My New Year’s resolutions are usually the standard self-focused, health related variety. This year is different though. This year we will have a president who doesn’t respect women, or diplomacy, or fact-checking, or equal rights for all, or basically any of the things that I believe make this country great. So this year I am committing to Resolutions of Resistance:

I Resolve to Stay Engaged and Informed:

• I will listen to the news despite my strong desire to curl up and hide. I will keep myself open to feel this. I will weep, and weep, and weep, but I will keep my eyes OPEN.

• I will read the news with critical analysis. I will not fall prey to sensationalist fake news even when it is in agreement with my own beliefs. I will participate in Facebook’s Fake News Initiative. I will get the majority of my news from trusted sites like: NPR, Al Jazeera, and BBC.

• I will sign at least 3 petitions every week. It’s not much but it is something, and it keeps me informed about the actions people and NPOs are taking and how I may be able to further support them. I regularly get petitions from MoveOn.org, AVAAZ, Change.org, and Democracy for America.

• I will show up and protest! Protests don’t happen without our participation!

• I will continue my visibility project: hanging large protest signs in our front window, switching them out every couple weeks. (Right now the sign reads, “Stop the normalization of bigotry, call it out!”) Neighbors stopped and asked about our last sign that was supporting undocumented immigrants, including a neighbor I had never spoken with before. Being visible and starting conversations is so important!

• I will campaign HARD for midterm elections and follow the strategic advice of organizations such as: https://www.flippable.org/our-plan/ to flip as many state seats as possible. We need to be smart and determined to turn states blue.

• I will donate to such organizations as: FactCheck.org, Flippable.org, Inequality Media and Media Matters and continue to subscribe to a newspaper with investigative reporting (The Sacramento Bee).

I Resolve to Resist Racism:

• I will keep reading, listening, reflecting, embracing discomfort, learning, and growing. I will make a point to read articles authored by people of color, not just white liberals talking for POC.

• I will join groups like Next Door and our local neighborhood watch/neighborhood profiling facebook group and call out any ‘guilty until proven innocent’ behavior that targets people of color.

• If I hear racist comments or see racist acts I will call them out.

• I will continue to teach my kids about privilege, racism, and to stand up for what is right.

• I will keep standing on the street corner with my BLM sign and wearing my BLM shirt.

• I will continue to participate in local activism and support local and national racial justice groups.

• I will continue to donate to organizations such as: ACLU, Standing Rock (http://standwithstandingrock.net/donate/), and Southern Poverty Law Center, as well as keep up my local NAACP membership.

I Resolve to Resist Male Supremacy:

• I will call-in sexism, objectification, and male-supremacy when I see it. I will stop silencing myself for fear of being a “downer” or sounding “bitchy.” I actually got called a downer just last night by a white male for talking about ‘women’s issues’ and what a Trump presidency might mean for women. I wish I had said “I’m sorry my oppression is making you a little uncomfortable” but instead I bit my tongue, not wanting to cause conflict. Compared to most women I know I am very outspoken, but I still can’t tell you how many times a day I silence myself. (A reality check for the men reading this: if I am silencing myself dozens of times every day, think about how many times the women in your life have silenced themselves to spare your feelings or avoid conflict.)

• I will stop participating and going along with the shit-talking women do about ourselves. This is a good portion of what happens in my mommy circles-- we talk about being a bad parent for giving our kids a sugary treat, or how we are a disheveled mess for wearing something that allows us to sit on the floor and play with our kids comfortably, or how incompetent we are for being a little late when really it is a gold-medal achievement that we even managed to get ourselves and our kids fully clothed and out the door some mornings. We have learned to downplay our achievements and make ourselves smaller to be more likable. I do it pretty consistently and I believe every woman I have in my life does it(?). That needs to change. I am going to consciously look for women’s achievements and strengths and highlight them.

• I will continue to teach my daughter that she is a fully capable human being and continue our ban of Princess Idolism in the house. It doesn’t matter if they are ‘powerful princesses,’ the sad fact is that people interact with our daughters differently when they have princess garb on, the conversation almost always revolves around being pretty. I want to shield her from the message that her worth is tied to her appearance for as long as possible. I know, your daughter loves princesses! It sounds harsh, but I don’t think that matters. I won’t let my child play with toy guns, I won’t let my child play a racist game of cowboys and Indians, and I won’t let her worship princess culture, it’s just as harmful. I have discussed my reasoning with my daughter numerous times and at four years old she understands it enough not to protest.

• I will try to at least fake having the confidence of a mediocre white male and not let the fear of making mistakes, or fear of not being perfect, stop me from going for the things I want. (Ugh, this one is so so hard for me. But it needs to happen. Hence starting a blog before I have it all figured out. Eek!)

• I will continue to donate to organizations such as: Planned Parenthood, The Third Wave, Ms. Foundation for Women, Center for Reproductive Rights, and NOW, as well as local organizations serving women and children and survivors of domestic violence.

I Resolve to Resist Environmental Indifference:

• I will continue working on creating our permaculture homestead that puts us in touch with our natural surroundings, heals the soil, supports local wildlife, and provides us with organic food with the smallest carbon footprint possible.

• I will invite neighbors to regularly drop off their food-waste for our compost pile.

• I will focus on eliminating as much single-use plastic as possible from our lives (buy bulk, get some stainless steel straws and have them in my purse/car, don’t get a drink if I forgot my reusable travel mug, get more reusable mesh produce bags, switch completely over to cloth menstrual pads and cups, bring Tupperware when we dine out…)

• I will continue to eat vegetarian, organic, local foods and support small, sustainable farms.

• I will continue to read and share scientific, evidence-based research about the environment and keep professing my love and belief in science.

• I will continue to donate to environmental groups such as: 350.org, Indigenous Environmental Network, Defenders of Wildlife, Environmental Defense Fund, and the Sierra Club as well as keep up our membership to the Monterey Bay Aquarium.

I Resolve to Resist Exclusionary Language:

• Language and terms have always been important, they shape our responses, they convey beliefs, they can lead to war, or they can lead to peace. And they can create harm through exclusion. I will make sure my language is as inclusive as possible. That means consciously changing habits and putting into practice things like this random guide from the University of New Hampshire I stumbled upon (which believe it or not, was the best inclusive language guide I could find): https://www.girardatlarge.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/Bias-Free-Language-Guide-Inclusive-Excellence-073015.pdf.

• If I use a term that offends someone I will own up to it, apologize, listen, and learn.

• I will continue to educate myself about appropriate terms (they change!).

I Resolve to Resist Xenophobia:

• I am learning Spanish (again) and will have my children learn Spanish.

• I will take a trip abroad this year.

• I will keep reading and talking about other countries and cultures respectfully with my kids.

• I will contact the local refugee resettlement organization and see what we can do to help families get their needs met and feel welcomed.

• I will continue to check in with the Islamic Center of Santa Cruz and make sure they are feeling safe in our city. If they don’t, I will organize.

• I will donate to organizations such as: Council on American-Islamic Relations, AFSC, and International Rescue Committee.

I Resolve to Resist Ableism:

• This is the year I tackle my ableism, it’s a learning edge for me. I don’t have any concrete strategies yet besides read and research. Here’s an uncomfortable start: http://www.autistichoya.com/p/ableist-words-and-terms-to-avoid.html

I Resolve To Resist Homophobia, Transphobia, Or Any Other Form Of Bigotry Directed At LGBTQ+ Folks:

• I will continue to proudly hang a rainbow flag on the front of our house.

• I will offer to buy any of my neighbors a rainbow flag for their homes. I want to create a block of rainbow flags. There is a school down the street from us and I want all the kids that walk up and down our street to see that physical display of acceptance and love.

• I’m not sure yet what a Trump/Pence Presidency will mean for those who identify as LGBTQ+ but I will fight fiercely to maintain the rights and protections that have taken so long to earn.

• I will continue to follow our local Diversity Center and stay involved with any actions.

• I will continue to teach my kids that their gender identity is based on how they feel, not their body parts, that gender is not binary, that there are many forms a family can take, that love is love, and that they can love whomever they please as long as that person is not an ass.

I Resolve to Take Better Care of Myself (with the recognition that I can’t be as strong as I need to be without proper nourishment)

• I will enroll in a ceramics class.

• I am playing piano again.

• I will figure out how to rehab my body and get my physical strength back.

• I will have outside time every day

As it is often said, this is a marathon, not a sprint. We need to keep the fire burning, raging, for at least the next four years. These resolutions will evolve over the next year and I will update them for the following four years. For now I will print them out, put them on the fridge, and hold myself accountable. Will you join me?

How will you resist in 2017?