15 Ways You Can Fight for Democracy

Every day, hundreds of family members, friends, and Contrarian readers reach out to ask what they can do to stop Trump and turn the tide against autocracy. We can help

By Gabe Lezra, Diamond Brown, Siven Watt, and Francois Barrilleaux

The authoritarians came into office with a plan. Since January 20th, they have functionally taken over the federal government, using a shock and awe legal onslaught to attempt to overwhelm the opposition, flooding the zone at “muzzle velocity.” They’ve used this machine gun spray of executive orders, unlawful firings, and naked threats to dishearten people and make us feel like it’s useless to fight back.

But they’ve underestimated us. Our organization, State Democracy Defenders Fund (SDDF), along with our colleagues in the federal unions and civil society, have met their shock and awe with a nonstop legal shock and awe of our own. And with every pro-democracy legal victory, people across the country are noticing—and realizing that the regime is not all-powerful.

We can hear the opposition building. Every day, hundreds of family members, friends, and Contrarian readers reach out to ask what they can do to stop Trump and turn the tide against autocracy in America. We’re here to help.

What follows is a concrete list of actions—practical, tangible ways to actively defend democracy. Some may be unconventional, ambitious, or require long-term commitment. But fighting autocracy demands outside-the-box thinking, courage, and sustained investment. You don’t need to follow (or agree) with these suggestions. All you need to do is pick one or two that resonate, and go for it. This is how we push back and reclaim power—one action at a time.

1. Join a local pro-democracy group organizing to fight authoritarianism. If there aren’t any in your community, build one! Autocracy flourishes when people feel isolated and powerless. So we have to build power—and that begins at the local level: in libraries, churches, offices, and cafes.

You can:

a. Find local pro-democracy activists, and join them. The Grassroots Directory is a great resource for finding organizations in your area, and RepresentUS has a great page to help you get started. Reach out to folks who don’t look like you, worship like you, or have the same level of education—like the imam at a local mosque, or the head of your local Black Lives Matter. Take a leap of faith that your neighbors feel the same frustration you do and are ready to fight back with you. Offer to help (as a good ally) by developing an intersectional working group (here are a couple of resources). Listen and learn how to convince people—one on one.

b. If pro-democracy resistance groups don’t exist in your area, create one! Groups like Indivisible, MoveOn, and RepresentUS have entire pages filled with resources, from how to begin and grow, to how to build partnerships with other community organizations, keep your team motivated, make sure you’re building and fostering the next generation of leaders, and ensuring inclusivity.

c. Build public knowledge. Invite experts on authoritarianism, election security, and civil liberties to give lectures or host workshops in your community. Issue-specific groups like your local Moms Demand Action chapter will gladly work with you; local colleges will have history professors and political scientists who will share their expertise. National organizations like ours (send us a DM on Bluesky, or email our team) are always happy to hold a Zoom town hall or even fly out and meet with you.

2. Fight the regime’s attempt to erase women and people of color from American history by holding your own DEI events—presentations, panels, lectures, even museum exhibits. Attacks on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs, the banning of books, and gutting of civil rights protections are part of a broader strategy to roll back progress and cement minority rule. But the administration cannot take away our First Amendment right to speak in public or at home. In an environment where the government is trying to silence and erase us, speech becomes an act of resistance. Learn and share your knowledge about figures like Marie Curie and Toni Morrison; Khalil Gibran and Malcolm X; Dolores Huerta and Angela Davis.

You can:

a. Hold poetry readings in your libraries, lectures at your local event space, in coffee shops, at history classes.

b. Publish op-eds in local and national papers and websites. Write about people like Rosalind Franklin, who discovered DNA’s structure before Watson and Crick—and other women in STEM.

c. Start a book club to read and discuss the great works of art by black and brown authors, like James Baldwin’s Notes From a Native Son, and poetry, like Claudia Rankine’s Citizen: An American Lyric.

d. Take your children to museums to see diverse art, and take your friends to watch new feminist theater. If your community isn’t showing these, lobby your local repertory theater or museum to do so!

3. Join national pro-democracy groups and volunteer: Democracy doesn’t defend itself—people do. Grassroots organizing is where the real power lies, and authoritarians fear an informed, mobilized, and relentless public. Check out groups like the Sierra Club, Black Voters Matter, the Advancement Project. Explore lists maintained by coalitions like the Declaration for American Democracy or the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights. These groups will help you learn how to register yourself and other voters, knock on doors, and rally your community.

4. Register! Then know who is running and who is on your ballot, at every level, and vote. Many election ballots include multiple races, from the president to your school board. Authoritarians and election deniers take power at local levels—so it’s important to stay vigilant and engaged there.

5. Run for local or state office. Again, the resistance to authoritarianism begins locally. We need committed, pro-democracy leaders who will fight on behalf of their constituents and help tackle issues like the affordability crisis, educational participation, and making homeownership a reality. The more people committed to democracy serving on school boards, city councils, and administrative agencies, the less sway authoritarians will have. There are many resources, should you decide to take the plunge: look into Run For Something, or She Should Run.

6. Become a poll worker or election observer: The 2025 state elections and the 2026 federal elections are right around the corner, and will be massively consequential in shaping the future of our democracy. A direct way to fight back that is less time-consuming than holding local office (but critically important) is becoming a poll worker, poll watcher, or by working for a voter assistance hotline like 866-OUR-VOTE. There is no democracy if ballots aren’t counted or voters are intimidated. Without trained, non-partisan oversight, bad actors can exploit the system and manipulate outcomes. Help make sure that that doesn’t happen.

7. Use your professional expertise to help fight for democracy: Most of you have worked to develop skills, knowledge, and expertise in a given field. You have knowledge you can share. Are you a scientist at a private lab or research university? You know the impact of Elon Musk’s cuts, what research will die, and who it will hurt. Are you a veteran? You know how cuts to critical services impact people deployed overseas and to the VA. Are you an IT professional? You know what can happen when people like the DOGE bros start mucking around in your tech. Are you a teacher? You know the precise impact that destroying the Department of Education will have on the kids in your community. There are so many ways to use all of this knowledge, no matter the field!

You can:

a. Reach out to national and local pro-democracy organizations like SDDF—we are constantly looking for people willing to volunteer their time and expertise (email us here). Help us build software to track corrupt contracts and funding cuts.

b. Record an Instagram reel on how easily the DOGE bros can break or harm our data—and what will happen if they do.

c. Write an op-ed about how DOGE is going to set back, say, Alzheimer's research by years, delaying key therapies.

d. Film TikToks featuring your teachers or students talking about losing subsidized school lunch.

8. Speak publicly about how the regime’s corruption impacts your community. The best way to get people to care about government corruption is to show them how it impacts their lives: discuss how government helps people retire with dignity, how it rebuilds towns devastated by hurricanes and tornadoes, or pays firefighters. Corruption undermines those life-saving services. Tell your story—and listen to others’.

9. Hit them where it hurts—their wallets: The way to undermine corporate capitulation to authoritarians is to make them lose money. These brands are associated with the worst actors. Organize and participate in mass boycotts. Explore ways you can exercise other rights in the market: Tesla has already lost more than 43% of its value since Musk joined the administration; due to public backlash.

10. Support strategic litigation efforts that challenge unlawful executive actions and defend constitutional rights: One of the most effective ways to protect the rule of law is by supporting organizations engaged in strategic litigation.

You can:

a. Donate to organizations on the front lines—support State Democracy Defenders Fund, by donating here.

b. Serve as plaintiffs in cases where you have standing—or help lawyers fighting for democracy find potential plaintiffs in affected groups in your area.

c. Contact your state attorney general, and engage in public forums—including by “bird-dogging”—with state officials to urge participation in lawsuits against unconstitutional federal actions.

d. Engage with state-level legal defense groups to help the more vulnerable—such as your local legal aid or clinic for the homeless.

e. Support national and local legal defense networks and other grassroots groups, which played a critical role in challenging the first administration’s immigration policies—such as rapid-response legal assistance in detention and deportation cases.

11. Organize your workplace and join a union: Unions like the AFL-CIO, AFGE, AFSCME, SEIU, Teamsters, and UAW are on the front lines, fighting the regime’s attempts to fire and demonize workers and undermine the laws that protect workers’ rights to organize. Why? Because worker power is a threat to the rich and powerful—and has helped beat back authoritarian coup attempts in the past. When you organize, you break through their fake barriers, while supporting your colleagues and workers all over the country doing the same thing. Worker solidarity wins over the politics of division.

12. Hold your lawmakers accountable: ​Engaging with legislators and officials is crucial in defending civil rights. Here’s a resource for emailing or calling your members of Congress in your district. Get them on the record. Show up to city council meetings, testify at legislative hearings and town halls. Join mass call-in or lobby days in support of bills like the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act (and oppose dangerous legislation like the SAVE Act (which weaponizes fear to restrict civil liberties.) Stay loud, vigilant, and relentless.

13. Make sure no one is above the law: People in the administration are going to commit crimes in service of the Trump/Musk authoritarian agenda—that is a given. Trump may use the pardon power to protect them, but he cannot pardon state and local crimes. Pardoned authoritarian enablers are less likely to be liable for federal crimes, but can still be prosecuted under their state’s criminal codes. Don’t let your governor and attorney general forget that. Demand consequences.

14. Educate yourself: understand the ways authoritarians try to take power and make policy that affects your community. Defending democracy and fighting tyranny starts with knowledge. Authoritarians thrive in low-information environments. They rely on people not knowing enough to recognize what they’re doing. Learn about your government and rights, whether in the workplace, during protests, or when interacting with law enforcement. Stay informed about how to register, key deadlines, vote-by-mail procedures, early voting options, ID requirements, and election security measures, using resources like nass.org/can-I-vote, and EAC.gov.

15. Share love and joy, widely, loudly, and proudly: Authoritarians want to build a world where the only people who are able to thrive are the people who fall within the small circle of protected “real citizens.” In these circumstances, reminding people that they can refuse to be scared and instead to live their lives out loud, sharing love and joy, is a reminder that no matter how hard authoritarians try to break us, we will not be deterred.

The way we will win the war for democracy is through solidarity, bravery, dedication, and love. They will try to silence and divide us; ask us why we’re fighting for people who we don’t know, who don’t look like us or worship or celebrate like us. That’s because they’re scared. Scared that we will organize and fight back—for a world where everyone, not just the elite few, enjoys freedom and democracy.