It’s Time to Fight Back with Non-Cooperation

Faced with the growing tyranny and attacks on the Constitution, Democratic groups are escalating their resistance with non-cooperation.

The biggest anti-Trump public demonstrations in 2025 were the Hands-Off protests on April 5 and the No Kings protests on June 14 that mobilized millions of participants nationwide across all 50 states.

But in Atlanta, Proud Boy counter-protesters showed up. In Washington, D.C., counter protesters appeared at the event on the Mall. In upstate New York, a man in a Trump shirt was revving a chainsaw at an anti-Trump protest, and was mocking and threatening protestors. And in Mesa, Arizona, a counter-protester in a pickup truck with a Trump flag pulled a handgun was arrested for waving a gun around.

Defend Yourself

Democrats of Greater Tucson have responded with a “Defend Yourself” physical self-defense training program.

• Time: In person on Sunday, August 17, from 12:30 to 2 pm.
• Place: Rising Phoenix Self-Defense Studio, located at 4500 E. Speedway Blvd, Suite 4.
• Register now: https://bit.ly/DGTDefend

Your $50 donation covers all the costs of our trainer, equipment and use of the studio. Click here for more details.

Trainer Victoria Suchanek will lead a hands-on self-defense session just for our group. Learn how to break free from an arm grab or a hold from behind—skills for protests and real-life threats (not for use against law enforcement). Techniques are adaptive for all ages, sizes, abilities, and mobility levels, including those using canes or wheelchairs. Open to everyone: seniors, students, parents, and more.

Nonviolent Direct-Action Training

Time: 5 – 7 pm MST
Date: Tuesday, August 12
Place: Sign up to get the location

Worker Power’s interactive session equips participants with the principles and practical tools of non-violent direct action. Rooted in a rich history of social change, the training will cover strategy, group dynamics, creative protest methods, and how to stay grounded and safe during action.

Whether you’re new to activism and organizing or looking to sharpen your skills during this era of resistance, this training offers a collaborative space to build courage, clarity, and community.

Boycott and Build
From the Democrats of Oro Valley newsletter.

The Boycott and Build group of Indivisible Tucson Action Alliance focuses on how the money we spend influences the world we live in, including who gets elected. We don’t just buy the product or service being sold, we also buy whatever values the company and its owners hold.

Buy from a business like Jim Click that supports Ciscomani with their profits? That purchase supports the creation of the world laid out in that big ugly bill. So, our message is simply this: You vote every time you spend money. Choose wisely!

Check out Tucson Repair Cafe
Repair cafes are not just a great way to get something fixed versus throwing it out and buying new, but they are great community builders. And community building is an important key to resisting authoritarianism. Check out all of Tucson Repair Cafe’s upcoming events and important details on attending here and then watch this video about how it all works.

Go Amazon Dry Continues
Please keep making efforts to shift your dollars away from Amazon and toward local businesses or national chains like Costco that have been willing to stand up to Trump. You can find details on the Go Amazon Dry event (sponsored by Target Majority, an NYC based Indivisible group) on mobilize. Their toolkit includes a spreadsheet of alternatives to Amazon.

Boycotts have been successfully used in the past to resist. They have truly changed history! Stop supporting the businesses and owners who support Trump, Ciscomani and others who are harming our country.

Questions? Contact Lisa Vaughn @ lisabehappy@proton.me.

1 Million Rising Campaign Non-cooperation tactics

Activist Ash-Lee Henderson and her colleagues launched a new resistance training program on July 17 called the “1 Million Rising” Campaign to build an anti-Trump resistance movement. She is Co-Executive Director at Highlander Research & Education Center at East Tennessee State University.

The program includes:

• Economic boycotts
• Community organizing
• Direct action tactics
• Strategic refusal to comply with unjust demands
• Voter registration drives
• Workers restricting labor or striking
• Civil servants refusing illegal orders

She cited real-world examples of successful non-cooperation, including:

• Naval Academy book removal: Graduates successfully pressured leadership to return most banned books
• Harvard vs. DEI cuts: The University refused to comply with federal demands and filed lawsuits
• Idaho teacher Sarah Anama: Refused to remove “Everyone is Welcome” poster, sparked community-wide support
• Federal workers blocked DOGE agents: Physical resistance to agency access
• LA Dodgers vs. ICE: Refused stadium access after community pressure
• Tesla boycott: Over $100 billion in shareholder value lost
• Target boycott: 11% sales reduction due to anti-DEI policies

The core strategy was for participants to host small community gatherings (around 10 people) between the second and third training sessions. The math: 100,000 training participants × 10 people per gathering = 1 million people reached.

“One Million Trained, Millions More Empowered” takes place on Zoom on Wednesday, August 13, from 5:00 – 6:30 pm Arizona time.

LD17: How to Engage in Civil Resistance

DATE: Saturday, August 30
TIME: 1:30 – 3:30 pm MST
LOCATION: This event’s address is private.

Sign up for more details. Join us to learn how the community can engage in Civil Resistance. We will have a panel of experts from the Tucson Community.

Robert Reich’s baker’s dozen tips to fight fascism

This is an abbreviated list of actions from Robert Reich’s Substack.

1. Protect the decent and hardworking members of your communities who are undocumented.

One of Trump’s executive orders allows ICE to arrest undocumented immigrants at or near schools, places of worship, health care sites, shelters, and relief centers — thereby deterring them from sending their kids to school or getting medical or legal help they need. This is nuts.

So-called “sanctuary” cities and states have laws prohibiting their schools, public hospitals, and police from turning over undocumented individuals to the federal government or providing information about them.

Establish a hotline of ICE raid information and a “first-responder” list of people who will go where those raids are occurring, advise people of their rights, and, if necessary, block ICE directly.

2. Protect LGBTQ+ members of your community.

Work with others in being vigilant against prejudice and bigotry, wherever and however it might break out. When you see or hear it, call it out. Join with others to stop it.

3. Help protect officials in your community or state whom Trump and his administration are targeting for vengeance.

If you hear of anyone seeking to harm low-level officials, election workers, judges or elected officials, immediately alert local law enforcement officials.

4. Participate in or organize boycotts of companies that are enabling the Trump regime — starting with Elon Musk’s X and Tesla and any companies that advertise on X or on Fox News, as well as companies like Jeff Bezos’s Washington Post and Amazon that have surrendered to Trump.

5. Fund groups that are litigating against Trump.

Much of the action now is in the federal courts. We should all be deeply grateful to federal judges who are standing up to the Trump regime. The groups initiating litigation that I know and trust include the American Civil Liberties Union, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics, Center for Biological Diversity, Environmental Defense Fund, Southern Poverty Law Center, and Common Cause. They can always use your help.

6. Spread the truth.

Get news through reliable sources, and spread it. If you hear anyone spreading lies and Trump propaganda, including local media, contradict them with facts and their sources.

Here are some of the sources I currently rely on for the truth: Democracy Now, Business Insider, The New Yorker, The American Prospect, The Atlantic, Americans for Tax Fairness, Economic Policy Institute, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, The Guardian, ProPublica, Labor Notes, The Lever, Popular Information, Heather Cox Richardson, and, of course, this Substack.

7. Urge friends, relatives, and acquaintances to avoid Trump propaganda outlets such as Fox News, Newsmax, X, and, increasingly, Facebook and Instagram.

They are filled with hateful bigotry and toxic and dangerous lies. For some people, these propaganda sources can also be addictive. Help the people you know wean themselves off them.

8. Push for progressive measures in your community and state.

Local and state governments retain significant power. Join groups that are moving your city or state forward — toward protecting and enlarging voting rights, stricter environmental standards, abortion rights, and labor rights.

9. Encourage worker action.

Most labor unions are on the right side — seeking to build worker power and resist repression. You can support them by joining picket lines and boycotts and encouraging employees to organize in places you patronize.

10. Organize and mobilize for upcoming elections.

Wherever you live, your organizing and mobilizing is critical. Even if you live in a red state or red district, you can help win back the state legislature, governorship, senators, and representatives. If the people who represent you are doing a good job, make sure they stay in office.

11. Call your senators and representatives — constantly.

I’ve worked on Capitol Hill, and I know that senators and representatives keep track of the number of calls they receive on any given topic. They give special weight to calls coming from their own constituents. So don’t hold back. Call, and call again, and call again.

12. Keep the faith. Do not give up on America.

Remember, Trump eked out a narrow win — a tiny 1.5-point plurality — of people who voted. In the House, Republicans have a lead of only seven seats out of 435. In the Senate, Republicans hold a six-seat majority. (Remember, Republicans lost half of 2024’s competitive Senate races, including in four states Trump won.)

The forces of Trumpian repression would like nothing better than for us to give up. Then they’d win it all. We cannot allow them to. We will never give up.

13. Be sure to find room in your life for joy, fun, and laughter. Do not let Trump and his darkness take you over.

Just as it’s important not to give up the fight, it’s critically important to take care of yourself. If you obsess about Trump and fall down the rabbit hole of outrage, worry, and anxiety, you’ll burn out and won’t be able to keep fighting.