For many, it feels like we’ve been shot out of a cannon since the start of the new year. As we marked the five-year anniversary of the January 6th insurrection, we saw important reflections on the impact of the presidential pardons of those jailed for those violent crimes while celebrating the release of the latest edition of the alternative reality, J6 comic series. “On January 3rd, the American military extracted the murderous dictator Nicolás Maduro from Caracas. On January 7th, ICE killed a mother in her car in Minnesota. These are two glimpses of a larger story about death and lies,” writes Tymothy Snyder in a piece that links together the administration’s actions both at home and abroad. And, during the World Economic Forum, the Prime Minister of Canada Mark Carney made a powerful speech about the shifting world order and role of the U.S. that you can read here in full. “You cannot live within the lie of mutual benefit through integration, when integration becomes the source of your subordination.”
Many around the country have been inspired by the collective action of the people of Minnesota in the face of ICE’s surge in the state. We’ve also been called to honor the many distinct responses people are experiencing to the murders in Minneapolis. But what is clear is that the egregious political violence has spurred many new voices to denounce the authoritarian tactics, including a new song by Bruce Springsteen: Streets of Minneapolis. To find concrete ways to offer support, check out the resources provided by Stand with Minnesota, and please pay special attention to the requests for financial support for families to pay their rent.
Enjoy this new compilation of Scot Nakagawa’s Substack articles within one Anti-Authoritarian Playbook from the 22nd Century Initiative. More in Common launched an interesting research report Beyond MAGA: A Profile of the Trump Coalition that lays out four distinct types of Trump voters, while Democracy 2076 also released a new report on realignment of pro-democracy political coalitions. You can read the recently released Democracy Notes 2025 Trends here. And, as we start preparing for the 250th anniversary of the country this year, Baratunde Thurston extolled that 250 Years Since Its Founding, America Needs a Declaration of Interdependence.
From Horizons, see below the links to watch Maria Stephan on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert! And check out all the resources we compiled together with Pax Christi and Pace Bene to share with his audience at nonviolence.info. You can read Julia Roig and Andrew Regalado’s recent article on Facilitating a big tent: Critical Connections for Pro-Democracy Organizing as a part of the Democracy & Belonging Forum’s series on Bridging in Action. We were also thrilled to publish several articles from Growers Guild members this month: ICE Violence and the Struggle to Make Meaning: What Narrative Power Is Doing in Minnesota, and Beyond, by Eleonore Wesserle. And History, Resistance and Democracy: Reflections on Visiting the Phoenix Indian School by Sherri Bevel and Adrienne Evans.
Here’s what else we’re reading, watching and listening to this month:
📚 READING
What’s it going to take to get to mass strikes?
by Daniel Hunter, Waging Nonviolence
“General strikes can have a tremendous impact, but to succeed they require an organized majority, networks of solidarity, and resources to weather repression… The Jan. 23 one-day economic blackout [was] not the only tactic on the table. It sat alongside legal challenges, corporate pressure campaigns targeting ICE enablers, mutual aid and direct services, physical interventions, and more. This is how real movements tend to move: not in a straight line, but through overlapping experiments…people do not jump from anger straight into a strike. ‘The job isn’t to stand around waiting for the spark to light the prairie fire. We need to figure out how to arrange the kindling, and we should’ve started yesterday,’ Instead, successful campaigns use repeated, escalating ‘structure tests.’ Small collective risks taken together. Visible proof that ‘we can do this.’ Each test builds confidence, discipline and organization — the muscle memory required when the stakes rise.”
America Isn’t Divided on ICE – It’s Divided on REALITY.
by Van Jones
“As anti-ICE protests escalate, you may find yourself struggling to make sense of the dueling narratives. I’ve spent the last week doing something most people avoid: actually listening to voices on all sides. And I mean really listening. Here’s what I’ve learned. Each side thinks they’re the reasonable one. Each side thinks the other side is lying – or has lost their minds… The truth is: we are not having a debate about immigration policy. We’re having an argument about legitimacy. About who gets to enforce what, where and how. About what kind of power the federal government should be allowed to deploy in American neighborhoods. About – fundamentally – who is invading whom. (Are dangerous, foreign hordes invading our precious country? Or are jackbooted government thugs invading our precious cities?) Here’s the kicker: we’re reaching our conclusions inside completely different algorithmic universes and data silos. Different videos. Different headlines. Different “facts.” Different emotional cues. So, of course we can’t agree. We are not even watching the same movie.”
Why “Hypocrisy” Arguments Don’t Work
by Rashad Robinson, How We Win
“The goal is to activate people in the here and now, while also building winning momentum over time. But I’ve never seen a polling report that gets both the short-term and the long-term narrative insights and recommendations right…The [extremist] right wing doesn’t win people over, and convert those wins with people into wins in politics, because it’s coherent or consistent. They win because they tell a story about power and belonging at all times, consistent or not, and effectively invite people into it. That strength is what’s persuasive, along with all the lies and savvy arguments that go with them…This year will be full of arguments. Some will feel righteous. Some will go viral. Some will make us feel clever and correct. That doesn’t mean they’re working. The question we must keep asking—starting now, not after we lose—is simple: What works for both our short-term goals of activating our own people and our long-term goals of winning over new people?”
📺 WATCHING
Horizons’ own Chief Organizer Maria J. Stephan was a guest on the Late Show this month to talk about “things regular citizens can do to push back against government aggression without the threat or use of violence.” You can watch the second segment of the show here, where she reinforces the role of faith leaders in pro-democracy organizing and answers Stephen’s question about nonviolence as a way of life.
I’ve Had It! Video Podcast with Ruth Ben-Ghiat
Professor Ruth Ben-Ghiat is the author of Strongmen: Mussolini to the Present, which looks at the tools of authoritarian rule and how authoritarians can be resisted. On this episode of I’ve Had It! she discusses why the U.S. administration is ramping up its fascism as they grow weaker, and why these tactics will ultimately fail.
Making Democracy Interesting: Tips from TV, Podcasts, Science Fiction, and Online Creators
Harvard Ash Center
“Shouting ourselves hoarse about the dire consequences of democratic erosion has not, on its own, brought people back in. Many are disillusioned with democracy and unmoved by exhortations to defend it. How can we instead tell positive, compelling stories about democracy—stories that young people, in particular, can relate to? [Rewatch this recorded] conversation with accomplished storytellers from a wide array of mediums about how they bring democracy issues to their audiences in creative ways.” If you don’t have time to watch, you can read a summary of the event here. And you also might be interested to read the recent report released by Democracy 2076 and Harmony Labs on The Power of Story to Grow Democracy. Yet another great narrative resource that came out this month is from the Bliss Collective on Applied Narrative Research for Movement Building.
🎧 LISTENING TO
Autocracy in America, Season Three
The Atlantic
“The Trump administration is making radical, unprecedented changes to American institutions. By doing so, it is seeking to transform the American political system as well. To explain Donald Trump’s project, and to talk about where it might be going, The Atlantic’s Anne Applebaum is returning to host a new season of Autocracy in America. She’ll introduce listeners to Americans whose lives were changed during the administration’s first year, and will ask historians, analysts, and political scientists how new laws and policies might affect the midterm elections in November.”
How we can shift from systems of domination to cultures of partnership
Nonviolence Radio
“In this first episode of 2026, Nonviolence Radio welcomes visionary scholar Riane Eisler for a spacious and deeply human conversation about the cultural shift our world is being asked to make—from systems of domination toward cultures of partnership. Drawing on Eisler’s lifelong work, including The Chalice and the Blade and Nurturing Our Humanity, we move through memory, trauma, economics, education, and story, discovering how nonviolence is not just an ideal but a lived, relational practice. Together, we explore what it means to build a world rooted in care, courage, and connection—and how a “new story” of who we are and what we’re capable of can help guide us through this time of profound transition.”
A Fork in the Road w/ Indy Johar
The Deep Dive Podcast
“Philip welcomes back perennial guest, Indy Johar for the first episode of the 7th season of The Deep Dive. Their conversation is a wide-ranging exploration of the state of our entangled worlds and what they are thinking through for 2026 and beyond… The Deep Dive is a culture and insights podcast with Philip McKenzie, an anthropologist who uses his expertise in culture to advise organizations on how best to thrive in an increasingly challenging and uncertain environment.”
💡 FOR INSPIRATION
The Urgency of Political Hope
Center for Transformational Change
As a part of celebrations of MLK Day, the Center for Transformational Change asked artists, writers, and creators: What gives you political hope? How do you create it? How do you sustain community through it? Their responses are beautiful and urgent. Enjoy reading the full zine.