After the election, I struggled with what to say about it on my blog.  I ended up writing a passionate post about how dismayed I was about Trump’s win.  I never publicized the blog on my Instagram or Facebook feeds, and I hid the post several months later.  The tone didn’t fit with my blog’s overall feel, I thought, and I didn’t want to offend anyone as I slowly grew my blog and future business.  It’s just best to be nonpartisan with this blog, I thought, and on my private Instagram account I can say what I really feel.

But after the terrible first week we’ve had with the Trump administration, I can’t be nonpartisan here anymore.  It’s too dangerous to be silent.  I have Muslim friends and I worry about their safety.  I worry about my country’s safety as we close our doors to others and as this president makes allusions to a Holy War on Twitter.  What Trump is doing is not American.  It’s hateful and disgusting.

I’m fairly new to the world of activism, so everything in this post is inspired by the great work being done by friends on Instagram and helpful articles I’ve encountered while researching.  I’ve linked the articles in this post.

1.  Donate.  There are many causes that need our support.  The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)  does essential work in fighting for injustices.  They challenged the Trump immigration ban, along with the National Immigration Law Center  and the International Refugee Assistance Project.    The Council on American-Islamic Relations  is another organization needing support.
2. Contact your elected official!  Use this website to get contact info for your elected senators and representatives.  I called my senators and congressmen today, and all their voicemails were full! I’ve read suggestions to fax them instead.  There are also emails/contact forms on their websites, but honestly I’m not sure how effective that really is versus calling them.  You can also send postcards from the Women’s March 10 Actions 100 Days initiative.  If you’re like me and never called an elected official before, this article is really helpful on how to approach it.
3. Don’t become complacent.  There’s a lot of terrible stuff happening in our country right now and it would be too easy to want to turn off the news when it gets “depressing.” But we can’t do that.  Our administration is counting on these unconstitutional actions to become normalized.  We can’t let that happen.  We must fight back by protesting, by staying informed, and by reaching out to our elected officials.

Let’s show the world that there are still plenty of Americans who support free speech, freedom of religion, equality, and justice for all.  Love trumps hate.

And since this is a craft blog…I used a pattern from Maybe Matilda for these beautiful crocheted hearts.