Kaden Quimet welcomed over 500 attendees to the second Rise for Freedom training, focusing on building critical mass locally and strategic outreach campaigns. The training series aims to create safe spaces for communities to gather, learn, and organize to resist autocracy, with upcoming sessions scheduled through May 15th.
Key updates included the House passing the SAVE Act, described by Kaden Quimet as a voter suppression measure, and Jesse Sharkey's introduction of the May 1st mobilization (MayDayStrong.org) to fight for workers' rights and public education. Eric Johnson provided digital hygiene tips for securing social media accounts.
Nile Blass and Tamika Middleton presented strategies for building critical mass locally, emphasizing relational organizing, the spectrum of allies framework, and effective one-on-one conversations. They stressed the importance of creating connections beyond political issues, adapting strategies for different contexts, and targeting key pillars of support in society to effect change.

Meeting Notes:

Introduction and Welcome

Kaden Quimet (Kaden) welcomed over 500 attendees to the second Rise for Freedom training.
The training focused on building critical mass locally and strategic outreach campaigns.
An icebreaker activity using Mentimeter asked participants to describe in one or two words how they felt after the recent "Hands Off" mobilization on April 5th.
Top responses included: energized, hopeful, empowered, inspired, motivated, connected, and powerful.
Kaden Quimet reported that over 5.3 million Americans participated in protests across 1,300 actions nationwide, with additional mobilizations globally.

Rise for Freedom Overview

Goals:
- Create safe spaces for communities to gather, learn, strategize, and organize to resist autocracy and Project 2025.
- Encourage hosts to create welcoming training spaces in living rooms, common areas, or college classrooms.
- Build trust and organizing power in local groups while engaging with training content.
Timeline of upcoming trainings:
- April 17: "How to talk to people you might disagree with"
- April 24: "Harnessing our power to end political violence and repression"
- May 1: "Mutual aid structures for stronger local organizing"
- May 8: "De-escalation and advanced strategic organizing skills"
- May 15: "Advanced organizing skills" (topics to be voted on)
Ethos:
- Big-tent space welcoming progressives through conservatives united in support of a democratic republic.
- Focus on being welcoming, love-centered, joyful, and connection-focused in person.
- Emphasis on continuous outreach and capacity building.
- Commitment to nonviolence and nonpartisan approach.
- Private "calling in" of partners or hosts who use othering or unwelcoming language.

Updates and Announcements

SAFE Act Update

The House of Representatives voted 222-208 in favor of adopting the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act.
Kaden Quimet described it as a voter suppression measure that could impact up to 21 million American citizens immediately, with potential to affect up to 65 million.
Key provisions:
- Ends all online voter registration
- Requires matching passports and birth certificates for voting
Four Democrats voted in favor: Jared Golden (Maine), Mary Perez (Washington), Ed Case (Hawaii), and Henry Cuellar (Texas).
The bill now heads to the Senate.
Actions to take:
- Join the Declaration for American Democracy coalition's movement call on April 22nd at 7:00 PM.
- Take action with the League of Women Voters.
- Call senators using the hotline 833-346-1779 to urge a "no" vote on the SAVE Act.

May Day Mobilization

Jesse Sharkey (Jesse Sharkey) introduced the May 1st mobilization.
Website: MayDayStrong.org
Significance of May 1st:
- Traditional day of protest dating back centuries
- Became a workers' holiday in the US in 1886
- 2006 saw massive immigrant rights protests
- Builds on momentum from April 5th mobilizations
Goals:
- Put forward a vision of a better society
- Fight for workers' rights, public education, and quality of life
How to get involved:
- Visit MayDayStrong.org to find or plan local events
- Join organizing calls (next one on April 17th)

Digital Hygiene Tip

Eric Johnson (Eric Johnson), technology and security director for corporate accountability, provided tips on securing social media accounts.
Key points:
- Social media companies collect data even if you don't have an account.
- Default settings are designed to collect maximum information.
- Focus on three priorities:
  - Turn off or limit tracking and data collection
  - Update privacy settings to limit visibility of online actions
  - Secure accounts from hacking
Facebook/Meta security settings:
- Access settings through profile picture > Settings and Privacy > Privacy Center
- Manage accounts and connections to external applications
- Clear previous activity and manage future activity
- Turn off ad preferences and tracking
- Disable contact syncing
TikTok security settings:
- Access settings through the "hamburger" menu (three lines) > Settings and Privacy
- Turn off personalized ads
- Mute specific advertisers
General recommendations:
- Make accounts as private as possible
- Turn off syncing of contacts and connections to other apps
- Use different passwords for social media accounts
- Enable two-step verification
- Manage devices to control account access

Building Critical Mass Locally

Outreach Strategies

Nile Blass (Nile Blas) and Tamika Middleton (Tamika Middleton) presented on building critical mass locally.
Key concepts:
- Start with understanding your own strengths and experiences
- Recognize that problems can feel overwhelming, but individual actions matter
- Focus on what you can change and build relationships
Strategies for building community:
- Create affinity groups with like-minded individuals
- Organize potlucks, movie nights, and game nights to build connections
- Form book clubs and study groups
- Conduct care calls to check on neighbors and community members
- Engage with anchor institutions like public libraries
- Participate in faith-based initiatives
- Join activist organizations and networks
- Attend social service fairs and block parties
- Participate in protests and demonstrations
- Organize singing protest songs
- Support local businesses (e.g., Korean and Chinese restaurants)
- Get to know your neighbors
- Engage in canvassing efforts
Importance of local and state-level engagement:
- Local officials can create safety nets when national politics fail
- Community-level impact is more visible and relatable
- Focus on state-specific issues (e.g., Maryland's Voting Rights Act, Wisconsin and North Carolina Supreme Court races)
Tamika Middleton described outreach as a courtship process:
- Meeting and inviting people
- "Dating" phase - getting to know each other and the organization
- Commitment phase - deeper involvement and leadership

Spectrum of Allies

Nile Blass presented the spectrum of allies framework:
- Active supporters: Volunteers, canvassers, town hall attendees
- Passive supporters: Those who agree but don't actively participate
- Neutral: People who are uninformed or too busy to engage
- Passive opposition: Those who disagree but don't actively work against
- Active opposition: Counter-protesters, those actively working against the cause
Key lessons:
- Moving people along the spectrum is a significant win
- Focus on productive conversations and people who can be moved
- Incremental progress matters
- Not every fight needs to be had with every person
- Don't assume you know someone's position; always ask and gather information
- Utilize your network to better inform your strategy

Relational Organizing

Emphasis on building relationships and connections beyond political issues
Importance of creating joy and fostering genuine connections
Leveraging personal networks for collective action
Recognize that different approaches work in different contexts (e.g., urban vs. rural areas)
Decenter yourself and lean on cultural competency when working in unfamiliar communities
Adapt strategies for in-person and online organizing
Nile Blass highlighted the importance of likeability in bringing people into the movement
Trusted messengers can be more effective than large-scale outreach efforts
Focus on activating networks and moving people to take specific actions

Effective One-on-One Conversations

Tamika Middleton described the process of having relational conversations:
- Purpose: Clearly define the goal of the conversation
- Exploration: Learn about the person's interests and concerns
- Exchange: Share information about your cause and organization
- Commitment: Ask for specific actions or involvement
Tips for effective conversations:
- Start where people are comfortable
- Frame issues in local contexts when possible
- Build trust before diving into difficult topics
- Recognize that you may not always be the best messenger
- Be curious about the other person's motivations and interests
- Offer resources or connections that might support their concerns
- Always aim to get a commitment, even if it's just for a follow-up conversation

Fighting Tyranny and Building People Power

Tamika Middleton shared quotes to inspire action:
- From "On Tyranny": "For resistance to succeed, two boundaries must be crossed. First, ideas about change must engage people of various backgrounds who do not agree about everything. Second, people must find themselves in places that are not their homes and among people who are not their friends."
- From P.M. Ture (formerly Stokely Carmichael): "The world will change when people stop waiting on someone else to change it."
- Another quote emphasized that change can only be achieved by the masses of people
Key takeaways:
- Build a big tent coalition with diverse perspectives
- Meet people where they are and bring them along
- Don't wait for others to create change; take action now
- Recognize the power of collective action

Pillars of Support

Nile Blass introduced the concept of pillars of support in society:
- Institutions that maintain the current societal structure
- Targeting these pillars can lead to significant change
Examples of pillars:
- Bureaucratic (e.g., contacting representatives)
- Economic (e.g., consumer choices)
- Educational (e.g., providing alternative resources)
- Interpersonal relationships
Strategies for applying pressure:
- Identify key institutions and focus efforts on them
- Recognize that change may be gradual but persistent pressure can be effective
- Use various tactics to influence different pillars of support

Call to Action

A poll was conducted asking attendees if they are hosting or planning to host Rise For Freedom trainings.
Results showed:
- 45 people currently hosting
- 9 filling out the host form
- 19 looking for a venue
- 129 considering hosting
- About 200 planning to participate in upcoming mobilizations
Interested hosts can sign up at rise4freedom.org/host
Participants were encouraged to invite 5 people to the next training session
Tamika Middleton suggested writing down names of 5 people to invite and contacting at least one during the session

Closing

Nile Blass (Nile Blas) provided closing remarks:
- Emphasized that change depends on individual action: "Whether the people who are in positions of traditional power can't or they won't, we can and we will."
- Encouraged participants to be the change they want to see: "Anything that you hope for anyone for on this call to be to you, you can be to the people who are in your life right now."
- Stressed the importance of taking action: "It was never going to be them who saved us. It was always going to be you and now it has to be you, because if it's not, we don't get it out."
Kaden Quimet (Kaden) provided final information:
- Announced the next training on April 17th, focusing on how to talk to people you might disagree with
- Closed the session with a song: "Everybody Deserves to Be Free" by Diva Mahal and the Resistance Revival Chorus

Rise for Freedom Session 2: Building to Critical Mass Locally

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