When you Feel Hopeless, Read This

The resistance is spreading in towns and cities alike.

White-knuckle—that is the adjective I would use to describe the last 128 days.

People across the U.S. wake up daily, open their news feed, and hope that the Trump regime has not launched a fresh assault on their freedoms overnight.

Even on the quiet days, there’s a shadow that looms. What program will be cut this week? What ally will he threaten today? Who is next?

Like a hiker in the desert, as a nation, we are parched for good news. We long for it, wishing every day brings the hope we need to persist.

Here is yours today: the resistance is spreading.

My role in this effort is unique. Not only do I catalogue the protests, but I record their numbers and document their stories. CNN, NBC, and NPR are not telling the whole story, not necessarily due to bias or censorship. Unless you spend hours every week recording protests and listening to people, you’ll miss it—the hope.

Let me tell you what I see.

I see the number of reoccurring protests increasing. At the start, there were a handful. This week, there were 378 reoccurring protests.

I see the list of protests growing. From a few hundred each week in March to five-hundred plus in May, the number of actions continues to grow. This week, we catalogued 660 protests. The week prior 530 and 625 the week before that.

I see towns and suburbs rising. While the metropolitans continue to dominate the news, the resistance is growing in rural communities and red strongholds.

Take Kerrville, TX. In the last election three-quarters of the population voted Republican. And yet, next Friday they are organizing to support veterans. Northward, in Spearfish, SD, three groups are coming together to organize a protest this Saturday. In a county that voted Republican, people are rising up to stand for democracy.

I see boldness. In bannering across freeways and resistance art posted on bulletin boards, evidence of our dissent is filtering into our daily lives. Just yesterday, while visiting Bisbee, AZ, I encountered three posters stapled to poles and boards. These forms of resistance are vital as that demonstrate the cracks in the status quo.

Photograph by K. Starling

I see care for one another. Forty protests this week for Palestine. Sixty-six for veterans. People care, and it’s evident.

This week, at the Federal Plaza in Chicago, Access Living and Chicagoland Disabled People of Color Coalition hosted a Disability Demo. Through theater, speeches, and demonstrations, they stood against the cuts to Medicaid, Medicare, SNAP, and Social Security. Indivisible Chicago has posted several images and videos from the event.

Photograph courtesy of Indivisible Chicago

I see commitment. On my TikTok and Threads, people regularly comment, “This is my fifth protest” or “I carry a sign in my car.”

I see creativity. A dissenter sent me this this week. It’s brilliant. He is not the first, nor the last to use their gifts to dissent.

NOTE: He has given permission for people to print it as a sign. Please, give him credit. Here is his website.

Artwork shared with permission. Copyright Greg Brown.

I see hope. Everywhere. Everyday. It springs anew in the dark, spreading ever outward.

So tomorrow, when this regime gains ground, remember, you are not alone and WE are not without hope.

Cling to it.
Spread it.
Encourage it.

Let it spur you onward.

Together we will rise.

SHARE. LIKE. AND COMMENT.

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🚨🚨 ACTION ITEM: Help your school district resist MAGA attacks on sex ed. Go to Educate US. They are doing good work and deserve our support. 🚨🚨

There are thousands of other ways to dissent. Read this week’s list HERE.