Dandelion Report: 4/21/2025

The first seed.

Find the most up-to-date Dandelion Report here!

“My actions are my only true belongings. I cannot escape the consequences of my actions. My actions are the ground on which I stand.” — Thich Nhat Hanh

In these Dandelion reports, I provide some productive actions we can all take currently, I aim to keep this report an effective use of your time and energy. Find the updated version here.

It is divided into five sections;

• Our Physical Actions: Showing up, volunteering, donating, protesting, etc.

• Our Words: Speaking out, spreading information, contacting representatives/voters, etc.

• Our Thoughts: Education, training, mindset, avoiding burnout, finding inspiration etc.

• Deep Roots: Acts of resistance that are non-political for populations at-risk for being deported for direct political involvement (f.e. student visa holders, immigrants, refugees, and their partners).

• Cross Pollination: Highlighting other useful resources and newsletters.

I wanted to post this first report quickly, and add to it in future reports. Like Dandelions, it aims to arrive fast so it can expand over time.

Take Action like a dandelion; start now, grow fast, spread wide.

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• Attend Protests

  • Protests will vary by area, and while there will be nationally coordinated protests, local protests are also important, here are some resources for finding some near you:

    • Tesla Takedown

    • 50501

    • Indivisible

    • Mobilize.us

  • The Visibility Brigade is a group utilizing public spaces like freeway overpasses to raise awareness.

• Boycott

  • Notable or Successful Ongoing Boycotts

    • Tesla — Large direct impact on Elon Musk.

    • Target — Notable reversal of commitments to DEI

    • Avelo Airlines — Contracted to provide ICE deportation flights.

    • Amazon, Meta (Facebook/Instagram), and Twitter/X.

  • General Boycotts

    • Latino Freeze: broadly targets companies that have rolled back DEI programs.

    • Overall, boycott massive corporations, shop small, shop local, shop immigrant/BIPOC/LGBTQIA+ owned.

• Donate your Time or Money

  • National

    • Institutional Support — Support organizations bringing legal challenges to Trump’s Administrations. For ideas, I would check out Oath’s campaigns for “Protecting Democracy” or “Block Trump’s Agenda”.

    • Partisan — For electing support in the legislature, I recommend Jessica Craven’s “Where Do I Give?” google doc.

  • Community

    • Mutual Aid Organizations: Shelters, food banks, etc. Their funding is getting cut while need could go up due to other support systems getting cut.

    • Grassroots Organizations: Mobilizing others, ICE Legal Observer trainings, etc.

• Run for Office

  • We require caring people to elected to all levels of government; school boards, cities, states, federal, everything. Run For Something (RFS) is a great organization that will help you get started. Because you care about doing the right thing, you are qualified.

    • According to RFS, “over 40,000 — have signed up just since the November election.”

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• Call Your Representatives

  • “5 Calls” Phone App: I cannot recommend this app enough, put in your zip code, and it will give you executive summaries on issues, an optional script, and quickly connect you to your representatives. It takes about 5 minutes per issue (3 calls total), and you can call after hours to leave a voicemail if you are nervous.

• Write Postcards or Letters to Voters

  • Activate America — Script Postcards

  • Postcards to Voters — Script Postcards

  • Vote Forward — Unique Letters

  • 4×6 index cards work as cheap postcards if needed. I used them while waiting for the delivery of 500 custom postcards.

• Write a Letter-to-the-Editor

  • RepresentUs has a great guide on why and how to write an LTE and provides talking points on current important topics.

• Phone-banking or Text-banking

  • Various ongoing, more details in the future.

• Encourage friends and family to be involved

• Share and promote actions on social media

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• A General Strike is Possible in the Future

  • Now is a good time to learn about what this entails and if it is something you would be able to participate in. With enough people, this is an extremely effective nonviolent action for change.

  • If you already know you would want to participate, you can fill out your General Strike Card here, that way when it becomes necessary it can happen fast.

• True Rest and Health

  • It is essential to make time to rest and sleep. Mindfulness practices can be helpful, so can exercise and community. Eat well, and seek medical treatment — you cannot separate your mind and body.

  • Ideally, we give our mind true rest, rather than numbing/distracting it with drugs, alcohol, shopping, travel, and media consumption. Heal your fear, suffering, and anger — do not just hide from it.

  • Building internal resilience is important during this time to weather the storm. Eat healthy, seek medical care, exercise, find joy and meaning in life, and try to build an emergency fund.

• Considerations on Managing Time and Energy

  • Try to keep these following competing ideas in mind:

    • We likely will need to be engaged long term, so we need to work at a sustainable level of involvement. At times, this may mean stepping back to actively support our health.

    • The hardest step is sometimes just starting to be involved, it is ok to start small and grow your involvement as your knowledge and experience grows. This is better than doing nothing whatsoever.

    • We do need a big effort from a broad section of our country, not all or even a majority (some research suggests as little as 3.5% is sufficient), but we need this engagement from people sooner than later. The costs to being involved grow as human rights and civil liberties erode.

    • Ask yourself if you can do more than you are currently, or if your limited time and resources can be used more efficiently. Do you need to watch the news for an hour, or can you get the key details in 15 minutes, and spend the other 45 minutes actively engaged?

    • The demands on our time may be greater during certain periods of opportunity. How can we be ready if called upon for a greater level of action? This is a marathon, but there will be times that sprinting will be advantageous.

• What are your values?

  • In a time when we may be called on to make hard decisions and sacrifices, it is helpful to know your values or guiding principles. This helps us to make decisions and take actions that align with our true selves, rather than defaulting to what is habitual or most comfortable, or being driven solely by fear or hate.

• Are you doom-scrolling?

  • Spending hours reading terrible things on social media, or obsessively watching the news, can sap your energy without making a difference. Consider using that time to take action, or getting true rest.

  • If you have 20 minutes to doomscroll Bluesky/Facebook/Reddit you have enough time to make 10+ calls to representatives, write ~4 postcards, have a nice meditation session, enjoy a cup of tea, take a nap, or go on a walk!

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• Quietly Boycott — No one needs to know why you aren’t buying a Tesla.

• Volunteer or Donate to Mutual Aid Organizations

  • Food banks, shelters, and other non-profits are crucial for community resilience in the face of widespread cuts to social support in our country without being considered directly political. Some mutual aid organizations are more politically involved, so be aware of their actions when getting involved.

• Care for your physical, mental, spiritual, and financial health.

  • Building internal resilience is important during this time to weather the storm. Eat healthy, seek medical care, exercise, find joy and meaning in life, and try to build a financial emergency fund.

• Be present for your family and loved ones. Help care for their health also.

• Have an emergency plan for if the scope of deportations or human rights violations expand.

• Build Community and Make Connections.

• Read and Learn.

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• I highly recommend the Substack newsletter

  Chop Wood, Carry Water
  by
  Jessica Craven
  , for a daily action newsletter; scripts for calls, positive Sunday newsletter, national events and fundraisers, and more!

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There it is! Many actions that anyone can take, start now and do more as you are able. You don’t have to do everything, but you do need to do something.

I will post updated versions as time goes on. I will also have “Sunflower” posts (inspiration), and “Spring Rain” posts (time sensitive opportunities).

If you are interested in these future posts, please subscribe. And, if you found this post helpful, please like and share with others. If you have any questions or ideas, please comment or reach out to me.

Thank you for reading this Newsletter and taking action,

Chris