How Americans Are Fighting Back

No, we're not just whining and wringing our hands

HOW AMERICANS ARE FIGHTING BACK

There's an ignorant falsehood making the rounds: that Americans are sitting back passively while Trump and his gang of atrocity experts set fire to the world.

That story isn’t just wrong. It's an insult to millions of people who have been courageously, persistently, and creatively fighting back every single day.

The truth is that Americans are resisting the authoritarian, bigoted, theocratic, destructive actions of the Trump administration through a broad, diverse, and ongoing set of strategies.

Go here to read why so many Americans suffer from the delusion that little is being done to resist the trump administration’s thuggery and brutality: tinyurl.com/WhyIgnorance

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Here are the facts:

Legal Challenges and Constitutional Defense

The ACLU and allied legal organizations have filed hundreds of lawsuits to block, delay, or overturn Trump administration abuses, including those targeting immigrants, LGBTQ rights, reproductive freedom, and civil liberties.

State attorneys general in Democratic-led states coordinate daily to pursue collective lawsuits that protect vulnerable groups and uphold constitutional protections.

Federal judges across the country have unleashed temporary restraining orders and injunctions, serving as crucial checks on executive brutalities.

Public interest law firms like the Southern Poverty Law Center, Lambda Legal, and the Center for Constitutional Rights have mobilized their resources to defend civil rights through the courts.

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The Grassroots Surge

Ordinary people have filled streets, parks, and public squares with bodies and banners. Millions have marched, calling out the cruelty and corruption.

National efforts, like strike pledges, coordinated protest days, and solidarity sign displays (for example, on overpasses), show widespread public resistance and pressure to end the depravities.

Local communities mobilize to oppose ICE raids, defend targeted immigrants, and disrupt the kidnappings, sometimes physically preventing detentions or providing sanctuary. Grassroots networks fund bail, pay lawyers, and provide groceries for families ripped apart by raids.

Educators and school officials have denied ICE agents access to school campuses.

35 sanctuary cities and counties have reinforced their protective policies, with local governments refusing to cooperate with federal immigration enforcement.

Religious communities have also activated sanctuary networks, offering physical shelter and legal support to those victimized by Trump’s crimes against humanity.

Labor unions have organized strikes, work slowdowns, and solidarity actions to protect immigrant workers and combat discrimination.

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Immigrant Rights Defense Networks

To support immigrant-rights defense efforts, Americans are volunteering, donating, advocating, and joining community support networks.

Volunteers work with legal defense organizations like the Immigrant Defense Project, Northwest Immigrant Rights Project, Amica Center, and others that coordinate legal aid, court accompaniment, and translation support.

There's a pro bono attorney network to represent immigrants in hearings, asylum, and removal proceedings; many organizations provide training and case assignments.

Non-attorneys offer paralegal help, translation, document preparation, and moral support at hearings, ICE check-ins, or community events.

Grassroots organizations provide legal, financial, and emotional support for those at risk or affected by the Trump cult’s barbarous violence.

People donate to organizations like the Immigrant Defense Project, United We Dream, the Oasis Legal Services, the U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants (USCRI), CASA, Immigrants Are LA (IRLA), the African Advocacy Network, the East Bay Sanctuary Covenant, the California Collaborative for Immigrant Justice, and the San Francisco Foundation Rapid Response Fund.

Financial contributions support emergency legal defense, family reunification, bail funds, and immediate community needs.

The Immigrant Legal Resource Center, SIREN, and Immigration Advocates Network offer legal counsel and community support.

Political Organizing and Electoral Action

Groups like Indivisible mobilize people to attend town halls, flood Congressional phone lines, and pressure elected officials, contributing to electoral swing outcomes and legislative resistance.

Organizations like Common Cause and others train citizens to track legislation, contact representatives, and defend voting rights.

Groups like 5calls.org mobilize Americans' messages to elected officials to resist the mayhem.

Progressive Change Campaign Committee (PCCC) supports progressive candidates nationwide, trains volunteers, and mobilizes grassroots activism for electoral wins and policy change.

FairVote advocates for fairer, more inclusive elections through reforms like ranked-choice voting and automatic voter registration, aiming to expand voter participation and ensure election integrity.

Democracy Matters focuses on educating and mobilizing students and communities around removing big money from politics and strengthening democratic participation.

Voter registration drives have surged in response to authoritarian threats, with organizations working to expand the electorate in key constituencies.

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The Storytellers and Truth-Tellers

Independent journalists, documentary filmmakers, and investigative reporters have worked tirelessly to expose corruption, amplify the voices of the targeted, and chronicle the resistance.

Social media has become a battlefield of documentation, where videos, testimonies, and calls to action travel fast. Citizen journalists equipped with smartphones have become key witnesses, capturing evidence of government’s ugly viciousness and hellish police transgressions that might otherwise go unreported.

Podcasters, bloggers, and newsletter writers have created alternative information ecosystems that bypass corporate media gatekeepers and deliver unfiltered reporting directly to audiences eager to learn what’s really transpiring.

HERE ARE LINKS TO GREAT ALTERNATE MEDIA: tinyurl.com/AlternateMediaNow

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Institutional Resistance and Civil Service Courage

Inside the government, federal employees have used subtle and sometimes overt tactics to resist policy orders from the Trump cult that are unethical, unlawful, or harmful to their agencies' missions.

Tactics used by civil servants include:

Career employees intentionally slow the process of developing guidelines or executing orders by extending review, raising procedural questions, or prolonging consultation periods.

Some staff limit the flow of critical information, delaying briefings or omitting details needed for swift policy action.

There are instances of outright refusal or "work-to-rule" behavior. Workers strictly follow the letter, not the intent, of orders.

Whistleblowers and other staff leak information about plans or internal dissent to the press or members of Congress to trigger public scrutiny or outside intervention.

Civil servants document directives that are unlawful or in violation of agency norms, preserving records that can be used in investigations or legal reviews.

The above meme is from https://tinyurl.com/AntiFascistActs

Go here for more like that: https://tinyurl.com/DefianceCommandments

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HOW AMERICANS ARE FIGHTING BACK, Part 2

Economic Resistance and Consumer Power

Boycotts and divestment campaigns target corporations that support or enable authoritarian policies, using economic pressure to demand corporate responsibility.

"Buy local" and "buy blue" movements redirect consumer spending toward businesses that align with democratic values.

Credit unions and community banks have seen increased membership as people move their money away from large financial institutions that are complicit in the attempted destruction of democracy.

Worker organizing has intensified, with employees at tech companies, universities, and other institutions demanding their employers take stands against the police state and its thugs.

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Cultural and Creative Resistance

Artists, musicians, and writers are creating riveting, vivid works that inspire uprising and resistance as they bear witness to this heinous historical savagery.

Theater groups and performance artists stage provocative works that challenge audiences to confront uncomfortable truths about the Trump Death Cult.

Museums and cultural institutions have mounted exhibitions that contextualize the current struggles against oppression within broader histories of resistance and social change.

Community art projects transform public spaces into canvases for protest and solidarity, from murals to guerrilla theater.

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MATTHEW FOX, ORIGINATOR OF CREATION SPIRITUALITY, QUOTES ME

I’m a major admirer of Matthew Fox, an American theologian who founded the "Creation Spirituality" movement, emphasizing mystical eco-centrism. He is a prolific author and educator, known for blending activism, holistic pedagogy, and interfaith dialogue in his influential work.

In his Labor Day video message on Monday, he quoted extensively from me (beginning 3:29 in), including the passage below. Here’s his video: tinyurl.com/MatthewFoxQuotesBrezsny

My words: America has been assaulted and overrun by a hostile oligarchic death cult perpetrating its toxic rot — and yet the universe is still conspiring, through love and mystery, to shower us with blessings. My task is to live inside this paradox with brazen courage, to grieve and celebrate at once, to mourn the mayhem while magnifying the miracles . . .

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Tarot images are from my unpublished deck

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Links to all my other stuff: linktr.ee/robbrezsny

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FREE WILL ASTROLOGY

Week of September 4

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): The Gross National Product (GNP) is a standard of economic success by which countries gauge their health. It reflects the world’s obsession with material wealth. But the Buddhist nation of Bhutan has a different accounting system: Gross National Happiness (GNH). It includes factors like the preservation of the environment, enrichment of the culture, and quality of governance. Here's an example of how Bhutan has raised its GNH. Its scenic beauty could generate a huge tourist industry. But strict limits have been placed on the number of foreign visitors, ensuring the land won't be trampled and despoiled. I would love to see you take a similar GNH inventory, Virgo. Tally how well you have loved and been loved. Acknowledge your victories and awakenings. Celebrate the beauty of your life.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): In Japanese haiku, poets may reference the lingering scent of flowers as a metaphor for a trace of something vivid that continues to be evocative after the event has passed. I suspect you understand this quite well right now. You are living in such an after-scent. A situation, encounter, or vision seems to have ended, but its echo is inviting you to remain attentive. Here’s my advice: Keep basking in the reverberations. Let your understandings and feelings continue to evolve. Your assignment is to allow the original experience to complete its transmission. The full blossoming needs more time to unfold.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): In the Australian desert, there’s a phenomenon called desert varnish. It’s a thin, dark coating of clay, iron, and manganese oxides. It forms over rocks due to microbial activity and prolonged exposure to wind and sun. Over time, these surfaces become canvases for Indigenous artists to create images. I like to think of their work as storytelling etched into endurance. In the coming weeks, Scorpio, consider using this marvel as a metaphor. Be alert for the markings of your own epic myth as they appear on the surfaces of your life. Summon an intention to express the motifs of your heroic story in creative ways. Show the world the wisdom you have gathered during your long, strange wanderings.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): In Indigenous Australian lore, the Dreamtime is a parallel dimension overlapping the material world, always present and accessible through ritual and listening. Virtually all Indigenous cultures throughout history have conceived of and interacted with comparable realms. If you are open to the possibility, you now have an enhanced capacity to draw sustenance from this otherworld. I encourage you to go in quest of help and healing that may only be available there. Pay close attention to your dreams. Ask your meditations to give you long glimpses of the hidden magic.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Saturn is your ruling planet and archetype. In the old myth of the god Saturn, he rules time, which is not an enemy but a harvester. He gathers what has ripened. I believe the coming weeks will feature his metaphorical presence, Capricorn. You are primed to benefit from ripening. You are due to collect the fruits of your labors. This process may not happen in loud or dramatic ways. A relationship may deepen. A skill may get fully integrated. A long-running effort may coalesce. I say it’s time to celebrate! Congratulate yourself for having built with patience and worked through the shadows. Fully register the fact that your labor is love in slow motion.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): In Greek mythology, the constellation Aquarius was linked to a heroic character named Ganymede. The great god Zeus made this beautiful man the cupbearer to the gods. And what drink did Ganymede serve? Ambrosia, the divine drink of immortality. In accordance with astrological omens, I’m inviting you to enjoy a Ganymede-like phase in the coming weeks. Please feel emboldened to dole out your gorgeous uniqueness and weirdness to all who would benefit from it. Let your singular authenticity pour out freely. Be an overflowing source of joie de vivre and the lust for life.
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PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): In 1932, trailblazing aviator Amelia Earhart made a nonstop solo flight across the Atlantic, steering through icy winds and mechanical trouble. When she landed, she said she had been “too busy” to be scared. This is an excellent motto for you now, Pisces: “too busy to be scared.” Not because you should ignore your feelings, but because immersion in your good work, mission, and devotion will carry you through any momentary turbulence. You now have the power to throw yourself so completely into your purpose that fear becomes a background hum.

ARIES (March 21-April 19): Austin Curtis was a prominent Black scientist whose work had spectacularly practical applications. Among his successes: He developed many new uses for peanut byproducts, including rubbing oils for pain relief. His work exploited the untapped potential of materials that others neglected or discarded. I urge you to adopt a similar strategy in the coming weeks, Aries: Be imaginative as you repurpose scraps and leftovers. Convert afterthoughts into useful assets. Breakthroughs could come from compost heaps, forgotten files, or half-forgotten ideas. You have the power to find value where others see junk.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): In Polynesian navigation, sailors read the subtle rise and fall of ocean swells to find islands and chart their course. They also observe birds, winds, stars, and cloud formations. The technique is called wayfinding. I invite you to adopt your own version of that strategy, Taurus. Trust waves and weather rather than maps. Authorize your body to sense the future in ways that your brain can’t. Rely more fully on what you see and sense rather than what you think. Are you willing to dwell in the not-knowingness? Maybe go even further: Be excited about dwelling in the not-knowingness. Don’t get fixated on plotting the whole journey. Instead, assume that each day’s signs will bring you the information you need.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): The umbrella thorn acacia is an African tree whose roots grow up to 115 feet deep to tap hidden water beneath the desert floor. Above ground, it may look like a scraggly cluster of green, but underground it is a masterpiece of reach and survival. I see you as having resemblances to this tree these days, Gemini. Others may only see your surface gestures and your visible productivity. But you know how deep your roots run and how far you are reaching to nourish yourself. Don’t underestimate the power of your attunement to your core. Draw all you need from that primal reservoir.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): To make a tabla drum sing, the artisan adds a black patch of iron filings and starch at the center of the drumhead. Called a syahi, it creates complex overtones and allows the musician to summon both pitch and rhythm from the same surface. Let’s imagine, Cancerian, that you will be like that drum in the coming weeks. A spot that superficially looks out of place may actually be what gives your life its music. Your unique resonance will come not in spite of your idiosyncratic pressure points, but because of them. So don’t aim for sterile perfection. Embrace the irregularity that sings.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): There’s a Zen motto: “Before enlightenment, chop wood, carry water. After enlightenment, chop wood, carry water.” I hope you apply that wisdom in the coming weeks, Leo. Your breakthrough moments of insight have come or will come soon. But your next move should not consist of being self-satisfied or inert. Instead, I hope you seek integration. Translate your innovations into your daily rhythm. Turn the happy accidents into enduring improvements. The progress that comes next won’t be as flashy or visible, but it’ll be just as crucial.

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