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I spent the Day Without a Woman at a mini-conference for aspiring activists. It neatly solved the problem of what to actually do when you’re refusing to work or spend money. (Other options: tweet to raise awareness? Sneak into a showing of Hidden Figures?) Here’s what I learned.



Before I left, I dropped the kids off at day care along with cookies and a sincere thank-you for the all female staff. Sure, my husband could have done that, but he was trying to figure out how to wash a bedsheet that had bits of child barf, mainly the remains of scrambled eggs, all over it. I gave him a pass.


I live in Pittsburgh, where an estimated 25,000 people came out for the Women’s March and thousands more participated in an alternate march that day led by women of color. The crowd that showed up for today’s event, dubbed Intersectional Women’s Day, was capped at 64. There were a few empty seats.

The main part of the meeting was a showcase of local activist groups, explaining what they do, why their work is needed, and how people can get involved. They also called out specific national, state, and local policies that affect their cause.


If you don’t live in Pittsburgh, the names of your local groups will be different. The relevant state legislation and the school board petitions will be different. But just as racism, sexism, and injustice exist everywhere, so do efforts to fight it. I’ll tell you what I learned, and how you can join in.

Here Are Some of the Issues...

The issues that follow are just a sampling. Many more problems exist in the world; and there are many more action items for each of them beyond what you see here. If something is conspicuously absent, feel free to leave a comment to help all of us learn more about what action is needed. Anyway, here’s a partial starter kit:


The Issue: Sexual Violence

Why Action Is Needed: Because too many people experience rape, too many children experience sexual abuse, and victims have astronomical rates of post-traumatic stress disorder. (94 percent of women who are raped, for example.) We heard from a spokesperson for Pittsburgh Action Against Rape who explained their huge slate of services. Those include education programs for elementary schoolers up to adults; a crisis hotline; people who provide emotional and legal support to rape victims; and counseling to deal with their feelings after the fact. They have served people from age two (audible gasp in the room) up to elderly folks.


What You Can Do: Connect with the Rape, Abuse, & Incest National Network, or look for similar groups in your community. PAAR trains volunteers to help victims on their hotline, in emergency rooms, and in court. And education programs always need teachers. RAINN has a page full of ways to get involved, from sharing your story as a survivor to lobbying your congresspeople to fund support services and DNA testing.

Photo by Ryan McGuire


The Issue: Education Rights



Why Action Is Needed: When students are suspended, they miss out on their education and they become more likely to end up in trouble with the law later in life. Black students are three times more likely to be expelled or suspended than their white peers, and disabled students are twice as likely. Children end up being punished for disrespect and defiance with consequences that are way out of proportion to their actions. For example, in the Pittsburgh Public School system, one student’s parents ended up on the hook for $450 in fines after the child kicked over a trash can. In another case, six police cars were summoned for a disciplinary problem with a fourth grader, who was led away in handcuffs. Suspensions don’t even work as a disciplinary technique. In the meantime, schools don’t have other resources to help kids in crisis: nurses, social workers, and services for families are all in short supply.


What You Can Do: This is a major area where your school board matters. Pittsburgh’s school board is elected; not all school boards are. The organizers of One Pittsburgh’s Education Rights Network passed around a petition, told people how to sign up to speak at a school board hearing, and encouraged people to register and vote in the upcoming primary election. National group Dignity in Schools has a page of state-by-state information on the local effects of suspending so many students, with fact sheets on current laws. To start making change, though, you’ll want to connect with your local schools and their parents’ groups.

Photo by Matt Popovich


The Issue: Police Violence



Why Action Is Needed: We trust police and the larger criminal justice system, including the courts, to protect us. But they don’t always do their job, and people can end up victims of violence with little to no recourse for justice. This burden falls hardest on African-Americans, hence #blacklivesmatter. Our local group is the Pittsburgh-based Alliance for Police Accountability, which runs a hotline for anybody who has an interaction with the police that they feel was mishandled, regardless of race. They provide legal support for people in those situations. The group also promotes better relationships between police and their communities, for example through events where an officer can explain the work they do and listen to residents’ questions and complaints.


What You Can Do: The National Police Accountability Project is run by lawyers, law students, and legal professionals, so it has a similar focus but doesn’t provide the exact same services. But their website has a huge list of resources that includes community groups across the country, information for victims, and more.

Photo by Hanan Cohen


The Issue: Disability and Neurodiversity Rights



Why Action Is Needed: People with disabilities often don’t get opportunities to live on their own, to work, and to access health care and services that they need. One advocate at the meeting explained that she wants to work, but needs to live in poverty to get coverage for her ventilator and 24/7 nursing care. People with disabilities, and with other conditions like autism, are also at risk for abuse and even caregiver murder. Health care policy has a huge impact on their lives, and they also need legal protections to be able to work, get an education, and even to live independently.


What You Can Do: If you are disabled or have autism, or if you have a lot in common with people who do, join a self-advocacy group. If you don’t fit in this category, still get in touch with those groups—but recognize that the people in them are fighting for the right to speak for themselves and set their own agenda, rather than having others do it for them. At the meeting, we heard from the Pittsburgh Center for Autistic Advocacy, which both advocates for policy changes (so, encouraging you to call your representatives about relevant laws) as well as putting on events like movie screenings that are accessible and enjoyable by people with autism. On a national level, the Autism Self Advocacy Network works toward similar goals, and you can find a list of disability rights organizations here.

Photo by Women’s eNews


The Issue: Reproductive Rights



Why Action Is Needed: Reproductive health care shouldn’t be controversial, but politics seems to always be getting in the way of women accessing birth control, sexual health services, and, yes, abortion. Planned Parenthood splits its efforts, running health care clinics alongside advocacy programs to try to influence legislation. Another group at the meeting, New Voices for Reproductive Justice, expands the idea they call reproductive justice to include nearly all aspects of the lives of women and girls (and they focus specifically on women of color). Besides just choosing whether to raise children, for example, their spokesperson pointed out that people should also be able to raise their children in a place where they are safe from violence.


What You Can Do: Planned Parenthood is a national organization, although each local area runs its own affiliate. Get in touch with the one in your area to find out what kinds of volunteer help they need. Several PP volunteers told me that people most often want to help as clinic escorts, shielding clients from protestors as they walk in the building. But the organization needs other kinds of volunteer help too, including things like phone banking. New Voices is a Pittsburgh-based organization, and I don’t know of anything like it nationwide; but keep an eye out in your community for groups that are making a difference in women’s lives.

Photo by Torbakhopper


The Issue: LGBTQ Rights



Why Action Is Needed: People who don’t fit a narrow view of gender and sexuality can find themselves vulnerable to discrimination, violence, and more. The speakers on this issue weren’t able to attend the meeting, but the organizers pointed us to SisTers Pittsburgh, which helps homeless transgender people; Trans Youniting, which is trying to create a safe space for trans people; PERSAD, which provides and advocates for health services; and Garden of Peace, which runs a food and clothing pantry as well as providing health and social services for LGBTQ folks.


What You Can Do: Look around for the organizations doing good work in your community. Nationally, start with Human Rights Campaign or one of these organizations. Calling your representatives about legislation is important here, too: lots of states and municipalities have been trying to pass laws that allow anti-LGBT discrimination or that restrict people’s right to use the bathroom where they feel safest.

What Every Cause Needs

Photo by ccbarr


Every group needs money to exist and to do their work. If you want to help a cause and you have some extra cash, donate. If you don’t have the extra cash, join or lead fundraising efforts.



Every group needs volunteers. If you have special skills, offer those: lawyers can offer legal help, for example. Tech-savvy folks can help a group keep their website updated or find them a good deal on computers or web hosting. And plenty of groups need warm bodies for unglamorous jobs: data entry, phone banking, sticking up flyers around town.


Politics affects these causes, too. Laws at the federal, state, and local levels can protect the victims of injustice, or they can make a bad problem worse. For example, Pennsylvania recently considered a bill to hide the names of police officers under investigation. Once you’re in touch with local groups, you can help get the right policies enacted by calling your representatives and putting pressure on them.

And all of these groups need help getting their message out. Follow them on social media. Amplify their messages. Help to get their hashtags trending. But also, don’t view community engagement as a thing that only happens when you’re talking to your activist friends. Help the people you know to understand the issues. For example, make sure your friends know that “defunding” Planned Parenthood is about Medicaid reimbursement rather than, as a spokesperson suggested at the meeting, “Paul Ryan handing me a pot of money.”


Before you dive in, remember one thing: educate yourself. Don’t jump into a group without understanding their fight and where they’re coming from. That means do your homework rather than expecting your new friends to explain everything to you. And if you say something stupid and get called out on it, apologize and learn from that moment rather than doubling down and getting defensive. You’re new here! You’re learning. And if you stay focused, you’ll be able to help change your community for the better.