Sanda Balaban

YouTube video by Mother Jones Raquel Willis reminds us it doesn't have to be this way. And there's history to prove it. #history

Hear Raquel in her voice!

Raquel Willis on how the Democrats are failing trans people “We all deserve the right to be the drivers of our own destinies."

Meet Time magazine's woman of the year: Raquel Willis.

"We’re in an era of radical defiance. Organizing for me is crucial because we’ve learned from so many powerful thinkers and freedom fighters that this idea of liberation isn’t possible without the collective."

Check out our conversation here:

30 Charts That Show How Everything Changed in March 2020 It can be easy to forget, or look away from, the pain and disruption of the pandemic. The numbers will be there to remind us.

Decades from now, the Covid-19 pandemic will be visible in the historical data of nearly anything measurable today. Here’s an incomplete collection of charts that capture that break — across the economy, health care, education, work, family life and more.

Anticipatory obedience to authoritarian overreach is deadly to democracy. Speak up, act up, protest up. Thank you, @getfree-mvmt.bsky.social, for helping lead the way.

HAPPENING NOW: members of Get Free are blocking traffic in front of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), the main agency where the Trump Administration and its billionaire backers like Elon Musk have been spearheading efforts to implement MAGA’s Project 2025 agenda.

We can’t defend everything, sadly; each of us must decide where we can provide most help & have the greatest impact. Each of us have some kind of privilege—whether of resources, time, talent, temperament etc—and we should decide what & where & in whom we are willing to invest.

What’s happening RN is not acceptable. While there may not (yet) be a clear path to counteract harm being done & pain being caused, we should all do SOMEthing

@nhannahjones.bsky.social reminded us that part of the strategy right now is to cause chaos to distract & overwhelm us.

It’s easy to look back & see what we SHOULD have done or look forward & imagine what we WOULD do. It’s harder to figure out what we are WILLING to do in the fierce urgency of now. We don’t all have to march or protest BUT we all need to figure out what we ARE willing to stand for & fight against

“Many people say they marched with Martin Luther King Jr. No, you didn’t. And many people say they WOULD have marched with Dr. King had they been alive. No, you wouldn’t have.”—wisdom from @nhannahjones.bsky.social in her keynote address at this week’s AAC&U conference.

What you can do Ten ways to resist Trump II

Trump II has begun. Many people are asking: “What can I do now?”

Here are 10 recommendations. Please let me know your thoughts, and if you have anything else you'd like to add to the list.

Thread on the almost unfathomable death and suffering that the attack on foreign aid will cause.

Trump is delivering on an agenda of grotesque cruelty and chaos.

Ten Things We Can All Do to Protect Democracy From Marc | The most common question I receive is how everyday citizens can help in the fight for democracy.

We will have victories and setbacks, good days and bad. We must understand that this will not be over in one election or with the defeat of any one candidate. This is the fight of our generation, and it will take time. www.democracydocket.com/opinion/10-t...

Courts Are the Last Guardrail From Marc | If democracy is to survive the next four years, the courts will need to perform each of these functions.

If you are looking for the guardrails on MAGA extremism, it does not reside in government institutions or norms. It won't be found in legacy media newsrooms where both-sides journalism is the order of the day. Nor will you find courage in the boardrooms of large corporations as they bow to Trump.

“Do not obey in advance. Most of the power of authoritarianism is freely given. In times like these, individuals think ahead about what a more repressive government will want, and then offer themselves without being asked. A citizen who adapts in this way is teaching power what it can do.” T.Snyder.