The Power of Lineage: Reconnecting in an Authoritarian Time of Fracture
In a time of political division and personal disconnection, turning toward our ancestry can help us heal. Understanding our lineage—its beauty and brutality—can help us become more grounded, resilient, and courageous in facing today’s fractured world.
Tactical Frivolity and Protest: Historical Lessons in Following Portland’s Frogs
In Portland, protest looks a little different—think inflatable frogs, naked bike rides, and dance parties. This is “tactical frivolity,” the radical tradition of using humor, art, and absurdity to deflate authoritarian power with joy and community.
We Have People at Stake: Centering Humanity Beyond the Headlines
In a world flooded with headlines, it’s easy to forget the people behind the stories. Every crisis, policy, and tragedy has human lives at stake – and these are our people. When we view each other as common to us, we are invited to reconnect with empathy, awareness, and action in how we read and respond to the news events of our day.
The Story of Le Chambon-sur-Lignon: Community Resistance Against Authoritarianism
During WWII, the French town of Le Chambon-sur-Lignon sheltered 2,000 refugees from Nazi persecution. Led by ordinary citizens, their quiet defiance offers timeless lessons in resilience, shared values, and collective resistance against authoritarianism.
Activism as a Posture: Understanding Protests in a Larger Context
Activism as a Posture: Our Part in the Long Struggle for Social Change
5 Ways Communities Resist Authoritarianism (From History to Today)
These five powerful acts have been used by communities to resist authoritarianism—from Nazi Germany to modern America. Learning lessons from past acts of resilience and defiance can help guide our movements forward in protecting democracy today.
When ICE Shows Up: Finding “Safe Enough” Actions
If you’re feeling stuck between wanting to create change and the fear of taking action, this "safe enough" framework helps us move from paralysis to purposeful action.
12 Better Questions to Ask Kids After School (Instead of “How Was Your Day?”)
Tired of hearing “fine” when you ask your child or grandchild about school? These 12 questions spark real conversations, helping your child – or your partner, friend, or yourself – reflect, open up, and share the moments that matter most. Perfect for back-to-school season or just about anytime.
Leading with Love, Instead of Change (A Reframe in Hopeless Times)
It feels like we're in a doom-loop of terrible news – so how do we move forward? Instead of jumping straight to changework through sheer will and desire, finding ways to embody love in honest and real ways might center our work a bit better.
Hat, Haircut, or Tattoo? A Framework for Activist Decision-Making
This “hat, haircut, or tattoo” framework is helpful in supporting the decision-making of potential activists and activists alike. By identifying what kind of decision we’re being asked to make, we can overcome fear, start small, and build lasting impact in our communities.
From Awareness to Action: Deepening Your Connection to Social Issues
Explore how intimate you are with the social issues you care most about. Learn why going beyond awareness to build real relationships fuels lasting activism, resilience, and meaningful change.
Escaping the Planning Trap: Moving from Overthinking to Purposeful Action
It can be a struggle to move from planning into action. Analysis paralysis and information overload can keep up lost in our heads, while we never end up actually moving our feet. Instead, what if we focused on taking small, relational steps that can lead to real community impact?
To hold pain and joy while living in a time of crisis
Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer’s poem “For When People Ask” offers an oh-so-human look at the tension of living in the both/and of this moment. Watching children die across the world while watching our own dance in the summertime breeze – how can we hold such emotions and honor them both? How can we remain awake to both so that we might give ourselves to action?
How to Start Creating Change When You Feel Stuck
Feeling stuck but wanting to make change? Consider these ten recommednations from Omkari Williams to being making a meaningful impact without burnout. Learn how to focus your efforts, build community, and stay grounded in purpose—all while honoring your values. No action toward change is too small.
Freedom, Eldership, and the Passing of a Dear Friend: Remembering Randall Mullins
When my friend Randall passed, I reflected on his legacy of love, justice, and transformation. This eulogy-of-sorts explores what true eldership means — and how one man's evolving, freedom-filled life can inspire us to live beautifully with a bias toward action.
Clean vs. Dirty Pain: Lessons from the Two Arrows Parable
Learn the difference between clean and dirty pain and how understanding both helps us to lean into our current political moment with more resilience, presence, and healing.
4 Layers of Solidarity and Relational Resilience
Solidarity and building relational resilience is complex. It requires co-regulation, mutual aid, shared understanding, and collective action.
We Don’t Always Create Change; Change Creates Us
When change comes unexpectedly, how can we meet it with gentleness? A reflection on parenting, resilience, and leaning into the ways change shapes us instead of resisting it.
The Power of Finding Your “One Thing” in Changework
When we find our “one thing” and focus our attention in our changework, we create the conditions for forward momentum. By doing this each day, each week, or each month, we have something tangible and specific to focus on and stay committed to.