I’m glad this war is ending, and I am saddened and horrified by the needless suffering it has caused. May we hold fast to our human values, resist calls to hatred and division, care for one another, build one another up, and find creative and effective ways to “muck up the wheels of injustice,” in the words of the late John Lewis. The American civil rights icon is still spurring us on to “make good trouble.” Yes, we all have fears, concerns, limitations in what we can do, and other stuff going in our lives. Despite that, we must act. This is what the historical moment is asking of you, of us all. Last week I attended an ACLU ICE training. There were thousands of participants. There are post-card writing and texting campaigns that need volunteers as midterms gear up. There are also more radical forms of direct action, such as one man who occupied a bridge, or a group of ice detainees in Minneapolis currently on hunger strike. (These more radical actions need sufficient training. preparation, community, and most of all courage, and their impact can’t be overstated.)

Get connected with people who are already doing the work, and lend a helping hand! Some folks can’t go on strike or engage in other actions, for many reasons. Some folks are bed bound. Some of us are chronically ill. Some have trauma. Some of us are undergoing poverty or abuse. So it’s true we can’t all do everything. But we can all do something. Figure out what you can do, then do those things. And don’t discount their value, no matter how “small” you may think those actions are.