Care and action on the road ahead

We’re all taking this election result differently here at Microcosm. Some of us are motivated, on fire, primed to rise to a crisis in proportion with its scope. Others are taking time off to cry, zone out, hold loved ones tight. Others are just getting through the days as normally as possible.

We remember eight years ago, when we didn’t see it coming: the shock, then grief, followed by focused action. We remember what hurt and what helped. One thing that helps, a lot, is to wake up knowing that our entire job is to put tools in your hands to counter the world’s bullshit. So we’ve made a new Care & Action Package of things that motivate us and help us deal and might help you too. We’ve also put together a selection of resources for all the different needs we can think of. Read on, find what you need, use the coupons you need to make it work for you.

If you’re having a hard time and need someone to talk to, write to us and one of our crew will write you back. Your voice, needs, and life matter. You matter. And together, we’ve got this.

—Elly and the MCP crew

Check out our recent toplists for other titles and resources that may be of use to you and your community right now. Read on to learn more about selected titles from our Care & Action Package.

From Conflict to Community: Transforming Conflicts Without Authorities by Gwendolyn Olton
Experienced peacemaker Gwendolyn Olton shows you how to use your existing skills and intuition to transform a wide variety of conflicts into working relationships that meet everyone’s needs. In this practical, kind, realistic guidebook, Olton offers a variety of conflict analysis and conversation tools that you can use to navigate the most challenging interpersonal dynamics, and to better understand yourself and others along the way—all without calling HR or the cops.

The Courage Party: Helping Our Resilient Children Understand and Survive Sexual Assault by Joyce Brabner and Gerta Oparaku Egy
After escaping a playground predator, Danielle learns to understand what happened and how to carry herself with pride and conviction after five older women organize a “Courage Party” for her, sharing stories from their own lives. With realistic interactions with police, pediatricians, prosecutors, victim advocates, a community rape crisis center, and the courthouse, Danielle learns she is a “crime fighter,” able to protect other kids in the park, with many good grownups on her side.

Surviving: Getting Through the Shit Life Throws at You by Dr. Faith G. Harper
A zine for getting through it when life is piling it higher and deeper, the political and personal and social disasters that we know always come in waves. Getting Over It was about getting past whatever happened in the past; Surviving is about making it through the present. Even if you don’t believe you can survive this, Dr. Faith believes it for you, and offers some basic tools that anyone can use to make it one more day.

How to Get Your Period: A Guide to Performing Menstrual Extraction by An Anonymous Healthcare Worker
In 1971, as part of their work with a feminist reproductive collective, Lorraine Rothman and Carol Downer invented menstrual extraction (ME), a suction process to pass the entire period all at once, ending any undetected early pregnancy. An underground network of providers has kept ME alive ever since, and in a post-Roe era, demand is surging. This book provides a short history of ME and detailed instructions and diagrams explaining how to safely and effectively perform a manual exam, use a speculum, assemble a Del-Em kit, and complete a menstrual extraction procedure.

Direct Action Handbook: A Guide to Organizing & Protesting Safely by various contributors
Have you ever wondered how to protest safely and effectively? It’s not just about showing up, chanting, and holding signs. You need to know what your rights are, how to handle the police, how to dress appropriately for all situations, what to do when tensions escalate, how to be an empathetic ally, and more. Packed with infographs and invaluable tips, this handbook is a must when you’re organizing your next protest or attending a rally or march.

Other resources available in our toplists and around the site, such as Microcosm’s Election Survival Guide, Protest Power Starter Kit, Reproductive Healthcare Resources, Red State Relief, ways to send books to people in prison, and more.

If YOU have an idea for a book or a zine that might support people in the years ahead, we’re always looking for submissions of most any kind (especially zines!), but particularly about:

▶Abortion, birth control, sex ed, and reproductive health
▶Herbal medicine
▶Gender medicine
▶Queer and trans health, safety, and self-defense
▶How-to projects for resilient living (eg, gardening, building, energy, food preservation, mutual aid, online safety)
▶Activism and movement-building
▶Writing, publishing, and creativity in difficult times
▶Suicide prevention

Find out more about pitching and submitting to Microcosm HERE.