Send This To Your Friend Who Isn't Political

It's time.

Hey. We have to talk.

So it's been a year now that Trump has been back in office. You hate Trump, of course. But as far as I can tell you haven't been to a single protest. You haven't contacted your congressional representatives, given money to mutual aid, or joined any local or community immigration support effort, and you don’t follow the news that closely.

For your mental health. Because what difference will it make. Because you've been busy. Because you have other things on your mind. Because they're all the same anyway. Because you're not the activist type.

I’m sending you this because I care about you, and I know your heart is in the right place, and because I believe you have capacity to hear it. We may have gotten into a dynamic where you see me as being the “political” one, or overly anxious, and you want me to calm down. What I need you to understand is that you're forcing me to hold a responsibility that rightfully belongs to both of us.

I wouldn't feel the need to get so riled up if you and everyone like you were also paying attention. I wouldn't have to bring up the news all the time if you bothered to spend even 15 minutes a day with NPR or the New York Times or the BBC.

Being “political” isn't my hobby, it is my duty, and it's your duty too.

The news makes you anxious? Actually being uninformed is making you more anxious. When you don't understand the history, the background and ideology of the basic players, when you're not tracking their rhetoric, when you don't know what time it is, every step on the path to authoritarianism will come as a huge destabilizing shock.

I have had “the president's paramilitaries gun down civilians on the streets” on my bingo card at least since the 2024 campaign. Now that it's happened I am upset, grieving, and resolute. Not surprised.

And part of me is hopeful that this is what it takes, the murders of these two, highly relatable and sympathetic, educated white people, to get you to finally pay attention enough to take action. Isn't that sick?

Because here's the thing: we can't do this without you. Which is another way of saying, and I know this sounds harsh, if they win it will be because you stayed home.

I know you don't think protests “do anything”. You are right. A protest is like a workout or a meditation session or a worship service. They are rarely—sometimes, but rarely—transformative as individual experiences. They gain value as a habit, as a way of life. You build that muscle to get you ready for when the real change is happening.

So far in the last year, millions of us have shown up a few times, thousands of people have shown up every few weeks, and hundreds have turned out on a weekly or daily basis to protect their communities, especially in cities like LA and Chicago and Durham and New Orleans and Portland and Minneapolis. It's always hard to attribute these things, but we hastened the end of DOGE, put Jimmy Kimmel back on the air, probably played a role in the Gaza ceasefire, and interfered with ICE operations on the ground in many cases.

We are tired. We are waiting for you to take a shift.

I’m sorry, I don’t want to hear about your fucking nervous system right now. I don’t want your spiritual bypassing. I know you do a lot for your community already and your job/your art/your healing work makes change in the world. I’m telling you right now, lovingly, that it’s not enough.

And—if it helps—acting will make you feel better today. Call your senator to tell them to defund ICE.

My friend Elizabeth Svoboda just wrote about a study that showed that taking a small action, in line with your values, improves well-being and reduces symptoms of depression and anxiety…action amplifies a sense of agency—not the other way around.

You don’t have to feel empowered to act. You have to act to feel empowered.

Minneapolis has shown us what it looks like when everyone understands the assignment. And as scary and exhausting as it undoubtedly is for the people involved, it is also beautiful and the only real source of hope right now.

In order to get a dictator out of office and interrupt an authoritarian consolidation of power, it takes truly disruptive prolonged nonviolent mass protests combined with acts of organized noncooperation such as strikes, slowdowns, and boycotts. It's not guaranteed to work. It's also the only thing that has ever worked.

“Disruptive” means disruptive to the state, and also to you and to me. To our deadlines and our meetings and our other responsibilities.

So when you ask, “Won’t he just cancel the midterm elections?” I say “He will definitely interfere. It is actually up to you and everyone like you whether he succeeds.”

It's time to stop wondering what will happen. The question now is what are you willing to do?

When you're ready, I will be here. Sending you love.

Emily Ladau, who uses a wheelchair, has some thoughts about how to show up right now.

Courtney Martin, who is caring for her dad and has 2 kids, just did a Showing Up for Racial Justice training.

Garrett Bucks is a constant source of inspiration, community, and calls to action. So is Jess Craven.

https://indivisible.org/

https://surj.org/

https://handsoffnyc.start.page/

Standwithminnesota.com

If you send this to someone, let me know how it goes.

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Come study and practice with me!

I’m offering a 5-week online program, February 26 – March 26, 2026, in line with my forthcoming book, to examine our collective emotional responses to the crises of our time and learn to find inspiration even in the depths of despair.

Explore your emotions with curiosity – building resilience and working with the energy within our bodies. The Institute for Jewish Spirituality has a number of wonderful offerings you can check out here; you don’t need to be Jewish to sign up!