In the face of deep concerns expressed by friends about the direction the federal government was taking and their feelings of powerlessness to do anything about it, four women in Riverside, California, decided to create a list of actions that people in their community could take to help restore democracy. To their surprise, people not only discovered new things to do, but recognized that they were already doing some of these actions which then gave them a greater sense of hope and understanding of their own power.
Many of these action suggestions are national programs. Spirituality & Practice encourages people to adapt this resource sheet for their areas.
JOIN GROUPS THAT EDUCATE AND TAKE ACTION:
Indivisible and Indivisible Riverside
indivisible.org
indivisibleriverside.com
Indivisible is a national grassroots movement of thousands of local Indivisible groups with a mission to elect progressive leaders, rebuild our democracy, and defeat the Trump agenda.
Indivisible Riverside is a local Indivisible group that engages in organized, peaceful and lawful exercise of our civil rights to influence government at all levels. Its activism is focused around organizing actions and events for progressive causes.
League of Women Voters Riverside (LWV)
lwv.org/local-leagues/lwv-riverside
The League of Women Voters is a nonpartisan political organization that encourages the informed and active participation of citizens in government, works to increase understanding of major public policy issues and influences public policy through education and advocacy.
American Civil Liberties Union Southern California (ACLU)
aclusocal.org
aclu.org/action
Check out both local and national websites for all the projects and activities ACLU is involved in in Southern California including People Power, a grassroots action that helps volunteers mobilize communities to defend and advance civil liberties and civil rights for all.
Inland Coalition for Immigrant Justice
ic4ij.org
Inland Coalition for Immigrant Justice works with over 35 partners to advocate for policies that protect immigrant communities at local, state, and federal levels.
American Association of University Women (AAUW)
aauw.org
The AAUW’s website contains an Advocacy Tool Kit that includes how to organize different types of political forums, when to write a Letter to the Editor versus an Op-Ed, and guidance for public demonstrations.
MoveOn
moveon.org
MoveOn members mobilize to build a country and world characterized by greater equality, sustainability and justice where everyone can thrive. MoveOn supports candidates and works to pass legislation and change culture.
The Practicing Democracy Project
PracticingDemocracy.net
A collaboration between Spirituality & Practice and the Fetzer Institute, this website is curating resources and spiritual practices for different constituencies wanting to support a flourishing democracy. Included are conversation cards, program guides, rituals, prayers, book and film reviews, and more.
The American Library Association
ala.org
uniteagainstbookbans.org
ALA supports diversity, lifelong learning, equitable access to information and library services, intellectual freedom, and literacy. Check out their Unite Against Book Bans campaign.
The Freedom to Read Foundation
ftrf.org
The FTRF protects and defends the First Amendment to the Constitution and supports the right of libraries to collect and individuals to access information. FTRF supports and engages directly in litigation along with its advocacy and public education efforts.
Red Wine and Blue
redwine.blue
Red Wine & Blue is a sisterhood of diverse, local communities working to change the world together. Issue advocacy toolkits are available on topics including, freedom to parent anti-racism, momonomics, book ban busters, protecting voting rights, and the reality of Project 2025.
Third Act
thirdact.org
Third Act is a community of Americans over sixty using their life experiences, skills, and resources to change the world for the better. They focus on climate and democracy to ensure a safe and stable planet for generations to come.
JOIN GROUPS THAT FOCUS ON LESSENING THE POLARIZATION:
Riverside Braver Angels Alliance
braverangels.org
Braver Angels’ goal is to build relationships across the political spectrum and to strengthen the community. Their intent is not to change people’s views of issues, but to change their views of each other. Riverside has just formed its own Braver Angels Alliance.
Neighborhood Associations
neighborsbettertogether.org/neighborhood-groups
Find existing neighborhood associations in Riverside on this website. These associations enable neighbors to work together to improve the quality of life in their neighborhood while providing opportunities to develop stronger relationships that are not focused on politics.
Civity
civity.org
Civity works to create a cultural infrastructure of positive relationships across differences consisting of concrete, do-able, everyday actions in which everyone can engage. Civity offers in-person and online trainings ranging from introductory workshops to in-depth coaching sessions that prepare participants to facilitate civity experiences for others. Civity also supports workshop participants with post-workshop coaching.
Living Room Conversations
livingroomconversations.org
A Living Room Conversation is an event where people come together in person or online to discuss an issue using a carefully crafted “conversation guide” that fosters connections and understanding. Information about training and tools can be found on their website.
EDUCATE YOURSELF:
Read books on the topic
Cellar Door Bookstore
cellardoorbookstore.com
Cellar Dooris an excellent source of books on the topics of saving democracy and responding to authoritarianism. It also offers several pertinent book clubs.
A good book to start with is On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century by Timothy Snyder. New York: Tim Duggan Books, 2017.
Attend classes on relevant topics
UCR's OSHER Lifelong Learning Institute
olli.ucr.edu/ucrolli/course/course.aspx?catId=10
OSHER offers courses on current events and usually several on historical or political topics of interest. Courses are offered in-person and on Zoom at the Riverside location.
Follow Substack writers and listen to podcasts
“Letters From an American” by Heather Cox Richardson
heathercoxrichardson.substack.com
“Robert Reich,” former Secretary of Labor, daily newsletter
robertreich.substack.com
“Civil Discourse with Joyce Vance” former United States Attorney
joycevance.substack.com
The Bulwark provides analysis and reporting in defense of liberal democracy by center right authors who take issue with the current administration.
thebulwark.com
Robert Reich's YouTube video on "Five Ways to Fight Trump's Fascism"
youtube.com/watch?v=8W-lVRQQGtI
Learn from Websites
MeidasTouch News is a pro-democracy news website with articles, videos, and podcasts.
meidasnews.com
The Brennan Center for Justice website describes its work to reform, revitalize, and defend our country’s systems of democracy and justice.
brennancenter.org
Democracy Docket is dedicated to information, analysis and opinion about voting rights and elections in the courts.
democracydocket.com
Listen to our local NPR and PBS stations
Radio stations KVCR 91.9 and KUCR 88.3
KVCR TV channel 24 and PBS SoCal channels 50 and 28
Read newspapers, journals and magazines
The Raincross Gazette is a digital newspaper focused on what’s happening in Riverside and how it is impacted.
raincrossgazette.com
Black Voice News is an Inland Empire publication that addresses a wide range of issues that impacts the lives of Black Californians.
blackvoicenews.com
The New York Times
nytimes.com
The Atlantic
theatlantic.com/magazine
WRITE:
Letters to the Editor of newspapers
Press Enterprise
opinion@scng.org
Letters to the editor no longer than 150 words and op-ed submissions no longer than 600
words can be submitted via email to the address above. Additional information about
submissions is also available at this website.
Los Angeles Times
latimes.com/oe-howtosubmitoped-story.html
Guidelines for submitting letters to the editor or op-ed pieces to the LA Times can found at the website above.
Postcards to prospective voters
Indivisible Riverside
https://www.indivisibleriverside.com
MoveOn.Org
front.moveon.org
Postcards to Voters
postcardstovoters.org
Activate America
activateamerica.vote
Emails to National and State Elected Officials Google the elected official you wish to email to get his or her current email address. Contact information will also be on the elected official’s official website. USA.gov will provide the name of your federal elected officials and their contact information. findyourrep.legislature.ca.gov will give you the name of your California Assembly person and Senator.
MAKE CALLS:
5 Calls
5calls.org
5 Calls makes it easy to reach members of Congress by researching issues, writing scripts, figuring out the most influential decision-makers, and collecting phone numbers for their offices.
SING:
Riverside Resistance Choir
facebook.com/ResistWithSongs
The Riverside Resistance Choir uses song to advocate for human rights for all.
Playlist
Songs of Lament, Resistance, and Joy.
Spirituality & Practice put together a Spotify playlist of songs to help you process frustration, righteous anger, powerlessness, etc. and lead you into determination, hope, and transformation.
ATTEND MEETINGS OF LOCALLY ELECTED OFFICIALS:
School Boards
Riverside Unified School District
riversideunified.org/board-of-education
RUSD’s website contains information about meeting agendas and minutes and the Board’s meeting schedule.
Alvord School District
alvordschools.org/152298_2
AUSD website contains information about meeting agendas and minutes and the Board’s meeting schedule.
City Council
riversideca.gov/council
This site has a button for dates and agendas for City Council Meetings.
County Board of Supervisors
rivco.org/board of supervisors
This website has information about meetings, calendars and agendas.
Townhalls for CA Assembly Members, CA Senators, US Representatives
Contact your local official and asked to be put on their mailing list for townhalls. Also, check out accounts and websites run by the elected officials and their staff including: Facebook, Bluesky, official government websites — specifically sections on Press Releases, Events, and Media Alerts, and official government newsletters.
VOTE:
County Registrar of Voters
voteinfo.net
The County Registrar of Voters website contains information about how to register to vote, about current and past elections, as well as information about individual candidates and issues. Information for currently registered voters and poll worker is also available along with multiple links to related topics.
Vote411
vote411.org
Vote 411 is "one-stop-shop" for election related information. It is committed to ensuring voters have the information they need to successfully participate in every election. Whether it’s local, state or federal, every election is important to ensuring our laws and policies reflect the values and beliefs of our community.
VISIT:
Civil Rights Institute of Southern California
inlandcivilrights.org
The Civil Rights Institute of Inland Southern California inspires people of all ages through lifting up the historic and ongoing civil rights stories of the region, fostering community advocacy, and building champions of tomorrow.
Center for Civil Rights & Social Justice, Riverside Community College District
socialjustice.rccd.edu
The Center for Social Justice & Civil Liberties was inspired by Miné Okubo, a Japanese American woman artist and Riverside City College Alumna who played a significant role in documenting the lives of mid-20th century Japanese Americans in the United States.
FUND:
Contribute money to organizations that are mobilizing people to act and standing up for
democratic principles. The organizations listed above are a good place to start.
AMPLIFY and SHARE:
Don’t be shy. Speak up whenever you have the chance.
Share information and ideas from credible newspapers or Substack articles, podcasts, YouTube
videos, your own ideas, or any other good messages as widely as you can on your social media or
with friends via email and texting.
Share this list of “What I Can Do” with friends and acquaintances in Riverside and people out of
the city who might be interested in creating a similar list for their own community
Remember, anything you can do helps.
Please do something!