When it comes to Safeguarding Our Democracy, we want to be proactive, not just reactive.

When we think about engaging with the meaning of democracy, we want to inspire each other to think beyond voting once every couple years, and to embody our democratic principles of participation, accountability, transparency, and human rights in our everyday lives. Taking action outside of the voting booth is just as important as everything you can do within one.

Dean Spade, in his March 2020 Social Text article “Solidarity Not Charity” describes how working within the dominant system and following the rules for expressing our complaints and dissatisfaction  – including voting, filing lawsuits, posting on social media, permitted marches – generally do not disrupt or threaten these corrupt and inequitable systems. Such reform movements rarely produce significant transformations or changes to existing systems of wealth or rights or well-being.

Instead, resistance movements can “reignite people’s imaginations about not just what they can demand but also what tactics they can use to win.” There are other ways to transform our society directly, outside of elections, government, and policies. Spade describes “three kinds of work that change material conditions rather than just winning empty declarations of equality: (a) work to dismantle existing harmful systems and/or beat back their expansion, (b) work to directly provide for people targeted by such systems and institutions, and (c) work to build an alternative infrastructure through which people can get their needs met.”

Learn more about how we can work together to make democracy real and tangible. How we can put democracy in motion by getting to know our neighbors, working for consensus and inclusion in our local communities, and supporting direct and mutual aid efforts to make sure our communities’ needs are met.

Use these resources to find needs in your community that you can work to meet, identify needs in your own neighborhoods, and marshall resources and people power to meet those needs directly. Third Act is interested in facilitating and lifting up shared strategies for community support.

Mutual Aid Hub – a map, network, and loads of resources for finding mutual aid projects, community needs, and how to get started.

Mutual Aid 101

Mutual Aid to Support Seniors – Compiled by Berkeley Mutual Aid

Village to Village Network – a national network of locally-based “Villages” whose members support each other in aging in place, taking action, building community, and more.

 

Ways to get involved

All the different ways you can get involved with Third Act: