In the two weeks since we elected a new President of the United States, I’ve walked through the five stages of grief – denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. Yes, I know that sounds ridiculous, but our new president has shown that his values don’t align with mine. I’m not going to rehash all of the reasons I find our new leader deplorable because, if you’ve read Little Merry Sunshine for more than 5 minutes, you know why. Frankly, I’m worried, but that’s an issue for another post.

Our country is divided. President-elect Trump won the Electoral College, but as of yesterday, lost the Popular Vote by 1.5 million votes, with more votes still to be counted. Based on everything we know about the areas where ballots are still being counted, that 1.5 million vote difference is expected to grow.

Setting aside the allegations of corruption, racism, misogny, xenophobia, fraud, gross incompetence, and more that surround our president-elect and the administration he’s forming, two questions have been weighing on my mind for two weeks now:

1. What can we do to heal the rift between our fellow countrymen and women?
2. What kind of world do we want?

I think the answers to both questions involve getting politically active. Excuses like “I hate politics,” “all politicians are corrupt,” and “the system is rigged” are all slightly more polite ways of saying “I don’t want to be bothered.”

Okay, I get that. We’re all busy. You’re working multiple jobs or way more than 40 hours each week at one job for no additional pay. You’ve got kids and all of their activities. You’ve got a crazy commute. You’re caring for an elderly parent or disabled child. You’ve got your own health challenges.

Government, and by extension politics, impacts each of those things. If you care about education, elder care, disability rights, civil rights, health insurance, snow plowing, pay equity, living wages, or a host of other things, you must care about politics and the role government plays in all of our lives.

There are many ways to get your voice heard, some of which require significant time and effort, while others do not.

Off the top of my head, here are some of my favorite ways to get politically active.

1. Join your local political party, attend meetings, volunteer, and donate money to support their grassroots efforts.
2. Register to vote. Seriously. It’s super easy. Illinois has Motor Voter Registration, you can register online here, or contact me because I’m a Deputy Registrar and would be honored to help you register.
3. Vote in every single election. Always. Especially in the local elections. Illinois allows voters to vote by mail, vote early in-person, or vote on Election Day at their polling place. To vote by mail or to vote early, you don’t need a reason. Just request a ballot and mail it back before the deadline or show up at on of the early voting locations in your town or county. If you think your vote doesn’t count, Hillary Clinton lost Michigan by approximately 11,500 votes. I say approximately because Michigan hasn’t officially been called for Donald Trump yet. My town has 19,000 residents. Think about that.
4. Become a Deputy Registrar and help get people registered to vote. I did it. You can too. Registering people to vote takes as much or as little time as you’re willing to give.
5. Serve as an Election Judge (search for your county or click here for Cook County). It pays, although not much. No one does it for the money.
6. Join a bipartisan coffee/lunch/breakfast group that discusses current local issues and politics.
7. Listen to disenting opinions and attempt to put yourself in the speaker’s shoes.
8. Examine your own privilege and become aware of how your privilege creates your blind spots. The vast majority of us have some privilege, even if it takes some soul searching to figure it out. Once you know what your blind spots are, work to change them.
9. Get active in your local schools (even if you don’t have kids): attend board meetings, join and participate in the PTA.
10. Join a local civics organization – Lions, Rotary, Freemasons, Knights of Columbus, League of Women Voters, etc.
11. Subscribe to your local newspaper, even if you can read it online for free. I subscribed to the New York Times online this morning. The daily paper version is out of my budget at the moment, but I will also be subscribing to my local paper.
12. Write letters to the editor.
13. Join and donate to organizations that support human rights and combat hate groups like the Southern Poverty Law Center, the Human Rights Campaign, and the Anti-Defamation League.
14. Know who your elected officials are – at all levels – and write and call them about issues you care about. Attend their town hall meetings in person and on the phone. Sign up for their newsletters so you know what they’re doing.
15. Volunteer for political campaigns – knock on doors, participate in get out the vote efforts, make phone calls, and host coffees for your candidates. Campaigns love all volunteers. No matter how much or how little time you have, they have work for you to do.
16. Place political yard signs in your yard during elections.
17. Attend political rallies.
18. Attend debates for local elected officials. They’re not typically televised, so the only way to know what happens is to attend in person.
19. Join a local commission or task force. There are many local commissions that are appointed by mayors. These include police and fire commissions, planning commissions, and more. Learn about them and get involved. Joining a commission or task force will give you influence into how your community is run without the pressure of being an elected official.
20. Run for office. Start small. Run for a local board. Many people aspire to nothing higher than a local school board and that’s fantastic. Every community needs dedicated boards and these boards (library, park district, school, etc.) wield an incredible amount of influence.
21. Get your news from more than one source with more than one bias. If you only read or watch one media outlet, you are getting a myopic view of the world. When you open yourself up to more than one source of news, especially if one of those is contrary to your personal beliefs, you’ll not only have a more balanced viewpoint, but you’ll better understand what other people are thinking.
22. Start a petition – either online (change.org and We the People at the White House are great sites – just check for existing petitions about your issue before creating a new one)or go door-to-door. When I was about 7 or 8 years old, my park district suddenly stopped flooding the tennis courts at our park eliminating the skating rink I skated at every winter. I wrote up a petition, walked around my neighborhood, explained my position to my neighbors, asked them to sign my petition, and presented it to my park district board. I lost my fight to bring back the ice skating rink, but it was a good lesson in how to get things done.
23. Join the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). It’s a non-partisan organization that serves to protect the civil rights of all Americans.

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