by Marybeth O’Mara

March 5, 2025

Every week feels like a year, doesn’t it? It has been just six weeks since this administration began, and it has been a wild ride. Only 200 more weeks to go!

The pace of the chaos is a reminder to me to take care of myself and the people I care about. Even though the pace has been frenetic and speedy, this will last a while and we need to treat it as a marathon, not a sprint. Here are some things I am finding helpful to stay (at least somewhat) balanced these days. While I had already started my own list of ideas that give me pleasure, courage, or respite, I was inspired by Chauncey Devega’s piece in Salon last week: “ Saving democracy takes practice: Practical skills you need to survive Trump's second term. https://www.salon.com/2025/02/28/saving-democracy-takes-practice-practical-skills-you-need-to-survive-second-term/

Week 4: What does resisting look like to you?

First, welcome to all new subscribers! We are happy to have you with us!

Well, here we are in Week 6 of this administration and it has been a wild ride. With the lengthening of the days, and the weather warming up, I for one, am feeling like I need to DO something. How about you? Here are a few possibilities.

This Friday is the One-Day Economic Blackout that I referenced in last week’s newsletter. If you decide to participate, do your non-essential shopping on Thursday or Saturday, and try to avoid purchases on Friday, especially from Amazon, big box stores, fast food restaurants, and gas stations. Go to the library instead!

Week 3: Civil Disobedience, Economic Version

What can I do?

This week, I want to focus on using our dollars to send a message (or more than one message) to the businesses that support the causes I support as well as to those that act in opposition to my values. I do not understand why this form of protest (economic boycott) has fallen into disfavor in recent years–we know that it has been an essential part of successful protest movements in the past. 

We all remember that it was part of the Civil Rights Movement in the 1950’s and 1960’s, right? The Montgomery bus boycott in Alabama in 1955-56 lasted 13 months, stripped the regional public transit authority of thousands of dollars per day, and ended with a US Supreme Court decision declaring bus segregation unconstitutional. The success of the Montgomery bus boycott led to the embrace of other economic boycotts by civil rights leaders, including business boycotts in Nashville and Birmingham in the early 1960’s. 

The pace of change in these past few weeks (just 23 days since the Inauguration!) has been dizzying and multi-frontal. So far, the courts are doing their part and are acting with unusual urgency befitting this moment, but we do not know how this will turn out. We do not even know whether the administration will comply with court rulings, which would be a significant, possibly irreversible, escalation of this constitutional crisis. 

So what can we do?

Get informed and stay informed.

On Wednesday, November 6, the day after the election, I posted the following on Facebook:  

“Stunned. Terrified. Resolved.

There is a lot  to learn from people who have lived through terrible times—the Cold War in Eurasia, Jim Crow in the South, juntas and dictators in Central and South America, the Great Leap Forward in China, and many more. So, for a few days I need to sit with this and figure out where to invest time and treasure to help those without the privilege I have, and then get to work again. What else is there?”

So now, in a new year, with this new administration in power, it’s time to start. Announcing: A Council of Crones!