Black History Month was celebrated this February even though “suddenly the study of the Black experience may feel like an act of defiance.” Additionally, the National Day of Remembrance was celebrated on February 19th – offering an important occasion for solidarity as we mark 83 years since the forced removal and incarceration of more than 125,000 Japanese Americans during World War II by the United States government. We also celebrated President’s Day this month – check out The Contrarian’s article: Discontent and the disconnect this Presidents’ Day.
Since our founding, the Horizons Project has been sharing resources to better understand authoritarianism and how to resist it, highlighting how much we have to learn from other countries – like this new guidebook on Authoritarian Politics from CITAP in Europe. One helpful thought experiment is ‘Imagining how we’d cover overseas what’s happening to the U.S. right now’. As many are seeking to understand the strategy behind the chaos of the first month of the new administration, we are also painfully aware of the invisible guardrails of the civil service that keep us all safe. Notably, over 600 political scientists in the U.S. have signed a letter to bring urgent attention to the threats to the basic design of American government and democracy; others are attempting to track the ‘Capture of U.S. Critical Infrastructure by Neoreactionaries;’ and others are describing the CEO dictator playbook.
We are indeed living in a time of shock and awe, but as we process our grief and tune-in to our nervous systems, we can also recommit to working towards a regenerative future vision for our country. There are multiple sources of inspiration to highlight this month: Scot Nakagawa reminds us that the fight against authoritarianism must move beyond left and right ideology; Mark and Peter Engler point out the multiple ways to organize in this current moment; Rebecca Solnit and Erica Chenoweth discuss the collective power of civil society and citizen mobilization; Rachel Kleinfeld extols the importance of working at the level of public opinion; Ruth Ben-Ghiat points out the need to keep our focus on corruption; Theda Skocpol shares successful lessons from citizen actions during the previous Trump term; and, Loretta Ross continues to lift up the power of ‘calling in’ and ‘calling on’ our fellow citizens.
Meanwhile, people, organizations, and communities across the country are joining together to ensure our civil servants have resources if they are targeted or attacked. Find here some helpful advice about grieving the loss of a job; and check out these resources from Civil Service Strong; the Public Service Alliance, and Work for America. The American Friends Service Committee has shared a great resource on establishing mutual aid networks, and you can find some helpful advice for non-profits managing uncertainty as well as recommendations on how to show up when your work is being attacked. The Organizing Center is holding regular office hours for those new to organizing and activism, and Choose Democracy is providing a list of potential actions if you don’t know where or how to get started, but want to do something. And if you want to find a local organization doing advocacy and supporting immigrants in your community, this is an easily accessible list and map.
Finally, check out Horizons’ Chief Organizer, Maria Stephan’s latest article in Waging Nonviolence about acts of civic defiance and non-compliance happening across the country, We Are Stronger Than We Think; and Chief Network Weaver, Julia Roig’s interview on the Playfull Podcast talking about the power of connection, the role of courageous action, and why play is essential in serious work. Here are some other things we’re reading, watching, and listening to in February:
READING
If not us, who? If not now, when? Why funders must continue to invest in reparations and racial repair in the current political climate.
by Liberation Ventures
“With fires raging literally and figuratively, many are wondering: is now really the time to invest in the reparations movement? The short answer is: Yes. Building a culture of repair — one in which reparations are common sense and commonplace — is what will equip us to fight today, win tomorrow, and sustain our progress for generations to come. At the highest level, “reparations” is the process of the state making amends for harm. While most people think of reparations simply as compensation, a wider variety of material, systemic, and symbolic repair for victims, their families, and broader society is involved.” Check out the recently released 10-year grantmaking strategy called the Reparations Grantmaking Blueprint that lays out three major pillars of work: (1) invest in reparations efforts at the city and state level; (2) build an at-scale, multiracial mass movement; and (3) change the narrative on reparations and uproot anti-Blackness from American culture.
The Metacrisis, Our Fears and the Road to Authoritarianism
by Chusana Prasertkul
“History has shown that when people feel unsafe, they seek security — sometimes, even at the cost of freedom, reason, or morality. [Authoritarianism] and totalitarian regimes do not seize power by brute force alone. They rise because fear makes people complicit. One of the most crucial elements of this crisis is our attention & the rise of fear and the psychological costs of uncertainty…It’s essential to recognise oppression within ourselves. It’s deeply personal and it manifests in everyday thoughts, behaviours, and emotions… How to stay human in the face of chaos? Practice critical thinking daily; master the art of meaningful conversations; guard your attention. Just like a muscle, our brain requires proper nourishment, rest, and healthy stimulation.”
Building Bridges: Through The Arts, Media and Humanities
by The Doris Duke Foundation, NEA and NEH
“The arts, media and humanities are core to the human experience…these sectors have maintained a legacy of fulfilling the innate human desire for connection, belonging and curiosity. In addition to creating spaces for comfort and refuge, the arts, media and humanities act as remedies in moments of dissension and conflict. In times of distress and strife, people of all cultures often turn to imaginative storytellers for solace and to make meaning of the world around them…practitioners of the arts, media and humanities have the opportunity to unite and think innovatively to deepen the impact their work has on addressing these critical issues — to build bridges and transform hate into cross-community cooperation.” We recommend this new report that digs into how arts, media, and the humanities create belonging, especially in times of crisis.
Transformative Power and Empathic Connection: Changing contexts, generating inclusive mindsets
by Rosa Zubizarreta, The Listening Arts Blog
This meaty article is well worth your time to dig into. “Some people may believe that empathic communication is only useful or appropriate for the work of “bridging divides”, where neither “side” is attempting to influence one another, but both are simply seeking to gain greater mutual understanding…[but] empathic communication is also central to the work of ethically influencing people — from the garden-variety influence of Deep Canvassing to the more intense work of deradicalization. These two different purposes are distinct. Wanting to create greater mutual understanding and “re-humanization” of one another, is not the same thing as seeking to ethically influence another person. At the same time, whenever we are indeed seeking to ethically influence someone, working toward some mutual understanding is usually a first step. In addition, there is a third significant realm of empathic communication, which is supporting a group at arriving at shared ways forward…”
WATCHING
Organizing and Mobilization during Democratic Backsliding
Harvard Ash Center
You can watch this webinar recording to hear from five expert panelists, Cornell William Brooks, Erica Chenoweth, Marshall Ganz, and Steven Levitsky as they shared lessons from around the world about how civil society groups have protected and promoted democracy and the rule of law during episodes of democratic backsliding.
William J. Barber II: How an Anti-Poverty Movement Makes Extremists Tremble
Kettering Foundation, The Context
“The United States is the wealthiest nation in the world, but millions of its citizens live in poverty. What prevents poor, low-wage, and low-wealth Americans from using democratic government to fight for a fairer distribution of resources? And how can they overcome the structures set against them? The answer is counterintuitive, but it’s worked on other social issues in the past. Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II is president and senior lecturer of Repairers of the Breach, cochair of the Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival, and a Charles F. Kettering Foundation senior fellow.”
Reflecting on the Great Transition – 2025 Narrative Predictions Townhall
ReFrame
Enjoy the recording of the ReFrame 2025 Narrative Predictions Townhall where they presented their recent report The Great Transition. The conversation explored enduring narratives and emergent story trends and reflected on current social, political, and cultural upheavals in play in the current narrative landscape. Three strategists shared their experiences of making practical use of the predictions – seeding just narratives, uprooting harmful ones and scenario planning; focusing on building narratives that connect generations, regions, and identities; and, discussing tactics to adapt to the ever-shifting digital landscape.
Eyes on the Prize: We Who Believe in Freedom Cannot Rest 1977-2015
HBO Series Trailer
“Almost 40 years ago Eyes on the Prize set the standard for the cinematic exploration of the Black experience in America and the long struggle for civil rights. At a time when ideals of equity and racial justice may have gone out of favor, HBO is returning with a new documentary series. This six-part series illuminates the bold stories of people and communities who continue to work for equity and racial justice in the years since the birth of the American civil rights movement.”
LISTENING TO
Exploring the inconvenience of systems thinking
Two Inconvenient Women Podcast
“Thinking in systems has started being given a lot of attention. But what is a system? What does it mean to transform systems? And what is systems thinking anyway? [In this episode, they] unpick the inconvenience of systems thinking by going right back to the roots and appreciating how this is not a ‘thing to learn about’ but simply how life works. We are all of us part of the infinite, interconnected systems and ‘thinking in systems’ simply means knowing and noticing the connections that we are a part of and influenced by. This is as simple and as profound as it gets.”
Antiracist Followership in the Civil Rights Movement – Ashton R. Cooper
Lead & Follow Podcast
In this episode, Ashton R. Cooper, an assistant professor at the University of Cincinnati, shares his research on the participation of White activists in the South in the Black-led Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s, as well as insights into the lead and follow role switching of White activists from a recent paper titled “Antiracist followership: rethinking social justice leadership in education.” As a researcher, he uses historical and narrative methods to understand and explore followership as it relates to disrupting systemic oppression and building diverse justice-oriented coalitions. “It is less about what we can do to lead the charge but instead turning to the people who are being affected and ask, ‘how can I be of service to you?'”
A Point of View: The Overwhelm
A. L. Kennedy, BBC
“The ‘overwhelm’ – noun, not verb – has been around ‘since at least 1596’, A. L. Kennedy discovers. She looks at the reasons why the word is making a comeback – and she has some advice for those who also feel lost in ‘the overwhelm.’”
CELEBRATE BLACK ART
Honoring Black Heritage and Dreaming of Black Futures
“Black communities have always, and will always, shape American culture and history. Celebrating Black history means honoring the ancestors who have paved the way – in government, organizing, advocacy, research, music, film, innovation, and more – time and time again, to get us where we are today. Celebrating Black history means celebrating Black art. The Legal Defense Fund (LDF) curated [this] collection of essential Black media and culture to read, watch and listen to. Titles were selected by LDF President and Director-Counsel Janai Nelson.”