January 20, 2025 - MLK and Inauguration Day

Jan 20, 2025

HONORING THE LEGACY OF DR. KING
Much as Donald Trump would like to pretend otherwise, today’s holiday isn’t meant to celebrate him. Let’s be sure to take some time to honor the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and his fight for racial and economic justice in the United States. We can:
- Join our local Indivisible groups for a day of service event here or find more ways to volunteer with AmeriCorps here.
- Connect with folks doing the work to realize Dr. King’s dream, like Black Voters Matter, the Black Youth Project, Campaign Zero, SURJ or the Poor People’s Campaign.
- Identify grassroots organizations fighting for racial and economic justice in our own communities and see what we can do to help them.
- Take a moment to read and reflect on Dr. King’s Letter From Birmingham Jail, The Other America and Where Do We Go From Here?, along with this Boston Review article on the history of King’s cooption by conservative forces.

ANTI-IMMIGRANT SHOCK-AND-AWE
Over the weekend, reports leaked that Trump intended to kick off his term with a series of shock-and-awe raids, with major operations in Chicago and others possible in New York City, Los Angeles, Denver and Miami. While the Administration lacks anything approaching the resources it needs for real mass deportation, these efforts are intend to scare folks into hiding and self-deportation. Post-leak, the transition team is now claiming they are rethinking their plans. But regardless, we need to make sure we are ready to stand with our friends and neighbors. Let’s take time today to make sure we’re connected with a pro-immigrant group in our area so we can learn what we can do to help, using this spreadsheet. Let’s also make sure to familiarize and share with our networks this guide to our rights in dealing with the deportation machine from United We Dream, and pay special attention to their advice on what U.S. citizens can do in the face of raids. Finally, we can make sure we’re keeping up with what’s likely to be a whirlwind of executive orders and bold proclamations on immigration policy by Trump using this tracker, so we can separate what’s important from what’s just grabbing headlines.

SAY NO TO SENDING THE TROOPS INTO MEXICO
We are anticipating a wave of executive orders from Trump today, among them one that will designate drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations. This could be a first step towards Trump carrying out his campaign promise to use the U.S. military to attack the cartels in Mexico – with or without Mexico’s permission. Rolling Stone has reported his transition team debated “how much to invade”, and multiple members of his national security team have backed sending in the troops. This action could result in quagmire, bloodshed on both sides of the border and unpredictable reactions from the heavily-armed cartels themselves, the Mexican government and the Mexican people, and is unlikely to stem the flow of drugs into the United States. Let’s contact our members of Congress and let them know we expect them to oppose military strikes in Mexico and focus on real solutions for our substance abuse crisis. We can do so directly or sign this Resistbot petition by texting “SIGN PIAVWC” to 50409.

BEYOND PROTESTING AND VOTING
Most of us already vote, participate in marches and rallies, and contact our elected officials frequently - and as we enter what should be an extremely challenging era, we may be looking for new and different ways to try to change the political situation. Let’s check out this incredible list by longtime activist Mariame Kaba of many more ways in which we can bend the arc of history toward justice, whether it's joining a union or volunteering for a mutual aid group.

LEARN HOW TO BE AN EFFECTIVE ADVOCATE THURSDAY
Two social justice groups—Workers Circle and the Center for Common Ground—are offering a three-part program to coach us on how to become effective advocates starting THURSDAY, January 23rd. January’s training will teach us how to advocate for federal and state-level legislation. Let’s register and become effective advocates for the policies we care about.

KEEPING AN EYE ON…