provides support and legal help to vulnerable new-to-country families.

Lutheran Social Service of Minnesota – offers services to refugees, including legal aid to non-citizens.

🩵Food support

If local, food donations are welcome, otherwise monetary donations help these types of orgs source what is most needed

VEAP

La Vina Community Church/Iglesia Cristiana La Viña Burnsville

Second Harvest Heartland

Every Meal

The Food Group

Meals on Wheels MN

Find a local food shelf

🩵Mutual aid funds & community support

Community Aid Network

Twin Cities Trans Mutual Aid

Leo's Tow (Venmo @leostowingmn) is towing cars back to families if a car is stranded when someone is detained.

🩵More links

MN50501 Mutual Aid Linktree – well-organized list of various Twin Cities groups.

Mplsmutualaid Linktree – many neighborhood and individual GoFundMes listed here.

Mpls.St.Paul Magazine – see Food Drives and Fundraisers.

Stand with Minnesota – extensive list of organizations, mutual aid, and crowdfunding campaigns.

🩵Donate blood

Memorial Blood Center declared a blood emergency on Tuesday, Jan 13. MBC is the blood supplier for both tier 1 trauma hospitals in the metro area (Hennepin County Medical Center and North Memorial Health).

American Red Cross

🩵Donate food or other goods

Mpls.St.Paul Magazine – see Food Drives and Fundraisers.

Volunteer your time (under the cut)

These republicans voted not to criminalize life saving healthcare for trans people. If these are your critters, please call and thank them:

Pennsylvania Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick,

New York Rep. Mike Lawler,

Utah Rep. Mike Kennedy,

Colorado Rep. Gabe Evans

They will likely be hearing a lot of yelling by angry cristo-fascists, so it's really important to let them know they did the right thing.

If you can’t safely contact them in person, here are some other options for contacting your Congress Critters:

Five Calls to your critters: https://5calls.org/

Here is one that will send your reps a fax: https://resist.bot/

As an act of love to yourself, your neighbors, and your library workers, please call your Congresspeople and:

- Demand they do everything in their power to block this defunding

- Tell them libraries are important to you and you use their services and you don’t want those services to change or go away. You want MORE services which means MORE money.

- Demand they do everything in their power to end the current constitutional crisis. Congress has power of the purse, not the executive branch.

This is a fast and tangible way to support libraries! You get to vent your frustration about this regime! You get to know that I am genuinely thankful to you!

It's been two months since more than 100 thousand armenians have been ethnically cleansed from their homeland of Artsakh. This doesn't mean that everything is over and everyone can get back to their daily lives and forget about it. I found some ways to help that I urge you to at least reblog.

DONATE:

Greenhouses and Beekeeping for displaced Artsakhtsis

CONTACT YOUR REPRESENTATIVES:

H.R.5683 - Supporting Armenians Against Azerbaijani Aggression Act of 2023

H.R.5686 - Preventing Ethnic Cleansing and Atrocities in Nagorno-Karabakh Act of 2023

Unfortunately FEMA is under heavy assault, and that doesn't look like it's going to end any time soon. The BRIC program is just one portion of it so far. We're also seeing Trump be slow to sign disaster declarations, and even not signing them at all or denying them, and tons of grants have been frozen or revoked outside of the BRIC program as well. He also just announced the people he's putting on his FEMA review committee today and...ah...it's a terrible bunch.

This administration's goal with FEMA is to put disaster response back into the hands of the states. But that is just impossible. According to one higher up Emergency Management guy I spoke with recently, in Alabama, only four counties could afford to run their own Emergency Management departments without FEMA grants. Four. Alabama has 67 total counties. (He also stated that, to recover from Helene without FEMA help, counties in Alabama would have to raise property taxes 55-70%.) I would guess the numbers would be similar across most states.

Point is, yeah, it's a bad damn time right now. And it is probably not going to get better at any useful speed.

BUT.

But there are a ton of great people focused on this problem, and we're all working hard to plan for these changes as much as possible. What that looks like is changing all the time, due to the goalposts constantly getting yanked around, but it is being worked on. No matter what, some form of help is ALWAYS going to be there. It may not look the way you expect, or the way you want, but there will be something, even if it's just your neighbors.

Some things you can do to help:

Look up "Your State + VOAD." VOAD stands for "Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster." This will get you a list of local, vetted volunteer organizations that specifically offer their services during disasters. See if there's one you want to/can help out with, even during non disaster times! You can also look up "National VOAD" to find national groups.

If you have ever made use of ANY of FEMA's services, or you know someone who has, and you have a positive story to share about it, do so. Do it loudly and repeatedly wherever and whenever you can.

Go to your local city/state political meetings and talk about the value you see in FEMA and that you want to see it protected.

Call your representatives and tell them the value you see in FEMA and that you want to see it protected.

The global sumud(steadfastness) flotilla, en route to G@za, is being illegally intercepted in international waters and comandeered by lsraeIi t*rror forces, again, and mainstream media remains silent. the humanitarian civilian activists are being k¡dnapped to lsraeIi detention against their will.

if you could take a moment to contact our reps, it is set up pretty easy thru their website. there's a template and you can contact many at once.

if you could also share it really helps. the more eyes on these missions, the better protected they are. currently the humanitarians aboard the mission from all over the world are being illegally detained and ab*sed for simply bringing medical aid supplies, menstrual supplies and baby formula.

keep track here:

map live tracker (missions, routes, progress & interceptions)

boats livestream feed

all links

for some hope, it looks like there's global strykes and pr0testing again (join if you can!)

family on shore in G@za looking forward to the arrival of humanitarian aid❤️

INSTRUCTIONS:

Fill in your basic information: Enter your name and contact details. For “Firm/Business or Agency,” write “Self.” Leave “Representation” blank

Select your position: Choose “HB 2723” (don’t worry, it’s the only option) in the first dropdown menu, and select “Proponent” under the next dropdown menu. Make sure to click “Add Position”!

Choose testimony: Select “Record of Appearance Only” (No written testimony required.) Click “Submit Witness Slip” and you’re done!

I don’t think it works outside the US, but please submit a slip if you can, or send it to someone you know!!

Again, the link to submit a witness slip is here!

information

Before you start talking about things you have to understand what they are. Here’s some news sources that doesn’t require subscription

- GZERO (specially the “what we’re watching”)

- democracy now!

- all sides

- Al Jazeera

- the jacobin

- activote

- counterpunch

Now here’s online creators (YouTube)

- Allie_202_

-the Marshall project

- Middle East eye

- more prefect union

- Nowthis impact

- Aj+

- breakthrough news

- advice from Louis

- Omar agamy

- ACLU

- endeavorance

- lady Izdihar

- theleftistpetspective

- user0731

- Ryan🇵🇸

- woke Karen

- a dude

Learn how your government works and what your countries law are

Some education on terms in global politics is also very usefulful

IGO- international governmental organization, think the UN or EU

NGOO - non government organization, think non profits like Doctors Without Borders

Legitimacy - how acceptable the actions of a person are

States - fancy word for country

Actor - anyone that plays a major role in politics, a president is a actor a leader of a civil rights group is a actor everyone is a actor

Realism - a part of thought in global politics that believes that the goal of states is to acquire

Liberalism - another party of thought that says that although humans can be selfish it’s better for everyone to work together

Involvement

It doesn’t matter how much therapy you know if you aren’t doing anything than it’s basically useless

Here’s some action you can take

- donate to charities

- join protest

- attend your local chapter meeting

- sign petitions

- share resources

- join soup kitchens

- hang up fliers or posters

- keep up with local elections, a lot of organizations actually have templates you can use

- email your representative

- join school clubs about politics, think model un or model general assembly or debate club

Implementation

If a movement is going to work everyone has to play a part. Practice what you preach

- boycott

- talk to others and build community

- inform others but dont talk down to them. They will just make people more dead set in their way (backfire effect)

- don’t let bigotry slide even if it’s your friends

- volunteer, best way to help community and meet new people

- keep supplies around. first aid kits, ice whistles, needles and thread, masks, food and water, ect.

- support creators with good politics

- LISTEN to minorities but DONT talk over them

- keep yourself safe, it’s it’s not safe to come out then don’t. If it’s not safe for you to protest, don’t. Don’t die

-think about your thinking. What I mean is explain why you believe the things you do, in simple terms try to unpack your beliefs.

Most importantly

In order to build a community you not only have to give help from others but also allow yourself to receive help. Learn to allow yourself to rely on others.

Tell the cops nothing and your doctors/ lawyers EVERYTHING

Do not let despair consume you. Yes everything sucks now. Yes it’s okay to feel sad. However don’t give up. The goal of evil people with power is to make you feel like there’s nothing you can do because they know that if we work together they are fine for.

Give yourself hope, even small victories are still victories

NO ONE IS FREE UNTIL EVERYONE IS FREE