If you're feeling discouraged in light of events around you...

[Sapphire Blue]

... get thee post haste to a local activist group... a Democratic group, a liberal activist group, a community activist group, a liberal church group.

If you go to church, speak out about the issues that are important to you, phrase them in terminology appropriate to your religion (as in The Beatitudes & Matthew 25 : 31-46 in Christianity).

Write LTTE's. Contact TV 'news' orgs, sponsors, etc... demand factual, unbiased coverage of the news; demand a return to journalism... and an end to WH shilling.

Keep calling/emailing/writing your Senators & Representatives (US & State), your Governor, your mayor... even that idiot in the White House; hold them all accountable; let them know that you are a member of the People's Lobby... the one that goes to the voting booth & pays their salaries. .. the one that they are elected to represent. Remind them that this country has a Constitution... send them a copy of the Constitution. Schedule meetings with your Senators & Representatives when they are in their home districts.

Get involved in the upcoming election campaign, do what you can, campaign door-to-door, deliver/send out flyers, volunteer for a phone bank, drive voters to the polls, make copies of political material & leave them around your community... libraries, lobbies, waiting rooms, public transit, laundromats, supermarkets.

Can you volunteer in your community? This may see to be a lame suggestion, but some of what needs changing in this country is the restoration of community, of caring for one another, making a difference in someone's life. Remember the beloved community? Someone out there needs you... a child who needs help learning to read; a teen who needs mentoring; a neighbor who needs transportation to doctor's appointments, the store, the food bank; a lonely senior in a nursing home... so many need us desperately. Check United Way: http://national.unitedway.org/volunteer /

Do what you can, and encourage others to do the same. Have faith in the love & courage in yourself... and find others who share your love & courage. Spread that love & courage... from sea to shining sea.

And in the words of the Rev. Dr. William J. Barber...

"But for God’s sake, don’t ever give up, because some child is depending on you, some family is hoping for a better day, some worker needs a breakthrough, the voiceless still need a voice, the poor still need an advocate, those in the margin still need to be mentioned, people who are down still need to be lifted, the hurt still need to be healed.

Use your life in the court of humanity to say “I WILL OBJECT UNTIL JUSTICE ROLLS DOWN LIKE WATER & RIGHTEOUSNESS LIKE A MIGHTY STREAM!"

http://www.unc.edu/law/povertycenter/audio/barber.mp3