Some Notes For Hopeful Action Under Trump In 2025

Preparing for Advent after reading Ta-Nehisi Coates, adrienne maree brown, and Heather Cox Richardson during Thanksgiving

The only recognizable feature of hope is action.

— Mariame Kaba and Kelly Hayes, in Let This Radical You: Organizing and the Revolution of Reciprocal Care

As Advent draws near, it often feels like we are standing at the edge of an uncertain future. For some, it’s the weight of the year behind us—of political chaos, societal divides, and personal struggles. For others, it’s the quiet disorientation of wondering what comes next. Yet, amid this swirling uncertainty, I keep returning to this one line quote from adrienne maree brown’s Loving Corrections: “The only recognizable feature of hope is action, let this radicalize you.”

This line sits with me because it isn’t the kind of hope we often hear about during Advent—the peaceful, expectant hope that things will simply get better. This is a call to action. A call that, in these times, might be more urgent than ever. As we look to the year ahead, we are asked to reflect on what we are doing with our hope, not just what we are waiting for. The world isn’t going to change on its own, and the hope we hold in our hearts must be the kind that compels us to act. And, as brown says, may this action radicalize us.

The Power of Preparation: Practical Ideas for Resistance

As we prepare for the year ahead, it’s easy to feel like there’s not much we can do in the face of such overwhelming challenges. But there’s a quiet strength in preparation. Last week, a friend sent me an article from The Real News titled “10 Ways to Be Prepared and Grounded Now That Trump Has Won.” While the context may be political, the advice is deeply practical for anyone feeling the weight of the world on their shoulders. It outlines ten key strategies for personal and community preparedness in the face of a changing political landscape. These are not revolutionary ideas in the strictest sense, but they carry a profound sense of practicality that many of us need right now.

From strengthening personal connections and building resilience within our communities, to committing ourselves to acts of resistance and standing in solidarity with those who suffer most, this article provides a roadmap for how to stay grounded when the world around us seems unstable. The idea isn’t to escape or disengage, but to dig in—emotionally, spiritually, and practically—and prepare ourselves for the challenges ahead. These suggestions echo the themes of Advent: waiting with purpose, preparing with intention, and acting when the time is right.

In a season focused on expectation and readiness, this kind of practical resistance feels like a spiritual discipline. The article offers steps toward living with integrity, staying rooted in our values, and resisting injustice where it stands. As we look ahead to 2025, the idea of preparation isn’t just about surviving; it’s about actively engaging with the world around us, ensuring that we are not passive observers but active participants in the change we seek.

Link to the article: 10 Ways to Be Prepared and Grounded Now That Trump Has Won

Biden’s Presidency: A Mixed Legacy

Another piece that shaped my reflections this week was Heather Cox Richardson’s newsletter from November 29, 2024, where she looks at the current state of U.S. politics. Richardson, ever the historian, offers a clear-eyed assessment of President Biden’s legacy as his time in office nears its end. She notes that “when Biden spoke at the Gila Crossing Community School, he said he was there “to right a wrong, to chart a new path toward a better future for us all.” As president of the United States, Biden formally apologized to the Native peoples—Native Americans, Native Hawaiians, Native Alaskans—for the U.S. government policy that forced Native children into federal Indian boarding schools.”

This apology, almost ninety years late, is an incredible example of Biden’s presidential leadership the last four years as he has engaged in remarkable forms of state-craft that will leave a lasting legacy, and as we observe National Native American Heritage Day this week, it’s powerful to both remember our past national complicity in genocide and our avoidance generally of working toward reparations.

Link to the article: Heather Cox Richardson, November 29, 2024

While there are certainly many positive aspects of Biden’s presidency—his continued support for climate action, labor rights, and healthcare—there is also the undeniable failure to confront one of the most pressing moral issues of our time with profound resonances to : the genocide in Palestine.

This failure to act—this complicity in the violence and occupation—is, in my mind, one of the greatest moral shortcomings of Biden’s presidency. His administration’s continued support of Israeli military actions, even at the cost of Palestinian lives, cannot be ignored. And this failure highlights something deeply troubling about our national conscience: how easily we can ignore suffering on a global scale when it doesn’t directly impact us, or perhaps precisely because it is an extension globally of our national strategy.

This question—how we respond to suffering on the other side of the world—is not just a political one. It’s deeply spiritual. As I reflected on this over the Thanksgiving break, I turned to two books that I’ve been reading: The Message by Ta-Nehisi Coates and Loving Corrections by adrienne maree brown. Both of these authors, through their own unique lenses, engage with the Palestinian struggle in powerful ways, showing us how these issues are not isolated but interconnected with our own struggles for justice.

Coates, brown, and the Global Struggle for Liberation

Coates’ The Message is a call to action, rooted in a deep understanding of the systemic forces that shape our world. In it, Coates ties the Black liberation struggle to global movements for justice—especially to the plight of Palestinians. Coates writes about Palestine not as a distant issue but as an integral part of the struggle for freedom everywhere. He spent time in Palestine at a creative writing conference not long before October 7th.

He sees the oppression of Palestinians as deeply linked to the dehumanization and violence faced by Black Americans, and he challenges us to consider how our fight for justice here is tied to the fight for justice everywhere. The historical and ongoing struggles of Black Americans and Palestinians are not separate—they are parts of the same fight for freedom, dignity, and human rights.

adrienne maree brown’s Loving Corrections takes this idea even further, urging us to recognize the interconnectedness of all liberation struggles. Her work, rich with insight and creativity, offers a radical call for transformative justice that doesn’t just focus on individual wrongs but seeks to heal the structures that perpetuate violence and harm. Like Coates, brown turns her attention to Palestine, not as an abstract political issue but as part of the global fight against oppression. She encourages us to see these struggles as intertwined, urging us to engage with them not just as distant observers but as active participants in a movement for a better world.

In both books, the Palestinian struggle is not an afterthought. It is central to their vision of justice, freedom, and healing. And this isn’t just an intellectual exercise—it’s a call for mindfulness, for action. Both Coates and brown push us to consider the genocides happening right now—whether in Palestine or elsewhere—and to resist the temptation to look away. In a time when the world is filled with suffering, these authors invite us to see, to listen, and to act.

For me, reading these books has been a reminder that Advent is not simply about waiting passively for the world to change. It’s about preparing ourselves for the work of justice and liberation, both in our own communities and on the global stage. As we prepare for the year ahead, let’s take seriously the work of resistance and the call to act. This is what Advent demands of us: to wait with intention, to prepare with hope, and to act with radical love and courage.