This Berkeley-based website is the future of activism
‘Our constitutional democracy, our world, and our planet are all under siege’
In Berkeley and the larger Bay Area, progressive politics is nearly normalized, if for nothing except polite conversation. However, Wall-of-Us – a Berkeley-based social platform that inspires daily acts of resistance through friendly, colloquial emails sent to subscribers each week – understands that this is not universal, and its primary goal is simple: resist Trump. It hopes to build a wall, of progressive and like-minded people, to push back against this wave of Trump-inspired bigotry.
Wall-of-Us has garnered over 40,000 subscribers in its first month of inception in November, and has been shared widely for its cogent, well-researched actions and progressive lens.
The founders
The Co-Founders of Wall-of-Us, Amelia Miazad and Kara Ganter, have earned their J.D. degrees from Berkeley Law and the University of Wisconsin Law, respectively. They are non-native to Berkeley – Amelia boasts an Afghan-American upbringing, while Kara came of age in rural Wisconsin. They are working professionals, lawyers, writers, technophiles – they are go-getters.
How it works
Staying true to the entrepreneurial spirit of the Bay Area, Amelia and Kara have created their site with the sole intent to provide tangible political action to busy activists. Wall-of-Us signs users up to receive weekly emails detailing of four real acts of resistance each Sunday. For instance, an act from December 25, 2016, was to help senate Democrats mobilize against Steve Mnuchin.
We all struggle to find free time, and this organization understands the absence of leisure time in most Americans’ lives. The weekly emails are sent straight to your inbox – likely in the “updates” or “promotions” tab, if you use Gmail – and the scripts are all available. Your work is pre-researched, so you need only act, if you so desire.
The link to sign-up is here.
Rebuilding and retaking the USA through social media
Initially published on mashable, then on MTV, Wall-of-Us understands the difficulty in large-scale action for working people, and focuses its energy solely on pushing back against the Trump Administration’s overt disregard for human rights. From the tragicomic nature of Trump’s cabinet appointments to the Megyn Kelly feud, Trump has proven that he cares not for party affiliation nor party platforms, but rather for the shared values of undervaluing the female gender and sex.
It’s no secret that this election was won through a corrupt electoral college, as Hillary Clinton won the popular vote, but perhaps less-regarded was its reliance on shared bigotry by either the extremely educated and/or the extremely wealthy.
Perhaps the most well-known association with Trump is his battle cry for the Mexican-funded “wall” between the U.S.-Mexican border. Turning this on its head, Wall-of-Us uses similar rhetoric to fire back at this illogical quip and to prove that, en masse, citizens are capable of moving mountains. It is a reawakening of the sleeping giant that is the disillusioned American people, and it is not necessarily generationally-derived. While internal groups of progressive policies may disagree on the minutiae, we all vote the same, and to operate in this two-party system, we must engage the branch most willing, and most likely, to satisfy this need.
Why Wall-of-Us is the future of political action
If you’re the kind of person who gets nervous about calling senators, lobbyists, or representatives, then fear not – Wall-of-Us provides you with scripts, specific chronologies of action, and even with a self-accountability option to “check” your work. These are colloquial, friendly, and imperative. They are also extremely easy to follow, and give you a sense of having done something real and now.
And, if you’re unsure of the research, remember that it is carried out by lawyers from top-notch American law schools, and above all, they care about an environmentally- and humanistically-sustainable future for the world.
With Wall-of-Us, you can undertake meaningful action in under ten minutes a week.