Resources for Education & Resistance (as of 1/31/25)
This blog is intended to be helpful and supportive, sharing educational information about resistance and making a positive difference in various ways. First, how are you in these troubling and surreal times? Are you taking media breaks? Are you resting more? Are you educating yourself (from fact-checked sources) and making plans for resistance and for your own protection? You should be. I hope you are doing ok and am sending you a big hug. 💖 Please feel free to read, apply and share the many resources below in this blog.
Important Things to Remember About ICE/Immigration Laws and Resisting:
-ICE does NOT have the same power as the police, FBI or CIA, even if they are accompanied by one of these other agencies. They MUST have a JUDICIAL warrant signed by a circuit judge in order to be allowed access. If they do not have this, DO NOT give them access to your home, vehicle or place of work. That is the only warrant that is relevant to US citizens. When ICE tells people they have a "warrant," it's usually an ICE warrant, which is administrative (not judicial), signed by ICE judges, agents, administrators, etc. This holds absolutely no jurisdiction with forcing their way into a home/private setting or asking questions. Ask them to please slide the warrant under the door, so you can see if it was signed by a normal circuit judge as a judicial warrant before opening your door. If anyone else signed it or there is no warrant at all, legally you are protected by law to keep your door closed and to maintain your privacy.
-DO NOT SIGN ANYTHING. You absolutely do not have to and should not sign a thing without a lawyer present.
-DO NOT SAY ANYTHING TO ICE (without a lawyer present)! Tell them you don't know anyone's immigration status/who is an immigrant, etc. Some people are now diverting ICE by giving names of billionaire immigrant oligarchs, instead of sharing anything about people they may know personally, which is a great strategy. The "tip hotline" to report those who are undocumented was already shut down by resistors doing this and is no longer accepting calls (as of the last I heard about it).
-The media is saying everyone should now start carrying their passport/green card/birth certificate (like the "papers" people had in Nazi Europe). This is against multiple civil rights laws. In this country, unless they change the laws (which takes a long time typically) we do not have to show them anything unless we are detained, again, especially since they have no real jurisdiction outside of a border area. DO NOT (especially if you are a non-immigrant) comply with this. If you are not an immigrant, you should also get ICE's attention away from any potential immigrants, wasting their time, distracting them, tricking them into thinking you may be an immigrant, if possible. If they detain you as a result of that, as of right now, they have to let you go and will potentially get in trouble for detaining a non-immigrant unlawfully.
-You are entitled to a lawyer if ICE detains you...but they do not have to provide you with one. Make sure that you have people you can call for help if you are detained (an immigration lawyer, family who has any necessary paperwork or who can fundraise for you, etc.). Once you are detained as an undocumented immigrant, it is much harder to get out of the system and back to your home and loved ones. The ideal goal here for everyone is to simply AVOID getting caught/detained, which means you have to be careful who you trust/talk to/share your immigration status with, etc.
-If you are not an immigrant and you think you will be safe in the future, guess again. Eventually someone will come for you once there is no one else to conveniently detain. This happened in Nazi Europe not even 100 years ago...it is a regular move from the fascist/genocide playbook. After dividing people (which they have already done) and creating an initial perceived "enemy" of the state (in this case, immigrants), the government just creates more "enemies" as time goes on to keep fueling fascism, which makes it harder to resist later. If they cannot divide us and we stay unified, informed and resistant, the enemy will not succeed. Unity in community is key to stopping fascist agendas.
-If you are communicating personal things, especially about your specific resistance plans or immigration status, etc., please DO NOT share this over any social media apps or email or phone/text or Zoom/WhatsApp calls. That is not safe and can be monitored, recorded or even suppressed. Please use an encrypted texting service, such as Signal, which is free. As of right now (1/30/25), your data is still protected there.
-Be careful what news you consume. Using PBS, NPR, etc. is still usually a safe and reliable bet for current news and other information, which is why the government is actively trying to defund and shut down both of these news sources.
-Please use your public library and get a library card if you do not have one already. Libraries are centers of resistance and revolution, as well as being places where you can organize freely and educate yourself free of charge. You can stay as long as you like without any expectation of spending money. Also, NOW is the time to read and purchase physical copies of banned books and to protect them.
Helpful Spanish phrases to use in case you ever encounter ICE:
*La Migra = ICE (Also can use "inmigración" for immigration/ICE -- La Migra is the slang term.)
* La Migra está aquí. = ICE is here.
* No digas nada y pida un abogado. = Don’t say anything and ask for a lawyer.
Helpful French phrases to use in case you ever encounter ICE:
* L'immigration = Immigration/ICE
*L'immigration est ici. = Immigration is here.
*Ne dites rien sans avocat. = Don't say anything without a lawyer.
Books & Other Resources
A few Books for Recommended Reading in no Particular Order:
Animal Farm, by George Orwell
1984, by George Orwell
Night, by Elie Weisel
The Diary of Anne Frank or for a newer edition with additional materials:
The Diary of a Young Girl: The Definitive Edition, by Anne Frank, Otto H. Frank, Ana Frank, et al.
Farewell to Manzanar, by James D. Houston and Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston
*For older children/pre-teens, Number the Stars is also a great book about the Holocaust/genocide.
Notes on Resistance, by Noam Chomsky and David Barsamian
Civil Disobedience and Other Essays (the Collected Essays of Henry David Thoreau), by Henry David Thoreau
The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich: A History of Nazi Germany, by William L. Shirer
What Is Genocide? by Martin Shaw
Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee: An Indian History of the American West, by Dee Brown
How to Be an Antiracist, Kendi, Ibram X.
The Undocumented Americans, by Karla Cornejo Villavicencio
The Good Immigrant: 26 Writers Reflect on America, by Editor Nikesh Shukla
Once I was you, by Maria Hinojosa
Asian American Histories of the United States, by Catherine Ceniza Choy
Beautiful Country, by Qian Julie Wang
Education for Extinction, by David Wallace Adams
There are many other wonderful books you can read to increase your empathy, educate yourself and learn ways to take action. Please search online or ask your local librarian for assistance with this.
Additional Free Educational Resources for Dealing With ICE/Fascism/Genocide:
Defend and Recruit -- Non-Profit Organization
Free Workbook (How to deal with ICE/Immigration, etc.)
Facing History and Ourselves (a wonderful non-profit that has extensively studied and educated about fascism/genocide for many years -- they have tons of free educational and resistance resources):
The Peace Abbey (a peace-oriented, educational non-profit that also has many useful resources):
Protect Democracy -- How You can Protect Democracy:
Supportive Mental Health Resources:
Veteran's Crisis Line:
Dial 988, then press 1 for support
Warm Lines for Mental Health that do not call the Police:
Call Blackline (Centers BIPOC, LGBTQIA+ & Black Femme Lens):
1-800-604-5841
Trans Lifeline (Run by & for Trans People):
1-877-565-8860
Wildflower Alliance Peer Support Line (Trained Peer Supporters):
1-888-407-4515
Thrive Lifeline (24/7 Trans-led & Operated):
1-313-662-8209
LGBT National Help Center:
1-888-843-4564
Strong Hearts Native Helpline (24/7 Centers Native Americans experiencing intimate partner or sexual violence):
1-844-762-8483
Also, The Trevor Project (for young LGBTQIA+ people):
Call the Lifeline: 866-488-7386
...or text "Start" to 678-678
24/7/365, free and confidential
Reproductive Healthcare Resources:
Planned Parenthood:
Aid Access:
(Will mail reproductive healthcare to your home discreetly and will work with you on price. People donate money to help get others reproductive care where this type of healthcare is being suppressed.)
Other Consumer Resources:
Meta (Facebook, Instagram/Threads, WhatsApp, etc.) and "X" are owned by oligarchic billionaires who make money from our data and the ads on those platforms. These apps are no longer using fact checking and are currently suppressing valuable resources, news and other information, while promoting fascist and oligarchic ideas, now even allowing hate speech on these platforms.
-Instead, a safer, fact-checked, hate-speech-free environment is BlueSky, a newer social media app that is much like Twitter used to be (before it was bought by an aforementioned oligarch billionaire who is also a Nazi). BlueSky is free and is currently adding an option to be more like Instagram's format/sharing, for those who prefer that. That should be out soon. You can also use platforms, such as Discord, for private social media connections.
Please find me on BlueSky to connect for ongoing shares of more resources and planning: https://bsky.app/profile/harmonyway.bsky.social
DEIA = Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Accessibility
Don't buy where you won't be hired.
*Remember* if you are anything other than a CIS, white, Christian male, DEIA refers to you and was put in place for your protection and civil rights, as well as for the rights of our veterans and of those who are disabled and/or pregnant. Now that DEIA is illegally being dismantled, violating most of our basic human civil rights, our jobs, our insurance, and many other things are threatened. ICE has also detained multiple Caucasian (including a war veteran) and African American (including a college professor) citizens now, as well as several people in the Native community living on reservations, which is illegal. They are moving toward trying to say that Native people do not have citizen status, which is a huge rights violation and contrary to all of the existing treaties and laws in place. We cannot let this happen. Our Native American/First Nations population is the ONLY true community of non-immigrants living in this country.
One other key factor to preventing fascism from taking any further hold is to educate yourself/others and to refuse to stay silent. This is why fascists always create book bans and restrict free information of the press/social media/free speech in general -- so people cannot educate themselves while freely sharing factual information. Their initial goals are "shock and awe" or "flooding the zone," by creating a lot of scary news that is negative, as well as trying to take our rights away illegally. Most of what has been signed for executive orders/firings, etc. is 100% ILLEGAL at this point. They are banking on us being scared, frozen, quiet and, as a result, complying automatically out of fear...so DON'T comply, as there are currently no negative repercussions for non-compliance, since the new directives are in violation of our rights.
Please don't comply and continue to resist. Take breaks and rest when you need to; but please keep going. Please do not give up or do nothing. If you choose that road, you are helping no one but the oppressors. Now is the time to act, before it is too late. Private, illegal detention camps are currently being built using our tax dollars where potentially millions of people will end up being sent to work for free and to disappear and likely die or get very sick and be abused/traumatized. We simply cannot have a repeat of the Nazi concentration camps, Japanese internment camps or of Native American boarding schools.
Where to Shop/Visit/Support and Boycott (Based on Current Good DEIA Practices, as of 1/27/2025):
Free movies/music on streaming (instead of paying money each month to billionaires for streaming services):
YouTube (*still owned by billionaires)
Kanopy (Use your library card for access...it's amazing!)
Tubi
PBS App
Internet Archive: Archive.org (non-profit library of millions of free texts, movies, software, music, websites, etc.)
Also check your public library for all kinds of media that you can borrow free of charge.
Gifts/Household Items/Clothing/Beauty Products, etc. (instead of Amazon or Sephora, who both just ended DEIA practices):
Etsy
EarthHero
Ulta
Macy's
Nordstrom
Old Navy (Gap, Inc.)
Walgreens
Dollar Tree
Food/Supplements with Auto-delivery Options (instead of Amazon/Whole Foods):
Thrive Market
Misfits Market
Hungry Root
(Regular grocery stores without delivery include: Costco, Kroger, Safeway, Wegmans and Giant Grocery)
*Also, local farmer's markets, farm CSA shares and co-ops are great and inexpensive options for food!
Books/Audio Books/DVDs/CDs (INSTEAD OF Amazon/Good Reads/Abe Books -- All owned by Amazon):
Powell's Books
Book Outlet
ThriftBooks
StoryGraph (A Black Woman-Owned Book-Tracking app -- You can transfer your Amazon-owned Good Reads materials to this app!)
Again, check with your local library about renting books, audio books, DVDs/CDs/records and so much more.
Appliances/Furniture & More:
Costco
Lehman's
Freecycle
Small, local businesses
eBay
Other Companies Reinforcing good DEIA Practices (as of 1/27/25):
Adobe, Apple, Bank of America, Mastercard, Delta, JP Morgan Chase, Home Depot, Marriot, Proctor & Gamble, Goldman Sachs, American Airlines, Delta Airlines, Southwest Airlines, United Airlines, Catholic Health, MassMutual, New York Life, Salesforce, Sony Pictures Entertainment, T-Mobile, Tiffany, TJX (TJ Maxx/Marshalls), Johnson & Johnson (*Though, most of the big banks are part of the problem in other ways, as they are billionaires who helped oligarchy take hold.)
Companies to BOYCOTT or Avoid who are Scaling Back or Entirely Denouncing DEIA Practices:
The above lists are being updated in many places online daily as things change.
Please keep being a safe space and holding safe spaces for others in community, making time to rest and get away from the news as needed, so you can continue to educate yourself/others and take action as you are able. Thank you for reading this. I hope you have found these compiled resources to be useful and helpful on your journey. Wishing you peace, safety and unity in diversity.
💖
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