November 2025 "Hope and Kindness as an Act of Protest" by Leslie Rivera

We are living in scary times, and it feels like each day has new horrors to inflict. Tragedies and threats to liberties are non-stop; it can all feel so hopeless. Which is exactly what those who threaten our rights and environment want; they want us to resign ourselves to our fate and wither away. If we are hopeless, we won’t fight back. If we don’t push back, they’ll take all.  

The cynicism that is becoming common among people is a temporary balm to the near constant wave of bad news. But it is not a solution; it is a placebo, a band-aid to an infected gaping wound. By turning to cynicism, we accept exploitation as an inevitable truth that we can do nothing to change. In saying “That’s the way it is” we surrender our ability to fight back against corruption and injustice.  

The truth about social change is that it is never achieved alone or overnight. It’s never as simple as one grand action; it takes years of building up and planning. We tend to remember the big moments, forgetting all that went into making them possible. For instance, Rosa Parks worked with the NCAAP years before her refusal to give up her seat. Her act of refusal was orchestrated to inspire action and change, and she did not do it alone. You don’t have to do grand work, much less alone to make a difference. 

A book I recommend is Soul of a Citizen by Paul Rogat Loeb. Loeb challenges the idea that the individual is powerless and discusses instances where individual activism leads to collective action. At the end of the book, Loeb gives advice on how the reader can start their journey to becoming more involved in their community. At the end of the day, caring is a notable act of protest because the elite want us to not care about what they do to us and our planet.