Welcome, And How We Move Forward
Welcome, why we’re creating a Substack, and how we move forward
Since Trump was elected on November 5, 2024, we have been spending time recuperating, resting, and planning. We have given a lot of thought to what we want our blog, 150 Reasons, to be during this time. We know that next year we’d like to help our community take action to win big at the midterms, and that after that we’ll be focused on the 2028 presiential election. During this first year of the Trump administration, and until he’s left office in 2028, we have a simple plan for what we want to do in the near-term. During this next year we want to help our community (1) stay informed and (2) take action. We have also decided that it’s important to move beyond (merely) Instagram. To that end, we have created a Substack that aims to do two things:
1. Our Weekly Newsletter “Voices in the Sky”
Effective activism demands that we maintain our focus on actionable steps that will produce outcomes. Voices in the Sky is meant to keep you informed about what the fascist regime attempted this week so that you can spend the rest of your time taking action. The onslaught of actions being taken by the Trump adminstration is intended to create chaos and make you feel paralyzed into inaction, and this is worsened by the constant onsluaght of information on social media. We believe staying informed on social media is imoprtant, too. But, at the end of the week it can be easy to forget what happened and what you can do. Our weekly recap is intended to help us, and hoepfully you, stay informed without getting overhwlemed.
Why are we calling it “Voices in the Sky".” Voice in the Sky was a term referring to military base announcements broadcast over speakers, intended to warn soldiers of incoming attacks during World War II. It helped soliders stay focused on the most pertinent news. We want to provide a similar broadcast to help followers keep tabs on what the fascist regime is attempting to do. Staying informed is absolutely critical to our defense.
2. Our Community Action Space “Sky Blossoms”
During these next four years, we need to uplift one another, change policy, and protect our freedoms. In WWII, paratroopers that flew down to the aid of those who were wounded on the ground were called Sky Blossoms. I love the imagery this evokes, especially given the term first was coined during WWII when America first fought fascism (but abroad). As we fight fascism here at home, I call on all of us to be Sky Blossoms during this dark chapter in American history: beacons of hope sprinkled throughout the sky.
The other thing that feels overwheling, aside from infromation intake, is not knowing how or where to take action. This is, again, the intent of fascism - to make you feel paralyzed. Through weekly Sky Blossom meetings we’re hoping to combat that. We’ll focus on one action to take per week, together. We might all do the same thing. Other times, we’ll brainstorm how you indiviudally my best take action. Actions will range from boycotting the billionaires that have corrupted our government, to flooding our congressmembers with calls (there is only a TWO SEAT deficit in the House), to getting engaged in local politics, to helping people with immediate crises they are facing as a result of this regime. We also will likely point folks to other organizations they can join. We are not attempting to start a new organization here but, rather, a space for people to come together to figure out what the eff their own plan is and how we, collectively, can take action together.
This next week we will be working out the kinks of our substack and developing plans for our first Sky Blossoms meeting. Our first issue of Voices in the Sky will be release on Sunday, February 9th. Please subscribe for free below!