![\"citizen\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/occasionalplanet.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/hands_raised.jpg?ssl=1\")
<\/a>For me, 2017 has been marred with the knowledge that \u00a0it ushers in the era of Trump. The incoming administration has promised to push policies that slash rights for many already marginalized communities, ranging from the poor to women, to religious minorities, to the LGBTQ+ community, to people with disabilities, to immigrants, among others.<\/p>\nWith inauguration day rapidly approaching, people are, legitimately and justifiably, terrified. As a Muslim American woman from a family of immigrants, I count myself among those battling to keep panic at bay as I contemplate the Trump administration. And on behalf of my closest friends and larger community, who are vulnerable as members of other marginalized groups, I am doubly scared.<\/p>\n
So for me, 2017 means that now, more than ever, we all have the duty to be better citizens. We each have a duty to engage with our communities and get involved to every extent possible, if we want to roll back policies that will hurt us and those we care about. I don\u2019t have any New Year\u2019s Resolutions, but I do have these very pointed intentions to do whatever I can in the year ahead to make sure that my community does not suffer from a Trump presidency.<\/p>\n
Hold politicians accountable<\/strong><\/h3>\n\u00a0<\/strong>Elected officials\u2019 job is to represent us. Admittedly, the system doesn\u2019t always work that way, and we often feel like our will is not <\/em>being represented within our government. But it is our responsibility to persist. If we refuse to even try <\/em>to hold our elected officials accountable at every level of government\u2014 local, state, and national\u2014 what\u2019s to change the system? It is our responsibility to call our legislators, email them, show up at their offices and demand <\/em>accountability. When a critical bill needs to pass (or get shut down), if we\u2019re not out there demanding someone listen, then we can\u2019t be the ones complaining later that it didn\u2019t work out how we wanted. We are all responsible for holding our government accountable, and you can bet that I am going to do better keeping in contact with my elected officials and making my voice heard.<\/p>\nAllies, live your beliefs<\/strong><\/h3>\nPoliticians aren\u2019t the only ones who need to be held accountable. The past several months have seen a massive upsurge in legitimized hatred and bigotry, and we have to hold ourselves and each other accountable for fighting it. That means that right now, allies need to step up their game. All of us have some privilege, which means we all have the potential to be allies<\/a> to a community that needs our support. Privilege is a responsibility to change the system. Privilege is a responsibility to call out our coworkers, friends, and family when their behavior is anywhere on the continuum from micro-aggressive to flat-out bigoted. Privilege is a responsibility to do better ourselves and to ensure we\u2019re not reifying prejudiced systems. Privilege is a responsibility to shut shit down. And I\u2019m going to take it very seriously.<\/p>\nHumanize the \u201cother\u201d <\/strong><\/h3>\nThere are people different from us within American society: Learn about them. When we start to see people who are different from us as people rather than just as different, our world view shifts. Try checking out these books on the lives of people of color<\/a>, LGBTQ+ individuals<\/a>, people with disabilities<\/a>, immigrants<\/a>, women<\/a>, and people in poverty<\/a>. It\u2019s really easy to think we understand the struggles of another community, claim credentials about having a diverse friend, or just assume we already know enough, but there\u2019s always more to learn. I\u2019m going to try even harder to branch out this year and consume information from a wider array of sources, read more books from more authors, and connect with as many people from as many backgrounds as I can.<\/p>\nWe are responsible for knowing the truth<\/strong><\/h3>\nNothing will change if we aren\u2019t informed about what\u2019s happening around us. Fake news is abundant, and Facebook is really not how we should be learning about the world. We can\u2019t blame anything but our own laziness for misinformation. There are abundant resources out there. I intend to ensure that I am constantly cross-checking my facts, finding reliable sources, and spreading the truth.<\/p>\n
America is not the center of the universe<\/strong><\/h3>\nWe live in an increasingly interconnected world, and if we only know what\u2019s happening in the US, we\u2019re missing out on a vast wealth of information. What happens halfway across the world most definitely affects us in the middle of the country, so I\u2019m going to make sure I don\u2019t skimp on the world news. (P.S. It\u2019s also helpful to get information from sources based outside of the US because more perspectives are always critical to a better understanding of an issue. BBC and Al Jazeera are often favorites.)<\/p>\n
Get involved<\/strong><\/h3>\nYes, issues of inequality exist at the institutional level, but they impact people at the personal level, and there are abundant opportunities to do something. Protesting isn\u2019t everyone\u2019s cup of tea, but there are plenty of other ways to make a difference. I\u2019m going to make more time to volunteer within my community to make people\u2019s lives better (and hopefully still attend rallies and marches, too). These are a small selection of St. Louis organizations you might consider helping:<\/p>\n
\n- International Institute<\/a> (support and resources for immigrants)<\/li>\n
- Planned Parenthood<\/a> (women\u2019s rights and reproductive health are their main focus, but they also do work on labor rights, race issues, poverty, and a vast number of other issues)<\/li>\n
- CAIR-STL<\/a> (representation for Muslim Americans)<\/li>\n
- Kingdom House<\/a> (providing resources for low-income families)<\/li>\n
- Women\u2019s Safe House<\/a> (domestic violence shelter)<\/li>\n
- Employment Connection<\/a> (providing the homeless, ex-offenders, and immigrants among others employment opportunities to pull them out of poverty)<\/li>\n
- National Alliance on Mental Illness<\/a> (nationwide coalition to provide advocacy for individuals with mental disorders and their families)<\/li>\n
- Growing American Youth<\/a> (support for LGBT youth)<\/li>\n
- St. Louis Homeless Winter Outreach<\/a> (groups of volunteers providing resources and rides to shelters for homeless individuals on nights the temperature drops below 20 degrees)<\/li>\n
- ACLU<\/a> (civil rights advocacy)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
This is only a brief introduction to efforts we all need to collectively undertake to protect ourselves and our communities. A lot of us were left wondering after the election how this possibly came to be, and if we want to stop this from happening again then we have to make a change.<\/p>\n
Let\u2019s get to work.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
For me, 2017 has been marred with the knowledge that \u00a0it ushers in the era of Trump. The incoming administration has promised to push<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":644,"featured_media":35666,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2119,767,16],"tags":[2505,2881],"yoast_head":"\n
How to be a better, more active citizen in the Trump era - Occasional Planet<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/occasionalplanet.org\/2017\/01\/11\/better-active-citizen-trump-era\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How to be a better, more active citizen in the Trump era - Occasional Planet\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"For me, 2017 has been marred with the knowledge that \u00a0it ushers in the era of Trump. The incoming administration has promised to push\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/occasionalplanet.org\/2017\/01\/11\/better-active-citizen-trump-era\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Occasional Planet\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Occasional-Planet-325800656245\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-01-11T13:57:50+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/occasionalplanet.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/hands_raised.jpg?fit=643%2C336&ssl=1\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"643\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"336\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Hafsa\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@Occas_Planet\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Occas_Planet\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Hafsa\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/occasionalplanet.org\/2017\/01\/11\/better-active-citizen-trump-era\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/occasionalplanet.org\/2017\/01\/11\/better-active-citizen-trump-era\/\",\"name\":\"How to be a better, more active citizen in the Trump era - Occasional Planet\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ims.zdr.mybluehost.me\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/occasionalplanet.org\/2017\/01\/11\/better-active-citizen-trump-era\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/occasionalplanet.org\/2017\/01\/11\/better-active-citizen-trump-era\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/occasionalplanet.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/hands_raised.jpg?fit=643%2C336&ssl=1\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-01-11T13:57:50+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-01-11T13:57:50+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ims.zdr.mybluehost.me\/#\/schema\/person\/e1a0f36fbf0bcdfa5f086b6d0c002ca0\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/occasionalplanet.org\/2017\/01\/11\/better-active-citizen-trump-era\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/occasionalplanet.org\/2017\/01\/11\/better-active-citizen-trump-era\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/occasionalplanet.org\/2017\/01\/11\/better-active-citizen-trump-era\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/occasionalplanet.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/hands_raised.jpg?fit=643%2C336&ssl=1\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/occasionalplanet.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/hands_raised.jpg?fit=643%2C336&ssl=1\",\"width\":643,\"height\":336},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/occasionalplanet.org\/2017\/01\/11\/better-active-citizen-trump-era\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/ims.zdr.mybluehost.me\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"How to be a better, more active citizen in the Trump era\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ims.zdr.mybluehost.me\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/ims.zdr.mybluehost.me\/\",\"name\":\"Occasional Planet\",\"description\":\"Progressive Voices Speaking Out\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/ims.zdr.mybluehost.me\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ims.zdr.mybluehost.me\/#\/schema\/person\/e1a0f36fbf0bcdfa5f086b6d0c002ca0\",\"name\":\"Hafsa\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ims.zdr.mybluehost.me\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9ead2b05e1f644a093473b0b91d3525c?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9ead2b05e1f644a093473b0b91d3525c?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Hafsa\"},\"description\":\"Hafsa has BAs in International Human Rights and Political Science. She is studying public interest law and hopes to use her education to empower survivors of domestic violence and dismantle institutionalized racism by restoring dignity to the marginalized.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/occasionalplanet.org\/author\/hafsa-mansoor\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"How to be a better, more active citizen in the Trump era - Occasional Planet","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/occasionalplanet.org\/2017\/01\/11\/better-active-citizen-trump-era\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"How to be a better, more active citizen in the Trump era - Occasional Planet","og_description":"For me, 2017 has been marred with the knowledge that \u00a0it ushers in the era of Trump. 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She is studying public interest law and hopes to use her education to empower survivors of domestic violence and dismantle institutionalized racism by restoring dignity to the marginalized.","url":"https:\/\/occasionalplanet.org\/author\/hafsa-mansoor\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/occasionalplanet.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/hands_raised.jpg?fit=643%2C336&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/occasionalplanet.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35665"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/occasionalplanet.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/occasionalplanet.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occasionalplanet.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/644"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occasionalplanet.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35665"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/occasionalplanet.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35665\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":35669,"href":"https:\/\/occasionalplanet.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35665\/revisions\/35669"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occasionalplanet.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/35666"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/occasionalplanet.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35665"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occasionalplanet.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35665"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occasionalplanet.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35665"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
Allies, live your beliefs<\/strong><\/h3>\nPoliticians aren\u2019t the only ones who need to be held accountable. The past several months have seen a massive upsurge in legitimized hatred and bigotry, and we have to hold ourselves and each other accountable for fighting it. That means that right now, allies need to step up their game. All of us have some privilege, which means we all have the potential to be allies<\/a> to a community that needs our support. Privilege is a responsibility to change the system. Privilege is a responsibility to call out our coworkers, friends, and family when their behavior is anywhere on the continuum from micro-aggressive to flat-out bigoted. Privilege is a responsibility to do better ourselves and to ensure we\u2019re not reifying prejudiced systems. Privilege is a responsibility to shut shit down. And I\u2019m going to take it very seriously.<\/p>\nHumanize the \u201cother\u201d <\/strong><\/h3>\nThere are people different from us within American society: Learn about them. When we start to see people who are different from us as people rather than just as different, our world view shifts. Try checking out these books on the lives of people of color<\/a>, LGBTQ+ individuals<\/a>, people with disabilities<\/a>, immigrants<\/a>, women<\/a>, and people in poverty<\/a>. It\u2019s really easy to think we understand the struggles of another community, claim credentials about having a diverse friend, or just assume we already know enough, but there\u2019s always more to learn. I\u2019m going to try even harder to branch out this year and consume information from a wider array of sources, read more books from more authors, and connect with as many people from as many backgrounds as I can.<\/p>\nWe are responsible for knowing the truth<\/strong><\/h3>\nNothing will change if we aren\u2019t informed about what\u2019s happening around us. Fake news is abundant, and Facebook is really not how we should be learning about the world. We can\u2019t blame anything but our own laziness for misinformation. There are abundant resources out there. I intend to ensure that I am constantly cross-checking my facts, finding reliable sources, and spreading the truth.<\/p>\n
America is not the center of the universe<\/strong><\/h3>\nWe live in an increasingly interconnected world, and if we only know what\u2019s happening in the US, we\u2019re missing out on a vast wealth of information. What happens halfway across the world most definitely affects us in the middle of the country, so I\u2019m going to make sure I don\u2019t skimp on the world news. (P.S. It\u2019s also helpful to get information from sources based outside of the US because more perspectives are always critical to a better understanding of an issue. BBC and Al Jazeera are often favorites.)<\/p>\n
Get involved<\/strong><\/h3>\nYes, issues of inequality exist at the institutional level, but they impact people at the personal level, and there are abundant opportunities to do something. Protesting isn\u2019t everyone\u2019s cup of tea, but there are plenty of other ways to make a difference. I\u2019m going to make more time to volunteer within my community to make people\u2019s lives better (and hopefully still attend rallies and marches, too). These are a small selection of St. Louis organizations you might consider helping:<\/p>\n
\n- International Institute<\/a> (support and resources for immigrants)<\/li>\n
- Planned Parenthood<\/a> (women\u2019s rights and reproductive health are their main focus, but they also do work on labor rights, race issues, poverty, and a vast number of other issues)<\/li>\n
- CAIR-STL<\/a> (representation for Muslim Americans)<\/li>\n
- Kingdom House<\/a> (providing resources for low-income families)<\/li>\n
- Women\u2019s Safe House<\/a> (domestic violence shelter)<\/li>\n
- Employment Connection<\/a> (providing the homeless, ex-offenders, and immigrants among others employment opportunities to pull them out of poverty)<\/li>\n
- National Alliance on Mental Illness<\/a> (nationwide coalition to provide advocacy for individuals with mental disorders and their families)<\/li>\n
- Growing American Youth<\/a> (support for LGBT youth)<\/li>\n
- St. Louis Homeless Winter Outreach<\/a> (groups of volunteers providing resources and rides to shelters for homeless individuals on nights the temperature drops below 20 degrees)<\/li>\n
- ACLU<\/a> (civil rights advocacy)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
This is only a brief introduction to efforts we all need to collectively undertake to protect ourselves and our communities. A lot of us were left wondering after the election how this possibly came to be, and if we want to stop this from happening again then we have to make a change.<\/p>\n
Let\u2019s get to work.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
For me, 2017 has been marred with the knowledge that \u00a0it ushers in the era of Trump. The incoming administration has promised to push<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":644,"featured_media":35666,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2119,767,16],"tags":[2505,2881],"yoast_head":"\n
How to be a better, more active citizen in the Trump era - Occasional Planet<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/occasionalplanet.org\/2017\/01\/11\/better-active-citizen-trump-era\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How to be a better, more active citizen in the Trump era - Occasional Planet\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"For me, 2017 has been marred with the knowledge that \u00a0it ushers in the era of Trump. 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Humanize the \u201cother\u201d <\/strong><\/h3>\nThere are people different from us within American society: Learn about them. When we start to see people who are different from us as people rather than just as different, our world view shifts. Try checking out these books on the lives of people of color<\/a>, LGBTQ+ individuals<\/a>, people with disabilities<\/a>, immigrants<\/a>, women<\/a>, and people in poverty<\/a>. It\u2019s really easy to think we understand the struggles of another community, claim credentials about having a diverse friend, or just assume we already know enough, but there\u2019s always more to learn. I\u2019m going to try even harder to branch out this year and consume information from a wider array of sources, read more books from more authors, and connect with as many people from as many backgrounds as I can.<\/p>\nWe are responsible for knowing the truth<\/strong><\/h3>\nNothing will change if we aren\u2019t informed about what\u2019s happening around us. Fake news is abundant, and Facebook is really not how we should be learning about the world. We can\u2019t blame anything but our own laziness for misinformation. There are abundant resources out there. I intend to ensure that I am constantly cross-checking my facts, finding reliable sources, and spreading the truth.<\/p>\n
America is not the center of the universe<\/strong><\/h3>\nWe live in an increasingly interconnected world, and if we only know what\u2019s happening in the US, we\u2019re missing out on a vast wealth of information. What happens halfway across the world most definitely affects us in the middle of the country, so I\u2019m going to make sure I don\u2019t skimp on the world news. (P.S. It\u2019s also helpful to get information from sources based outside of the US because more perspectives are always critical to a better understanding of an issue. BBC and Al Jazeera are often favorites.)<\/p>\n
Get involved<\/strong><\/h3>\nYes, issues of inequality exist at the institutional level, but they impact people at the personal level, and there are abundant opportunities to do something. Protesting isn\u2019t everyone\u2019s cup of tea, but there are plenty of other ways to make a difference. I\u2019m going to make more time to volunteer within my community to make people\u2019s lives better (and hopefully still attend rallies and marches, too). These are a small selection of St. Louis organizations you might consider helping:<\/p>\n
\n- International Institute<\/a> (support and resources for immigrants)<\/li>\n
- Planned Parenthood<\/a> (women\u2019s rights and reproductive health are their main focus, but they also do work on labor rights, race issues, poverty, and a vast number of other issues)<\/li>\n
- CAIR-STL<\/a> (representation for Muslim Americans)<\/li>\n
- Kingdom House<\/a> (providing resources for low-income families)<\/li>\n
- Women\u2019s Safe House<\/a> (domestic violence shelter)<\/li>\n
- Employment Connection<\/a> (providing the homeless, ex-offenders, and immigrants among others employment opportunities to pull them out of poverty)<\/li>\n
- National Alliance on Mental Illness<\/a> (nationwide coalition to provide advocacy for individuals with mental disorders and their families)<\/li>\n
- Growing American Youth<\/a> (support for LGBT youth)<\/li>\n
- St. Louis Homeless Winter Outreach<\/a> (groups of volunteers providing resources and rides to shelters for homeless individuals on nights the temperature drops below 20 degrees)<\/li>\n
- ACLU<\/a> (civil rights advocacy)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
This is only a brief introduction to efforts we all need to collectively undertake to protect ourselves and our communities. A lot of us were left wondering after the election how this possibly came to be, and if we want to stop this from happening again then we have to make a change.<\/p>\n
Let\u2019s get to work.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
For me, 2017 has been marred with the knowledge that \u00a0it ushers in the era of Trump. The incoming administration has promised to push<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":644,"featured_media":35666,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2119,767,16],"tags":[2505,2881],"yoast_head":"\n
How to be a better, more active citizen in the Trump era - Occasional Planet<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/occasionalplanet.org\/2017\/01\/11\/better-active-citizen-trump-era\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How to be a better, more active citizen in the Trump era - Occasional Planet\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"For me, 2017 has been marred with the knowledge that \u00a0it ushers in the era of Trump. 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We are responsible for knowing the truth<\/strong><\/h3>\nNothing will change if we aren\u2019t informed about what\u2019s happening around us. Fake news is abundant, and Facebook is really not how we should be learning about the world. We can\u2019t blame anything but our own laziness for misinformation. There are abundant resources out there. I intend to ensure that I am constantly cross-checking my facts, finding reliable sources, and spreading the truth.<\/p>\n
America is not the center of the universe<\/strong><\/h3>\nWe live in an increasingly interconnected world, and if we only know what\u2019s happening in the US, we\u2019re missing out on a vast wealth of information. What happens halfway across the world most definitely affects us in the middle of the country, so I\u2019m going to make sure I don\u2019t skimp on the world news. (P.S. It\u2019s also helpful to get information from sources based outside of the US because more perspectives are always critical to a better understanding of an issue. BBC and Al Jazeera are often favorites.)<\/p>\n
Get involved<\/strong><\/h3>\nYes, issues of inequality exist at the institutional level, but they impact people at the personal level, and there are abundant opportunities to do something. Protesting isn\u2019t everyone\u2019s cup of tea, but there are plenty of other ways to make a difference. I\u2019m going to make more time to volunteer within my community to make people\u2019s lives better (and hopefully still attend rallies and marches, too). These are a small selection of St. Louis organizations you might consider helping:<\/p>\n
\n- International Institute<\/a> (support and resources for immigrants)<\/li>\n
- Planned Parenthood<\/a> (women\u2019s rights and reproductive health are their main focus, but they also do work on labor rights, race issues, poverty, and a vast number of other issues)<\/li>\n
- CAIR-STL<\/a> (representation for Muslim Americans)<\/li>\n
- Kingdom House<\/a> (providing resources for low-income families)<\/li>\n
- Women\u2019s Safe House<\/a> (domestic violence shelter)<\/li>\n
- Employment Connection<\/a> (providing the homeless, ex-offenders, and immigrants among others employment opportunities to pull them out of poverty)<\/li>\n
- National Alliance on Mental Illness<\/a> (nationwide coalition to provide advocacy for individuals with mental disorders and their families)<\/li>\n
- Growing American Youth<\/a> (support for LGBT youth)<\/li>\n
- St. Louis Homeless Winter Outreach<\/a> (groups of volunteers providing resources and rides to shelters for homeless individuals on nights the temperature drops below 20 degrees)<\/li>\n
- ACLU<\/a> (civil rights advocacy)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
This is only a brief introduction to efforts we all need to collectively undertake to protect ourselves and our communities. A lot of us were left wondering after the election how this possibly came to be, and if we want to stop this from happening again then we have to make a change.<\/p>\n
Let\u2019s get to work.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
For me, 2017 has been marred with the knowledge that \u00a0it ushers in the era of Trump. The incoming administration has promised to push<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":644,"featured_media":35666,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2119,767,16],"tags":[2505,2881],"yoast_head":"\n
How to be a better, more active citizen in the Trump era - Occasional Planet<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/occasionalplanet.org\/2017\/01\/11\/better-active-citizen-trump-era\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How to be a better, more active citizen in the Trump era - Occasional Planet\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"For me, 2017 has been marred with the knowledge that \u00a0it ushers in the era of Trump. 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She is studying public interest law and hopes to use her education to empower survivors of domestic violence and dismantle institutionalized racism by restoring dignity to the marginalized.","url":"https:\/\/occasionalplanet.org\/author\/hafsa-mansoor\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/occasionalplanet.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/hands_raised.jpg?fit=643%2C336&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/occasionalplanet.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35665"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/occasionalplanet.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/occasionalplanet.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occasionalplanet.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/644"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occasionalplanet.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35665"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/occasionalplanet.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35665\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":35669,"href":"https:\/\/occasionalplanet.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35665\/revisions\/35669"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occasionalplanet.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/35666"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/occasionalplanet.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35665"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occasionalplanet.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35665"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occasionalplanet.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35665"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
We live in an increasingly interconnected world, and if we only know what\u2019s happening in the US, we\u2019re missing out on a vast wealth of information. What happens halfway across the world most definitely affects us in the middle of the country, so I\u2019m going to make sure I don\u2019t skimp on the world news. (P.S. It\u2019s also helpful to get information from sources based outside of the US because more perspectives are always critical to a better understanding of an issue. BBC and Al Jazeera are often favorites.)<\/p>\n
Get involved<\/strong><\/h3>\nYes, issues of inequality exist at the institutional level, but they impact people at the personal level, and there are abundant opportunities to do something. Protesting isn\u2019t everyone\u2019s cup of tea, but there are plenty of other ways to make a difference. I\u2019m going to make more time to volunteer within my community to make people\u2019s lives better (and hopefully still attend rallies and marches, too). These are a small selection of St. Louis organizations you might consider helping:<\/p>\n
\n- International Institute<\/a> (support and resources for immigrants)<\/li>\n
- Planned Parenthood<\/a> (women\u2019s rights and reproductive health are their main focus, but they also do work on labor rights, race issues, poverty, and a vast number of other issues)<\/li>\n
- CAIR-STL<\/a> (representation for Muslim Americans)<\/li>\n
- Kingdom House<\/a> (providing resources for low-income families)<\/li>\n
- Women\u2019s Safe House<\/a> (domestic violence shelter)<\/li>\n
- Employment Connection<\/a> (providing the homeless, ex-offenders, and immigrants among others employment opportunities to pull them out of poverty)<\/li>\n
- National Alliance on Mental Illness<\/a> (nationwide coalition to provide advocacy for individuals with mental disorders and their families)<\/li>\n
- Growing American Youth<\/a> (support for LGBT youth)<\/li>\n
- St. Louis Homeless Winter Outreach<\/a> (groups of volunteers providing resources and rides to shelters for homeless individuals on nights the temperature drops below 20 degrees)<\/li>\n
- ACLU<\/a> (civil rights advocacy)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
This is only a brief introduction to efforts we all need to collectively undertake to protect ourselves and our communities. A lot of us were left wondering after the election how this possibly came to be, and if we want to stop this from happening again then we have to make a change.<\/p>\n
Let\u2019s get to work.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
For me, 2017 has been marred with the knowledge that \u00a0it ushers in the era of Trump. The incoming administration has promised to push<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":644,"featured_media":35666,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2119,767,16],"tags":[2505,2881],"yoast_head":"\n
How to be a better, more active citizen in the Trump era - Occasional Planet<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/occasionalplanet.org\/2017\/01\/11\/better-active-citizen-trump-era\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How to be a better, more active citizen in the Trump era - Occasional Planet\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"For me, 2017 has been marred with the knowledge that \u00a0it ushers in the era of Trump. 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This is only a brief introduction to efforts we all need to collectively undertake to protect ourselves and our communities. A lot of us were left wondering after the election how this possibly came to be, and if we want to stop this from happening again then we have to make a change.<\/p>\n
Let\u2019s get to work.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
For me, 2017 has been marred with the knowledge that \u00a0it ushers in the era of Trump. The incoming administration has promised to push<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":644,"featured_media":35666,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2119,767,16],"tags":[2505,2881],"yoast_head":"\n