During the month of October, we experienced one of the largest mobilizations in US history with the No Kings marches around the country and world; and this article from Harvard’s Crowd Counting Consortium shows that “protests in 2025 have reached a wider swath of the United States than at any other point on record.” If you didn’t attend No Kings, you might want to check out the introvert’s guide to fighting for democracy to “discover six ways to protect democracy – without attending a protest.” Additionally, Amanda Litman share 51(ish) things you can actually do if you’re feeling helpless. “In the same way that there is no one single moment that indicates fascism is here and no single root cause, there is no single solution. There is not one action, one hero, one single donation or protest or even election day to get us out of this.” For more inspiration, sign up and share the new Defiance Dispatch – a weekly round-up of stories of courage from the many individuals and organizations taking a stand around the country.
Heather Cox Richardson gives a helpful overview in her newsletter of the impact of the prolonged government shutdown, including the looming hunger crisis when the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is no longer available on November 1st. If you or someone you know needs help go to Find Help for available local resources. As we continue to contend with the deployment of the national guard in US cities, this is a helpful compendium of resources: So the National Guard is (or might be) coming to your city? And with the upcoming elections in November, the Election Protection Coalition has provided a helpful Toolkit with a number of resources to mobilize, educate, and protect voters in your communities. The ACLU Know Your Rights Toolkit also provides information on everything from Voting Rights to scenarios about what to do if you encounter federal law enforcement or ICE agents at polling stations.
There has been a flurry of activity this month amongst artists and creatives getting organized. PBS NewsHour showed an overview of how artists and musicians have been responding to the administration. And this NYT article describes how “dozens of prominent artists and cultural organizations have signed on to participate in a series of artistic demonstrations aimed to protest what they see as authoritarian overreach by the Trump administration and its allies.” You can find out more about this ‘Fall of Freedom’ effort and how to get involved on their website. We are also inspired to see that the Committee for the First Amendment has been revived in Hollywood, drawing inspiration from when artists previously stood together against attacks during the darkness of the McCarthy era. Check out the new “Arts and Culture: Movement Superpowers” newsletter and sign up for the monthly roundup of resources, trainings, funding opportunities and calls to action.
Finally, from the Horizons’ team: you can listen to Chief Organizer Maria Stephan’s interview on Kettering’s The Context podcast discussing how Nonviolent Resistance Works. Here’s Why. You can re-watch the webinar recording of the recent Interfaith Nonviolent Civil Resistance Training co-hosted by the Center on Faith and Justice, Sojourners, Interfaith Alliance, and the Horizons Project designed as a foundational session for faith leaders seeking to confront authoritarianism and defend democracy through the power of nonviolence. And if you are wondering if the big tent approach to strengthening US democracy is working, don’t miss Chief Network Weaver, Julia Roig’s recent article explaining that yes, The Big Tent is Working but building relational infrastructure takes time.
📚 READING
Voters Should not be Intimidated
by Sean Morales-Doyle, Daniel I. Weiner, Wendy R. Weiser, Michael German, and Elizabeth Goitein with the Brennan Center
This report from 2020 now includes updated information on the strict limits on what the military, law enforcement, and private militias or other vigilantes can do at the polls. “Federal and state laws clearly prohibit any deployment of the military, law enforcement, or vigilantes to the polls to intimidate voters or engage in any operation unrelated to maintaining the peace while elections are being held. The president’s suggestions that law enforcement should act inappropriately or that vigilantes will storm the polls are simply designed to discourage voters, particularly voters of color, from voting and to undermine faith in our elections. It is important to call out Trump’s comments for what they are: not just calls for illegal action but also attempts at voter suppression. Voters should not be intimidated.”
From Transactional to Transformational: Rethinking Partnerships in Systems Change
by Mpinane Mahlatji, Reos Partners
For “Big Tent” organizing, we can learn a lot from these insights into effective partnerships for systems change as we shape new ways of being together in the pro-democracy ecosystem. “Partnerships are at the heart of almost every systems change initiative. No single organisation, sector, or leader can shift a system alone or in isolation. Yet while the language of partnership is pervasive, the quality and depth of those partnerships vary dramatically. Too often, they remain transactional, structured around funding agreements, project deliverables, or short-term outputs. For systemic transformation, this is just not enough. What is required are partnerships that move beyond transactions to become vehicles of co-creation, learning, and trust-building. Partnerships that do not merely support systems change, but are themselves a form of the systemic impact we want to see in the world.”
Deploying Capital Power to Defend and Build Movements
by Darakshan Raja, Nonprofit Quarterly
“In response to [the current] ‘defund and dismantle’ strategy, movements urgently need a ‘defend and build’ strategy by leveraging catalytic investment as a framework and tool—a term used in the for-profit sector to mean early-stage funding for projects that are perceived to be high-risk. Catalytic investors absorb risk and losses with the aim of identifying successful interventions that can have a reverberating impact for a field. Translated into movement terms, catalytic funding means resourcing bold, experimental, and community-led models that may not have immediate returns but hold the potential to transform systems. While communities have long sustained themselves through mutual aid networks, cooperatives, and other grassroots survival models, such efforts cannot by themselves match the scale of today’s threats, especially as they are also being targeted.”
📺 WATCHING
America’s Democracy is at Risk Warns General Honoré
Freedom Watch Media
“Three Star General Russel Honoré (rt) calls out President Trump’s proposal to deploy the National Guard in U.S. cities and issues a grave warning about the idea of ordering American soldiers to shoot civilians. “If we start using the Army and Marines to shoot Americans or arrest them, that will be the beginning of the end of democracy in America as we know it.’ Honoré explains the dangers of waiving Posse Comitatus, suspending habeas corpus, and invoking the Insurrection Act to justify force against civilians. He reflects on what’s at stake for American democracy and the duty to protect the rights generations fought for.”
Orwell: 2+2=5 Isn’t Fiction, with Oscar-Nominated Director Raoul Peck
Living It with Olivia of Troye
In this video interview, the host talks with Oscar-nominated director Raoul Peck about his new film ORWELL: 2+2=5. “Roaul Peck, whose earlier works include I Am Not Your Negro, takes us inside George Orwell’s writings and shows why they matter more than ever. Orwell wasn’t a prophet, he was an analyst of power. And the patterns he warned about: propaganda, surveillance, doublethink, are no longer distant threats. They’re our lived reality.”
Future Over Fear: Tools to Build a New Story
The Opportunity Agenda (TOA)
You can re-watch the virtual launch of TOA’s Future Over Fear Toolkit created to provide a compelling alternative to the fear-based narratives fueling division and blocking genuine progress. “This toolkit aims to help changemakers promote a vision of a multiracial democracy which is powered by community and sustained by justice. [You’ll find]: (1) Future Narratives to ground your messaging strategy and align with other movement leaders; (2) Actionable Insights and Tools to develop your narrative strategy, mobilize audiences, and build movement power; (3) Case Studies from campaigns in the South, Midwest, and New York that successfully shifted public discourse. Whether you’re an advocate, organizer, artist, or storyteller, the Future Over Fear Toolkit provides the tools you need to challenge harmful narratives and build the future we all deserve.”
🎧 LISTENING TO
To See Each Other
To See Each Other Podcast, Season Two
“A podcast that explores how people are fighting for the future of rural and small-town America and why writing it off hurts us all. Hosted by long-time organizer, George Goehl, this documentary serial podcast complicates the narrative about Americans in our most misunderstood, and often abandoned, communities…This season, George travels to Wisconsin to follow a small-town fight for the future of a beloved county nursing home, setting the stage for a statewide battle to save it. Our belief: That when we see each other, we’ll understand that we can never give up on each other.”
Social Impact Grief: How to Mourn AND Organize in 2025
by Fund the People Podcast
“Remember that old activist saying, ‘Don’t mourn; organize’? Well, what if you’re feeling deep disillusioned and disempowered by attacks on nonprofits and communities you love? Feeling dread as you witness beloved institutions and ideas get damaged or destroyed? How are you going to sustain morale through all this? This episode offers language, tools, and pragmatic resources to help you or your team mourn, so that you can continue to organize. Our guest Meico Marquette Whitlock shares the concept of social impact grief. Whitlock discusses how this emotional response to setbacks, policy reversals, and systemic resistance is part of changemaking work, but often goes unacknowledged, creating a dynamic among activists he describes as ‘driving with the parking brake on.’ The discussion includes practical strategies and exercises for both individuals and organizations to get back into gear. Meico emphasizes that grief isn’t linear and shouldn’t be avoided but rather embraced as fuel for continued work.”
Justice Has Left the Building
Runaway Country Podcast
Host Alex Wagner “digs into the destruction of due process and rule of law under the Trump administration. First, she hears from Judge Anam Petit, a recently fired immigration judge who explains how the legal system is being quietly dismantled to prioritize deportations. Then, Alex speaks to Andrew Weissmann, former lead prosecutor in Robert Mueller’s Special Counsel’s Office, about whether our system is forever changed, and what it’s like to be in President Trump’s crosshairs.”
😜 FOR FUN
We can’t fix it if we never face it: Why K-Pop Demon Hunters Is the Story of our Times K 💥😈
by Mara Zepeda
If you haven’t seen it yet, beware of spoilers in this insight article. “On the surface, it’s a battle between two K-Pop bands, Huntrix (good girl demon hunters) and the Saja Boys (bad demon boy band). At stake? The preservation of the entire society’s souls and whether their attention is given over to feed the evil king Gwi-Ma. But in short order, the polarity between good and evil breaks down…What we’re really talking about is neither good nor evil, but the universal feeling of shame and what happens to our souls and our society when we reject and deny it. There’s a shame right now that many of us are holding as we straddle the whims of billionaires, the chaos of philanthropy, and the needs of our immediate families and local communities. It’s too much to bear…There is an equalizing reality that both people in power and people without it have in common: none of the well meaning social change is really working unless immediate family and neighborly relations are healed. As Gwi-Ma says to Rumi: ‘You think you can fix the world? You can’t even fix yourself.’ What a mirror of my own struggles, and the moment we’re all living in together.”