After the nationwide general strike and protest on January 30th, many people, especially youth, have been wondering: “How can I get involved?” The idea of “getting involved” may appear as a time-consuming or meaningless commitment, but it doesn’t have to be. “Getting involved” can be as simple as keeping yourself educated or as ambitious as organizing protests in your community.
#1: Educate Yourself and Others: Research is vital to anyone wishing to get involved. This can be reading articles, watching factual content about current events on social media, and reading the stories of those affected by the current political climate. An easy way of educating those around you is by reposting content on social media. If you’re rolling your eyes and thinking “reposting one headline on my Instagram story isn’t going to do anything,” I want you to bear with me. While sharing a headline or an infographic isn’t going to change laws, it has the potential to inspire others online to educate themselves, which can lead to further action. “It’s helpful to talk with people in your community for increasing numbers and finding the right people for the issues you want to solve – as well as because it’s a valuable way to explore, expand, and challenge one’s own beliefs,” explains RiverCrow, a senior at Benson and the Secretary for Benson’s Activism club.
#2: Volunteer & Donate: If you want a more hands-on approach but can’t attend protests, volunteering and donating are amazing ways to get involved. You can donate money directly to families affected by ICE. Asylum Seeker Solidarity Collective (@asylumsolidaritypdx on Instagram) works with families affected by ICE and has compiled a list of several ways to donate and support these families. Donating to PIRC (Portland Immigrant Rights Coalition) can also help to support affected families, along with providing money to help advocate for immigrants and report on ICE activity around Portland. If you want to support protesters directly, you can donate food, water, and medical supplies to the group of proteste
rs in front of the ICE building on Macadam. You can find many of them on social media platforms such as Instagram and TikTok to find a more organized list of supplies.
#3: Support Your Community: You can directly support groups affected by ICE simply by going to restaurants, supporting small businesses, and artists that are part of marginalized communities. Shopping locally is a great way to keep your community strong and stable. If you know someone personally affected, you can offer them service, such as running errands for them if they are unable to leave their house, or childcare if needed. Another way to offer support is to carry the red “know your rights” cards with you. You can also print these out to place around your city or hand out to businesses.
#4: Create Art: The power of art is an incredibly overlooked and powerful way to make change. Throughout history, art has been a large part of protests and movements. If you are someone passionate about art, consider using that passion to make change. You can create stickers and posters to put around your city. You could create songs, comics, or animations representing what is happening in the world and what people can do.
#5: Document: Documenting what is happening in your community is another extremely important thing. Filming ICE activity, writing down what’s happening, compiling stories from victims, and taking photos of the effects ICE is having are all important ways of documentation. If we keep a record of what is happening, those harming our community can not erase or silence us.
#6: Protest: Protesting is a great way of amplifying your voice and connecting as a community to advocate for the changes that need to be made. If you are someone who attends the large national protests, such as No Kings Day, I would suggest finding smaller protests to attend. “There are a few Instagram accounts and online blogs that update about Portland protests, and a lot of accounts dedicated to individual organizations,” says RiverCrow. Pdxprotestinfo, wffstjohns, and collective_pdx_action on Instagram are some of the many accounts sharing protests and events happening around Portland.
If you want to make change and get involved, I want you to remember that, while it may be hard, it’s also incredibly important. If we as a community stay silent, then there will be no improvement. We are stronger together, and even if it feels like things won’t change, it is important to keep your hope alive and keep speaking up. Continue to write, protest, and look out for your neighbors— keep fighting for your rights and what you believe in, because you are the voice of the future.
