One of the great advantages of older age is that experience seen in life’s rear-view mirror often provides a helpful understanding of what’s happening as seen through the front windshield of today.

What I see today, while deeply disturbing in so many ways, gives me great hope.  This is especially true where citizen action and the rise of new organizations and movements designed to meet new challenges is concerned.

In a democracy the institutions of self-government don’t overhaul themselves. They must be shaken up. And in the case of political institutions that shakeup must come from concerned—often outraged—citizens determined to create responsive government and revitalize a society.

It’s no accident that Common Cause was founded 50 years ago , quickly followed by the launch of host of other citizen action organizations – The National Organization for Women, Public Citizen, NARAL, WWF, Environmental Defense, Greenpeace, Amnesty International—and an equally massive flood of public support flooded into older organizations like the ACLU, the League of Women Voters and the Sierra Club.

The time was ripe. An unpopular war raged in Vietnam… major cities had burned and political turmoil roiled the nation following the assassinations of Robert Kennedy and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr… the streets filled with protests…Congress and the White House seemed paralyzed.

Similar to where we find ourselves today,  in the decades preceding the ‘70s– with the exception of the civil rights movement– the majority of Americans had ignored their duties as citizens.  They had allowed the instruments of self-government fall into disrepair. They had allowed themselves to be smothered all the glittering promises of the modern world. They had almost forgotten the national attribute described 130 years earlier in the familiar passage from de Tocqueville:

“These Americans are the most peculiar people in the world…in a local community in their country a citizen may conceive of some need which is not being met.  What does he do? He goes across the street and discusses it with his neighbor.

“Then what happens?  A committee comes into existence…All of this is done without reference to any  bureaucrat.  All this is done by private citizens on their own initiative.”

In an increasingly complex world Americans had become less and less sure of their ability to act on their own initiative as citizens.

One of the lessons of that period was that demonstrations and protests ( “street actions” was the in vogue term at the time) proved to be unpredictable instruments of social action and social change.  Some accepted the demands of the demonstrators and others simply intensified their resistance to any demands. And when violence –sometimes started by the police, sometimes by others –the fashionable saying back then among pundits was to say “violence is regrettable but does it get results.”

Looking back it’s probably safe to say that the violence of the late ‘60s may have stimulated some necessary change, but it may have destroyed a lot of social reform.

It was out of a desire to effect social and political change on a more predictable and permanent basis that the groups mentioned above were born inspired by the advocacy of civil rights lawyers, community organizers and the tough professionalism of a young lawyer named Ralph Nader – all proving that powerful institutions could be held to account.

Today, in the midst of a horrifying pandemic, a deepening depression, a national tsumami of outrage over police brutality,  hundreds of years of racial inequality and injustice, and a lawless president the time for action by ‘we the people” is once again ripe. In fact, it’s ripening at warp speed.

The reason I’m optimistic about the future is that this time around the renewal of America and those movements that will advance this renewal is undergirded by a far larger and far more diverse segment of our society.  You need only look at the diverse composition of the nationwide protests and the polls showing massive public support to see this.

On top of that there is a knowledge base of experience on organizing and a raft of social media and other technologies to fuel and fund these movements.

Already, you can see the early results of outrage turned to action.  Tuesday’s primary elections held in some key states saw a larger turnout than in 2016—in spite of the pandemic—and a record number of progressive candidates win nomination for local, state and federal office.

As was the case 50 years ago today’s movements are funded by hundreds of thousands of small donations.  But this time around they don’t have to rely on only newsprint and direct mail.  Digital makes it quick and easy to get the funding snowball rolling and growing.

In fact, just take a look at how digital is being used to advance and reinforce the protests.  In fact you may want to use some of these tools to become more personally involved.

Here are some suggestions adapted from Vice.

  Join a protest.

If you feel safe and healthy enough to do so—although, in times like these, it’s admittedly hard to feel safe at all—then consider actually joining protests. While it’s dangerous for everyone on the streets right now, especially after Trump has threatened to bring out the military against the protestors and the threat of COVID-19 is looming, it’s especially dangerous for Black people. In response, some white allies have shown support by becoming a barrier between Black people and the police. Connect with Black-led organizations (your local Black Lives Matter chapter is a good place to start) and find out if and how you can help on the ground, whether that’s as a protestor or perhaps aa volunteer fundraiser.

Donate to bail funds or mutual aid groups.

Protestors are being arrested all over the country, and many need cash bail to be released. The National Bail Fund Network has a large directory of community bail funds to donate to, as well as a COVID-19 rapid response fund. The latter kind of aid is important to keep in mind, because sometimes bail efforts become overwhelmed with donations. Check in about that on their social media pages, and, if they are, they will often redirect you to other community mutual aid groups like these: The Philadelphia Mutual Aid Fund, The D.C. Mutual Aid Fund, and the Detroit Sex Worker Mutual Aid Fund. Here are some bail funds to look into as an introduction:

Colorado Freedom Fund, an organization that posts bail for people who would not be able to afford to do so otherwise.

Black Visions Collective, a Black, trans, and queer-led social justice organization and legal fund based in Minneapolis and St. Paul.

Free Them All for Public Health, raising money to free incarcerated people in New York City during the COVID-19 pandemic, where overcrowded jails pose a serious health risk.

The Atlanta Solidarity Fund, which is raising bail and bond money for jailed protesters in Atlanta.

Join a mutual aid group if you can’t donate to one.

Even if you can’t lend financial support, you can join mutual aid efforts directly to help distribute or donate needed supplies like groceries, medicine, hand sanitizer, etc. You can also contribute your services. Do you have a car? You can help transport goods and people to where they need to go. Do you have room in your home? You can provide sanctuary for protestors. Do you have political contacts? You can help influence change or even release jailed protestors. Do you have skills in graphic design, administration, digital fundraising? Offer to help your community’s mutual aid efforts.

Remotely provide protestors with protection against COVID-19 and tear gas.

You can donate to this Gas Mask Fund created by Black youth activists in Minneapolis to buy gas masks for demonstrators facing tear gas; although fortunately that phase may have passed in that city.   You can also donate to Masks For America, a volunteer-led organization that has distributed 22,000 FDA-certified KN95 masks and 5,500 goggles and face shields to protestors in Minneapolis, Washington D.C., and New York City. Masks For America usually distributes protective equipment to frontline healthcare workers, but this fundraiser is going directly towards Black-led organizations on the ground.

Call or text your elected officials.

Call your elected officials every day and tell them that you demand this violence stop, and that you demand they stand up against the Trumpists. ResistBot is an amazing, quick way to do that. You can simply send a text that will be sent to your officials–local, state and federal– as a fax or an email. It’s free to use, but consider also making a donation to offset the service’s operating costs.

Send Black protestors, journalists, healthcare professionals, and mental health professionals money.

Literally, just send Black people on the front lines money on Venmo, Paypal, or CashApp. These are the people experiencing the most trauma. If you see someone you’d like to help, ask them if it’s OK to drop some money in their account. It’s a simple thing, but, if you can afford it, do it. You could be paying for their necessities, bills, self-care needs, or a therapy session.

Whatever you choose to do: Above all, don’t be silent.

Roger