EEDA Newsletter Vol 7, Issue 3: Ways to Help MN & Exposing the Concealed
FRI JAN 30
NATIONAL SHUTDOWN
NO WORK. NO SCHOOL. NO SHOPPING.
STOP FUNDING ICE.
For folks who cannot strike, here are other ways to show up Instagram link, Facebook link. Unfortunately, these images are not accessible but they include ways to participate like not making purchases, moving your money from large banks to community banks or credit unions, canceling subscriptions to companies that aren’t supporting the action, donate to strike funds, provide childcare or offer rides to people attending protests, and more. And I have a ton of resources below.
Edit: In a previous version, the numbers listed for prisons in California was incorrectly stated (they were actually the numbers of incarcerated people)
Hi friends! Thank you for being here. This newsletter is entering its 7th year—the first issue was published on January 30, 2020. Thank you for reading, emailing, and continuing to share. For paying subscribers, thank you for continuing to support the labor of a queer, Black & Asian woman. It means so much.
When this newsletter started, it was going to be purely self-help. Then we went into lockdown. Then George Floyd was murdered. Very quickly, this newsletter became not only self-help, but a way to connect, offer ways to maintain our sanity and wellness, and ways to help others and build communities. Once again, today’s resources are mostly reactive and speaking to the moment. Many folks have had 6+ years of “listening and learning” and “reading diversely” and while those things are important it is past time to truly take some action. Many of today’s resources offer ways that you can do that.
As always, the resources I share are generally free and my curation is a labor of love. After the resources is a paywalled essay that also speaks to this moment.
Newest EEDA Pod: Showing Up: A Casual Hangs Renaissance
On this episode of Enthusiastic Encouragement & Dubious Advice, Patricia and Nicole discuss maintaining connections with friends through simple, manageable get-togethers, sharing examples of low-key hangouts like morning neighborhood walks, planner sessions over coffee, & quick pizza-and-cake visits.
You can find our show, Enthusiastic Encouragement & Dubious Advice on Apple Podcasts, YouTube, Spotify, and wherever else you get your podcasts. You can also support the show on Patreon, where we have some perks for paid subscribers with even more coming this year. You can also just make a recurring donation through subscribing to our Patreon, as our show is independently run and without ads. It helps keep us going!
Reminder that over on the EEDA Patreon, we do weekly accountability check-ins and quarterly goal check-ins for paid subscribers. Subscriptions start at $3!
Here’s what I’ve hunted and gathered for you this week:
Resource 1: Publishing for Minnesota Auction
By the time you are reading this, bidding has already started and it ends today. Manuscript reviews, AMAs with publishers and agents, signed first editions, and more! If you are bookish and you want a way to help people on the ground in Minnesota, this auction is sending all the proceeds there. Learn more: https://www.32auctions.com/publishingforMN
Resource 2: Stand with Minnesota
This is the first of many round-ups of ways to give support to folks in MN.
Resource 3: Take action against ICE: A comprehensive guide via Reimagined
Not only a resource roundup but also has specific advice if you encounter ICE.
Resource 4: A Shareable Resource for Grassroots Crisis Support & Mutual Aid by Kai Cheng Thom
“The paragraphs below are an introduction to a shareable resource I developed based on Transformative Justice innovator Mia Mingus’ "Pod Mapping” model to support grassroots community-based crisis intervention.”
Resource 5: How You Can Help Minnesota via cataloo on reddit
A huge round-up for folks near and far which the poster is also updating as resources come about.
Resource 6: Let’s Boycott Companies that Support ICE via Cut Off the Spigot
I still find it really hypocritical that this is on substack yet here we are. This not only lists companies that support ICE but also gives alternatives that aren’t.
Resource 7: 5 Calls App
This was previously shared in November 2023.
Resource 8: How to Report ICE Printable Zine Library
This was also previously shared.
Resource 9: 28 Days of Black History
And just like that it’s Black History Month! This is a newsletter that is published every day of Black History Month only and I’ve subscribed to it for a few years. I do enjoy the limited time-frame newsletter format and I’ve been thinking about it a lot.
Resource 10: Stanford SPARQtools
“SPARQtools are digital toolkits that translate research into user-friendly formats that practitioners and educators can use to spark psychological, behavioral, and societal change. Each toolkit shares evidence-based materials and resources that can be put right to use to tackle issues from empowering students to engage across difference [sic], encouraging people to eat healthy, or helping researchers measure important indicators of economic mobility. Explore individual toolkits to address specific problems, or dive into a collection to take on bigger issues.”
Resource 11: Volunteer to Write Postcards
Unable to leave your home and want to do some activism? One of the things you can do is to sign up to write postcards. I will put up front that you are responsible for the postage to send them out so this is not only a bit of labor but also money. Here are some orgs where you can do that and I highly recommend joining their email lists so that you know when they are available for sign-ups.
Postcards to Swing States: this is who I’ve done it through
Activate America: also offers other opportunities like phone banking
Essay: On Seeing What We Weren’t Supposed to See
