If the 2024 election results jolted you into action, but you don't know where to start, the books, organizations, and videos below offer some insights. If you're a more seasoned activist, you might find some new tidbits in the resources below. We also encourage you to comment on this post with your own recommendations.
A good place to start is by understanding what it means to be an activist. You may think you are political engaged, but are you really? Are you taking action to create positive, powerful, lasting political and social change?
Not long after Michigan State Senator Mallory McMorrow's viral video, she spoke at a Red Wine & Blue "Troublemaker Training" about how to get engaged in politics. She highly recommended Politics Is for Power: How to Move Beyond Political Hobbyism, Take Action, and Make Real Change By Eitan D. Hersh. "It's a really easy, great read. It talks about how so many of us engage in politics by being on Facebook, being on Twitter, and that's not taking action in the real world." (You can watch the full recording here.)
Unfortunately, Indiana perfectly illustrates this point. We consistently rank near the bottom in voter turnout, but rank 5th when it comes to participating in political conversations online, according to the 2023 Indiana Civic Health Index. (Read the full report here.) This book calls out activities that may feel like action, but don't move the needle in a meaningful way. It goes on to describe actions that build political power, including having real-world conversations.
Speaking of talking to our neighbors, that's exactly what Chloe Maxmin and Canyon Woodward say we need to do more of in Dirt Road Revival: How to Rebuild Rural Politics and Why Our Future Depends on It. Maxmin and Woodward ran two successful campaigns in rural Maine, first for the state house and then for the state senate. They say Democrats have abandoned rural America by following the same tired consultant strategies instead of doing the work of investing time and energy into communities and effective campaigns. (You can watch an interview with the authors here.)
One takeaway is candidates need to be visible and active in their communities year-round, not just during a campaign. Building on this concept, the Rural Urban Bridge Initiative (RUBI) partners with authors and activists like Maxmin and Woodward who are having success doing things differently. The philosophy is simple: they urge all of us to think differently, talk differently, and act differently to bridge the rural-urban divide that has become so wide over the past several years. (Check out more book recommendations from RUBI here.)
For an insider's perspective, David Pepper, a former chair of the Ohio Democratic Party, explains how we got here and the specific actions that will move us forward in Saving Democracy: A User's Manual for Every American. (For a quick summary, check out this guide that accompanied our Saving Democracy book club.) Pepper's premise is that we are in a battle for democracy itself, and he lays out his strategies for how each of us can fight for democracy, including running candidates in every race, something Indiana has been particularly bad at. In the 2024 election alone, of the 125 statehouse races, 48 were unopposed. That's 38% of races where voters didn't even have a choice! That's not democracy. The extreme gerrymandering of 2010 made these races statistically not winnable by a candidate of the non-incumbent party, but democracy will not return to Indiana if we continue to allow extremists to claim seats without a fight. (Check out the companion website here.)
Finally, if you are truly committed to making a difference through your actions, it is critical to understand the deep-rooted history of racism in America. Once you start to learn of this history, you will begin to see the ways most of us have been complicit in upholding white supremacy and can start to dismantle it. The bottom line is that racism has been used to divide us so that wealthy elites can maintain their power over us and prevent us from building a multi-racial, pluralistic democracy where we could all thrive. Heather McGhee explains what racism has stolen from all of us in The Sum of Us: What Racism Costs Everyone and How We Can Prosper Together. It's eye-opening and shocking. As activists, we must continue to invest in our own anti-racist education. If you're ready to take the next step, I strongly recommend checking out the Movement of 10,000 (#MVMT10K), which is an anti-racism curriculum created by The Indianapolis Foundation. Their goal is for 10,000 residents of the Indianapolis area to complete the curriculum and begin work to dismantle the systems and structures that oppress us.
These books offer fresh takes for what actions can make a difference. They're a good start, but there are so many other great reads that can inform our path as activists. Let us know what other books you recommend in the comments below.
Thank you for these recommendations!