Action Items: Things to Do to Help Fight Evil and Save the World

Action Items are notes from the "Let's Save the World" committee meetings in my head. A collection of some news items and articles that may fire up a desire for action, and then at least one suggested action item to follow up. It won't be comprehensive of every single thing in the world and all the ways to fix it, but it will be something, and something is better than nothing.



Some of the Things That Are Happening:

Beyond 94 is a CBC initiative that tracks our progress on the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, intended to bring healing and restitution to the relationships of settlers and Indigenous people. It's been out for a while but is always worth checking in on.

What is the job of the press? To fact-check and report when politicians lie, or just repeat what the government is saying to the people? Might depend on whether you think free speech and free thought matter.

I'm sure everyone has seen it by now, but Michelle Wolfe's roast at the Whitehouse Correspondent's Dinner is a-mah-zing, smokey eye and all.

This is an incredible piece on what the heck we can do with the men who have been brought down by #metoo (as many of them are preparing to make their comebacks).

It happened with the Jian Gomeshi trials and is happening now with Schneiderman: an attempt to pass off domestic violence as consensual sex play.

After an incel drove a van through a crowd and killed 10 people, the media started to actually wonder about this world of "lonely men on the internet". Some of them were kind of sympathetic. It's gross.

Some people think that Amazon will never really be able to compete with the indie bookstore. Fingers crossed.

This one made me giggle: an artist made awards for men who do the bare minimum in life.

This protest photo also made me laugh:

Source: Imgur

Action Items:

ONE: If you are white, read this article on 100 things white people can do to make life less frustrating for people of colour. Pick a couple of things that are new to you and start to do them.

If you find yourself feeling defensive as you read the list, remember the title of this piece. It is a list of things "white people CAN DO to make life less frustrating for people of colour", not a list of things every single white person does and this is why they are all bad people. If you feel yourself gearing up to exclaim, "not all white people!", know that they weren't saying that in the first place. Also, know that if that is your reaction, you may need to spend some extra time examining how this list interacts with your life.

TWO: Pull Together and donate to the Tsleil-Waututh Nation as it fights a pipeline running through its territory and destroying the land and water for all of us.

PS: Follow my Resistance Roundup series at Loose Lips Magazine for more actions that are focused directly on the madness happening in America.


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