99 Things You Can Do On Inauguration Day
A self-care and advocacy list, now with a bookish flavor.
Turn off the television.
Log out of your social media accounts.
Delete your Twitter account.
Drink a honey-sweet mug of tea.
Read Timothy Snyder’s On Tyranny.
Drink water.
Take a walk outside.
Water your plants.
Join a community garden.
Donate to the many many bookstores and communities impacted by last year’s devastating hurricanes—or, if you’re low on funds, follow them on social media.
Donate to a fundraiser or one of the many mutual aid organizations supporting folks affected by the devastating wildfires in California this week.
Peruse the options for 1-click actions on the Roots & Shoots website.
Cuddle a fuzzy animal.
Do your laundry. If you have the spoons, put it away away.
Clean out your closet. Donate clothes to an activist thrift shop or trans closet.
Reread a favorite book.
Join the Authors Against Book Bans coalition.
Contact your representatives and let them know how strongly you oppose book bans.
If you don’t have a library card, get one.
Put a book on hold at your local public library.
Subscribe to your public library’s newsletter.
Move your Amazon wishlist to Bookshop.org.
Cancel your Audible subscription and join Libro.fm.
Familiarize yourself with your local news outlets.
Buy books from your favorite independent bookstore.
Buy a book published by a small activist press, such as Interlink Publishing or Microcosm.
Do your dishes.
Clean out your fridge.
Get lunch with a friend.
Find a new recipe that excites you.
Learn about 211 and share it as a resource for folks who may need it.
Find a community fridge in your area and help fill it.
Learn about the food banks available in your region, should you or anybody you know need one in the future. (Including gluten-free options!)
Familiarize yourself with your local chapter of Food Not Bombs.
Refill a Little Free Library.
Research and join a Healing Justice Lending Library near you.
Have a fake sword fight with your friends or your kids.
Subscribe to your local Parent-Teacher Association (PTA) newsletter.
Familiarize yourself and your teacher-friends with the Human Rights Campaign’s Welcoming Schools initiative.
Read a banned book.
Organize or start a personal library of banned books.
Download Signal or another encrypted messaging app.
Create a Proton Mail or other similarly encrypted email account.
Turn off data tracking on your mobile devices and download data-tracking extensions on your web browsers. Begin using Firefox whenever possible.
Stop using any so-called AI.
Set timers on your social media, both in your apps and by using browser extensions, to prevent future doom-scrolling.
Write or draw in your journal.
Make a therapy appointment. If you don’t have a therapist or can’t afford therapy, collect useful therapy resources for rough days.
Read a book with queer protagonists.
Read a memoir by a transgender activist.
Choose action items from The Trans Literature Preservation Project: A Practical Guide to Resisting Censorship. (It contains action items for readers, librarians, publishing professionals, booksellers AND authors—a valuable resource!)
Make plans to see a drag show.
Sign up for a queer trivia night.
Check out the action items on the Advocates for Trans Equality website.
Send a message of support to trans youth living in states with bans on gender-affirming care.
Doodle. Paint. Knit. Sew. Sculpt. Make something with your hands.
Make and distribute a political zine.
Listen to an episode of your favorite podcast.
Put on your favorite songs and dance in your kitchen.
Create a playlist of songs that will make you smile in the weeks ahead.
Read a romance novel about a character from a marginalized community.
Join the Fated States initiative, created by romance readers to help keep state legislatures blue.
Unsubscribe from newsletters that annoy or no longer serve you.
Listen to author Ursula K. Le Guin discuss a reimagined future.
Buy a book by a Palestinian author.
Follow Books for Palestine and the Palestine Children’s Relief Fund.
Support one of the many many many many many many many many many many many many many many highly necessary Palestinian mutual aid initiatives.
Teach yourself about mutual aid: what it is, how it works, and what resources are available in your community. (Not sure where to start? I foundMutual Aid by Dean Spade to be a useful primer.)
Read a picture book that brings you joy and hope–yes, even if you’re an adult.
Learn about childcare collectives.
Adopt an abortion clinic, fund an abortion organization or volunteer as an escort.
Check out the action items on the Center for Reproductive Rights website.
Read a book in translation.
Read a book by an immigrant.
Learn about the National Immigration Law Center Immigrant Justice Fund.
Explore the action page on the Detention Watch Network website, which fights for the dignity and rights of immigrants in detention.
Support a prisoner book program. (Here’s an option in New York.)
Sign up for free bystander training on the Right To Be website.
Start or join a union at your workplace.
Start or join a tenants union.
Send fan mail to an author you love.
Remember that reading is political. That literacy is political. That book access is political.
Remember that the most important thing is to do right, not to avoid doing wrong. Perfect is the enemy of good.
Remember that the “someone” in “I wish someone would do something” is you.
Remember that action does not end when you read a book. Books start action. You continue it in the real world.
Remember that community is not an abstract idea. It is physical. It is around you. You can join it right now, and your presence will matter.
Remember that you do not know what other people are doing. Other people cannot necessarily see what you are doing. If you have the energy to point fingers, you have the energy to fill your hands with work. Or books. Or both.
Remember that it doesn’t matter where you start. You just need to start somewhere.
Remember that your identity does not start and end with work. You need to carve out pockets of joy, time with friends and family, time to refill your well, because otherwise you will be ground to dust on the wheel. You need to live.
Live.
Live.
Live.
💚🌟💚
💜💜💜 (thanks for the BPBP love, and for everything)