Here we are at the end of November on the other side of the US elections, and if you haven’t read enough post-election analysis yet, check out this crowdsourced bibliography of articles organized by Eli Pariser of New_Public. We would especially recommend this piece by Rebecca Solnit about how to stay grounded in love in this moment and not give into fear. And also, this advice from Deepa Iyer, using the Social Change Map to highlight the need to Grieve, Connect, Act, Reflect, Correct. (Repeat). Our colleague Scot Nakagawa shared these Recommendations for Anti-Authoritarian Resistance saying that we must adapt, not assimilate. And Mark and Peter Engler write that “there is no better antidote to hopelessness than action in community” as we expect a new wave of movements to arise.
One theme that has been emerging after the election is what kind of deep listening practices and trusted information systems will be needed in the coming months and years. You can find Five Media-Related Actions We Can All Take Before Inauguration Day here; and some inspiration on why building a trusted information ecosystem requires building a community. The new SSIR series on social sector communications is excellent, especially this piece on moving Beyond the Broadcasting Model. “Today’s communications landscape demands that social sector organizations move away from a 20th-century broadcasting approach and toward dialogue, relationship-building, and fostering community.”You may also be interested in the launch of the new Civic Information Index, “a new data tool that brings often siloed players in our civic health and information ecosystems together around the same goal: building informed, engaged, healthy and equitable communities.”
Horizons will continue to prioritize our work with the various pillars of support for democracy, including the business pillar which has a unique responsibility to stand up for human rights as described here by Bennett Freeman. Our colleague Chloe Schwenke has written about the many ways you can support the transgender community right now. And as we continue to listen to and learn from our colleagues from other countries, you may want to check out the perspectives and disappointments voiced from this panel of African leaders on the recently concluded COP29 climate talks in Baku.
Check out the overview and watch the recording of the webinar Horizons and the Democracy Hub recently hosted on Defending Democracy with Humor and Dilemma Actions Tactics; and, don’t miss Chief Organizer Maria Stephan’s latest article, How we can meet the challenges of authoritarianism.
As we prepare to celebrate Thanksgiving, the Horizons team is grateful for all our partners and the inspiring work you continue to do. Here are some other resources we are reading, watching, and listening to this month:
READING
10 Ways to be Prepared and Grounded Now that Trump has Won
by Daniel Hunter, Waging Nonviolence
“The key to taking effective action in a Trump world is to avoid perpetuating…fear, isolation, exhaustion and disorientation.” Our colleague Daniel Hunter offers some helpful advice: to take care of yourself, find your people to process together, make space to grieve, and then find your path for action. He describes four concrete paths: (1) Protecting People; (2) Defending Civic Institutions; (3) Disrupt and Disobey; and (4) Building Alternatives. “We can’t just be stuck reacting and stopping the bad. We have to have a vision. This is the slow growth work of building alternative ways that are more democratic.”
These Times Ask More of Us: Practices that will help social sector leaders prepare to usher in a new world
by Cassie Robinson & Sophia Parker, Stanford Social Innovation Review
Don’t miss this inspiring compilation of articles curated by the Joseph Rowntree team. “In every moment, glimmers of alternative futures appear. The present is made up not only of the knowable and measurable, but also of what is latent or hidden: the stuff of our hopes, imaginations, and spiritual existence…We focus much more on strategic intentions than strategic planning and ground ourselves in the philosophy so beautifully described in adrienne maree brown’s work: that ‘what we pay attention to, grows.’”
This issue is divided into four interlinked sections: exploring hospicing and stewarding loss; collective imagination; capacities and capabilities of ‘complexity consciousness;’ and finally, using different instruments and approaches to wealth flows.
Will Trump Teach Us to Care About Democracy Again?
by Marshall Gantz, The Walrus
“Millions of Americans could strengthen democracy by practicing it…yet, it is precisely Americans’ useful knowledge of the practices that enable purposeful collective action that we have allowed to atrophy. Many are out of practice at coming together, committing to one another in pursuit of a shared purpose, deliberating together, deciding together, and acting together—the essential practices of democracy in its most everyday form. The same goes for skills related to group decision making, managing internal conflict, or holding one another accountable—the most basic democratic practices. We see, hear, and read about the major threats to democracy every day, but a closer look reveals the depth of the challenges we face in our everyday lives.”
WATCHING
Panel discussion on generating the connective tissue of American civil society
Stanford Center on Philanthropy and Civil Society
If you are looking for positive stories and inspiration of where and how civic life is thriving in the US, you will enjoy watching this recorded discussion with Sam Pressler (author of the Connective Tissue policy framework), Pete Davis (co-director of Join or Die); Josh Fryday (California’s Chief Service Officer, leader of CA Volunteers); and Hollie Russon Gilman (Senior Fellow at New America, affiliate at Harvard’s Ash Center, & advisor to Trust for Civic Life).
A Democracy Post-Mortem: What Exit Poll Data Reveals About Race in America Today
Harvard Kennedy School Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation
Two days after the US election, Professors Khalil Gibran Muhammad and Leah Wright Rigueur hosted an online conversation addressing the current political moment. Examining exit poll data, the two historians worked together to make sense of the election’s outcome — and what it means for the future of American democracy. Some of the insights they reflected on included that this election ‘forces us to think differently’ and that movements win elections — not parties. You can also read a short summary of the webinar here.
A Call to Hearten: Let Tender Tenacity Walk with Fierce Patience
Upaya Zen Center
Enjoy this short meditation that John Paul Lederach offered just days after the election. With this poetic reflection on resilience and compassion, he asks, “‘How do we hold hardness, how do we hold our woundedness, while freeing our beauty?’ John Paul speaks to the challenges of facing uncertainty and the difficult emotions and experiences that often accompany it. He encourages us to find our courage, to engage with suffering, and to transform it through compassion and wise, patient practice.”
LISTENING TO
When No Things Work, With Norma Wong
How to Survive the End of the World Podcast
Cohosts, adrienne maree brown and Autumn Brown sit down with the “great teacher, Norma Wong, whose new book, When No Thing Works: A Zen and Indigenous Perspective on Resilience, Shared Purpose, and Leadership in the Timeplace of Collapse, was released the day after the election. Wong brings her years of organizing, electoral work, and spiritual practice to bear on this moment… with wisdom, wit, and deep care for all life.”
Spaces for Collective Imagining
Alive and Learning Podcast
In this episode, Cat Zuzarte Tully and Abi Nokes of the School of International Futures (SOIF) talk about the practice of foresight and what distinguishes SOIF’s approach from other futurists. “Cat and Abi share what it takes to host interactive foresight sessions that promote psychological safety conducive to collectively imagining futures. They talk about challenging dominant patterns of thinking and navigating power dynamics to envision alternative pathways that put intergenerational fairness at the forefront. They shine a light on how responsible leaders can democratize the ways in which we engage with signals of the future that are here with us now.”
Trump Kicks Down the Guardrails
Ezra Klein Podcast
“Anne Applebaum is a Pulitzer Prize-winning historian, a staff writer at The Atlantic, and the author of a new book, “Autocracy, Inc.: The Dictators Who Want to Run the World.” In this conversation, [Ezra and Anne] discuss how she’s been processing Trump’s cabinet picks, what to make of Elon Musk’s role in Trump’s inner circle, the indicators to look out for when governments slide in an autocratic direction, the appeal and excitement of autocratic regimes that often get missed in our history books, the relationship between autocracies and futurists, the politics of performance and more.”
FOR WELLBEING
To be in shape for the long haul, we have to get our minds and spirits ready, as well as jump into action. When we’re in bad shape, our power is diminished — we’re less creative, more reactive, and less able to plan strategically. If we intend to stay active and effective in the world, we have a responsibility to tend to our spirits. Check out this list of seven behaviors we can use right away to strengthen ourselves, so we can keep taking more and more powerful and strategic actions.For example: Daily, I will make human-to-human connection with another person and make sure we stay in motion. Once a week, I will pray, meditate, or reflect on those I know who are being impacted by oppressive policies, and extend that love to all who may be suffering.