Protest FOMO

Sign-making skills getting a little rusty? Has it been a few weeks since you’ve busted out your pussy hat? Don’t remember what comes after “STAND UP!” in the protest chants?

You’re not alone. There is SO MUCH #TheResistance activity going on, it’s really easy to lose track of things. Next thing you know, there’s been a protest about something that really matters to you – calling for Jeff Sessions to resign, supporting the First Nations peoples at Standing Rock, calling for the release of so-called President Trump’s tax returns – and you missed it! You only find out that it’s happening as you begin to see photos of everyone’s clever signs on Instagram and hear their inspired new chants on Facebook Live video.

“Damn it!” you think. “I could’ve gone to this if I’d had a few hours’ notice!”

You have Protest FOMO: Fear Of Missing Out.

Rise Stronger to the rescue!

They are a new organization founded to “empower Americans to monitor and take action in response to the Trump Administration, Congress, and state and local governments.”

Among the services they provide is a “people’s calendar” of events, which includes protest, rallies, marches, town halls, vigils, teach-ins, talks, concerts, hack-a-thons, etc. with all kinds of useful filters – event type, state, mileage radius (i.e., “give me everything within 50 miles of my ZIP code”), politician attending, and date range.

You can even add your own events, and they ARE looking for volunteers to help with maintenance of the calendar and seeking out more events to include.

So that whole thing about choosing a volunteer activity that’s something you can and will do, that’s within your sphere of influence, and that’s something you can actually impact? Maybe you don’t like to phone bank or knock on doors, and maybe you’re tapped out on how much you can financially contribute to Planned Parenthood or the ACLU or Emily’s List, but you’re an outstanding researcher and plugged in to a lot of #TheResistance groups electronically. I’m just saying.

FOMO no mo’.

Image found here.

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