✊🏽 PROTECT DEMOCRACY: A GUIDE TO RESIST AUTHORITARIANISM

Defending democracy isn't just the job of politicians or activists—it's a fight for all of us.

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🔥 1. Expose the Lies—Break the Propaganda Machine

The right’s most powerful weapon isn’t just Trump—it’s the disinformation engine that keeps people confused, divided, and exhausted.
They thrive on lies. Rip the mask off.

FIGHT MISINFORMATION DIRECTLY

• Media Bias Chart: Identify credible news sources.

• Snopes, FactCheck.org, and Media Matters for America: Verify and debunk lies.

• Disinfo Defense League: Join the fight against organized disinformation.

SUPPORT INDEPENDENT MEDIA

• ProPublica, Mother Jones, The Guardian, The Marshall Project: Investigative journalism that exposes corruption.

• Open Letters by Mersault: Fierce truth-telling.

TALK TO PEOPLE IN YOUR LIFE

• Leaving MAGA: Former MAGA activist guides others to transition out of MAGA and rebuild their relationships and identities.

“In a time of deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act.” — George Orwell

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🗳️ 2. Fight Where It Hurts—Local & State Power

The right didn’t seize America overnight. They played the long game—winning school boards, city councils, and state legislatures.

GET INVOLVED IN LOCAL ELECTIONS

• Run for Something: Back young, diverse progressives.

• Vote.org and Ballot Ready: Register, research, and vote.

• Power the Polls: Help staff fair elections.

HOLD OFFICIALS ACCOUNTABLE

• Common Cause: Call local officials and demand transparency.

• Show up at school board and city council meetings. Your presence matters.

ACT LOCALLY—DEMOCRACY BEGINS IN YOUR COMMUNITY

• NSBA: Learn how to engage with school boards.

• NLC: Get involved in city government.

• Living Room Conversations: Host community discussions.

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💸 3. Disrupt Their Power—Attack Their Funding & Influence

The far-right is an industry: funded by billionaires, sustained by corporations, and legitimized by media empires.

DEFUND RIGHT-WING EXTREMISM

• Open Secrets: Find out who funds what.

• Grab Your Wallet: Boycott brands supporting extremism.

PRESSURE COMPANIES

• Color of Change: Hold corporations accountable.

• SumOfUs: Fight billionaire-driven corruption.

DISRUPT MEDIA INFLUENCE

• Fox News Ad Boycott List: Hit their revenue stream.

• Media Justice: Challenge propaganda and bias.

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🛠️ 4. Expand the Resistance—Build Coalitions, Not Purity Tests

The right thrives on division. We win with solidarity.

JOIN NATIONAL & GRASSROOTS MOVEMENTS

• Indivisible

• MoveOn

• People’s Action

• 50501 Movement: 50 states. 50 weeks. 1 democracy. Sustained civic engagement to defeat authoritarianism.

FIGHT FOR VOTING RIGHTS

• Fair Fight Action: Founded by Stacey Abrams.

• Brennan Center for Justice: Policy, research, and advocacy.

SUPPORT PRO-DEMOCRACY ORGANIZATIONS

• ACLU

• Protect Democracy

• Democracy Forward

• Campaign Legal Center

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✊ 5. Take Direct Action—And Be Ready for More

Authoritarianism counts on your fatigue. Prove them wrong.

JOIN RESISTANCE MOVEMENTS

• DemCast: Digital organizing and storytelling.

• Sunrise Movement

• ShutDownDC

• The People’s March

• Resist.bot: Turn your texts into action.

PREPARE FOR MASS CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE

• Beautiful Trouble: Creative tactics for resistance.

• Extinction Rebellion Handbook: Direct action for climate and justice.

• National Lawyers Guild: Legal support for protesters.

“Do not go gentle into that good night. Rage, rage against the dying of the light.”
— Dylan Thomas

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🧠 6. Organize and Educate

Authoritarianism thrives in ignorance. Democracy thrives in education.

EDUCATE YOUR COMMUNITY

• League of Women Voters

• Rock the Vote

• Change.org

LEVERAGE DIGITAL TOOLS

• Resist.bot

• TurboVote

• FactCheck.org

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🗳️ 7. Prioritize Voting and Electoral Reform

PROTECT ELECTIONS

• Vote.org

• Rock the Vote

• Power the Polls

REFORM THE SYSTEM

• FairVote: Ranked-choice and structural reforms.

• 5 Calls: Scripts and numbers to call Congress.

• Countable: Track legislation, contact lawmakers.

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📞 8. MAKE THE CALLS THAT DEFEND DEMOCRACY

Below is a list of key political leaders and organizations to contact. Flood their phone lines. Fill their inboxes. Make it clear: this will not stand.

Congressional Leadership

House of Representatives

• Speaker of the House: Mike Johnson (Republican)
  📞 (202) 225-2777
  Contact Form

• House Majority Leader: Steve Scalise (Republican)
  📞 (202) 225-3015
  Contact Form

• House Minority Leader: Hakeem Jeffries (Democrat)
  📞 (202) 225-5936
  Contact Form

Senate

• Senate Majority Leader: John Thune (Republican)
  📞 (202) 224-2321
  Contact Form

• Senate Minority Leader: Chuck Schumer (Democrat)
  📞 (202) 224-6542
  Contact Form

The White House

• Comment Line: 📞 (202) 456-1111

• Switchboard: 📞 (202) 456-1414

• Contact Page

Contact Your Elected Officials

• U.S. Capitol Switchboard: 📞 (202) 224-3121 — connect directly to your senator or representative.

Find your representatives:

• Find Members of Congress

• Find Your U.S. Senators

• Find Your Governor

Civil Rights and Democracy Watchdogs

• American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)
  📞 (212) 549-2500
  Contact Page

• Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC)
  📞 (334) 956-8200
  Contact Page

• NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund
  📞 (212) 965-2200
  Contact Page

• Democracy Docket
  Submit Reports on Voter Suppression

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🗣️ HOW TO MAKE YOUR VOICE HEARD

Call relentlessly. Do not accept silence. Do not accept form-letter responses.

When calling Democratic lawmakers, say:

"I demand you stop treating Trump’s authoritarianism as normal and take visible action to resist."
"I expect you to obstruct, disrupt, and refuse to collaborate with this administration's attacks on democracy."

When calling Republican offices, say:

"I am watching. Your complicity in Trump’s descent into dictatorship will not be forgotten."
"History will remember whether you stood for democracy or for a would-be autocrat."

Make it public.
Record your calls. Share them. Pressure works. Shame works.

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FINAL WORD: The Only Way They Win Is If We Stop

Authoritarianism isn’t unstoppable. It’s a parasite. It only grows if we let it.
You are not just a bystander. You are the frontline.

Every action matters. Every refusal to submit matters.

“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good people to do nothing.” —Edmund Burke

Addendum: For Those Ready to Move

If you’ve made it to the end of Where Would You Have Stood in Nazi Germany?, you already understand: this isn’t a thought experiment. It’s a mirror. It’s a question about now—and about you.

You’ve seen the spectrum. You’ve likely found yourself among the Quiet Objectors: awake, unsettled, morally serious, but unsure what to do. You’re not shouting slogans. You’re not part of the machine. But you’re not quite part of the resistance either.

That’s not a flaw. It’s a beginning.

This is written for those who want to move—not to the front lines overnight, but toward something more rooted. More honest. More useful. If you’re ready to stop watching and start participating, this is how.

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You don’t need to be a hero. You don’t need a platform, a title, or a perfect plan. But if you’ve read this far—if you see what’s happening and feel its weight—then you are already awake to the danger. And the only question now is what to do about it.

This is not a test of belief. It is a test of response.

And while the leap from concern to action may feel large, it is made one step at a time. The path forward is not mysterious. It is made of ordinary acts of courage, offered steadily and without permission.

So if you are asking how to move—out of silence, out of observation, out of fear—this is how.

Choose a focus.
Don’t try to save the whole world. Pick one issue that speaks to your conscience: immigrant detention, book bans, trans rights, voter suppression, reproductive freedom. Then find the people already doing the work. Join them. Attend a meeting. Volunteer. Offer to help with something small and unglamorous. And then show up again. Resistance is not performance. It is commitment.

Speak where it costs something.
Most people avoid confrontation in the places that matter most: their workplace, their school board, their church, their dinner table. Start there. Say the thing that needs to be said. Refuse to go along. Push back against “just asking questions” rhetoric. Name the cruelty. Some will disagree. Some will thank you. But more importantly, others will take courage from your example.

Support those already on the front lines.
You may not be able to risk what others are risking—but you can help them hold the line. Give to abortion access funds, to banned book libraries, to organizers facing lawsuits and surveillance. Offer rides, housing, or professional services. Send messages of support to those being harassed. If you can’t stand where they stand, stand behind them. Let them feel you there.

Build something visible.
Isolation is how fear thrives. So break it. Start a banned book club, a mutual aid circle, a discussion group on democracy and resistance. Host a weekly gathering for people who want to stay awake. Put signs in your windows. Organize a walkout, a reading, a fundraiser. Visibility does not just protect others—it gives you roots. It reminds you that you’re not alone.

Act where you have influence.
Every institution—your workplace, your school, your neighborhood association—is a battleground. Use your position to resist normalization. Refuse partnerships or vendors aligned with authoritarian causes. Protect vulnerable coworkers. Report retaliation. Push back when neutrality is used to avoid accountability. These aren’t symbolic gestures. They are material acts of resistance within the machine.

Name the risk—and take one.
You don’t have to lose everything. But you do have to risk something. A client. A committee seat. A promotion. A friendship. A reputation. Decide now what you’re willing to give up in order to live with yourself later. And when the moment comes, do not look away. Because the test of your values is not what you say when it’s safe. It’s what you do when it isn’t.

Prepare for the long haul.
This won’t be over in a news cycle. Authoritarianism is not a storm that passes—it is a project that deepens unless disrupted. So learn how to sustain each other. Train in de-escalation. Learn digital security. Take a protest safety course. Practice jail support. Share skills. Build networks. And most of all, stop doing this alone.

You don’t have to do everything. You don’t have to be fearless. But you do have to move.

Because there is no neutral position in this moment.

And if you are here—still reading, still feeling—then you are not waiting to be tested.

You already are.