The Personal Is Political: Our Resolutions for 2017

Even as we’re happy to see the back of 2016, the new year — and the new president — has us feeling anxious about what’s to come. Our resolutions for 2017:

Juliana: Love harder, and prepare for a year of direct actions.

Meghna: Put my money where my mouth is — be really good about redirecting any nonessential spending towards supporting nonprofits and leftist, independent, investigative journalism. Write more and do more pro bono legal work. Basically: understand how to sustainably redirect my capital and labor into activism.  

Senti: Be my baddest, bitchiest, most unapologetic self in 2017.

Reina: Put my privilege on the line. Read a goddamn book. Be as brave as my friends.

Barbara: #MakeRacistsAfraidAgain.

Dana: Use the legal skills I’m acquiring — and the ridiculous privilege of time and space I have as a student — to be helpful in a world that needs brave, creative lawyers more than ever. Get my classmates to do the same.

Ava: Refuse to compromise. Physically, materially, and mentally support an antiracist left focused on revolutionary goals — not reformist complicity.

Mahroh: Pour myself into local work. Support the people who’ve supported me. Block buses and, like Ava, physically support liberatory goals.

Quita: #BlackFemmeSupremacy.

Sam: Seconding Ava on the refusal to compromise, which means being more deliberate about where I spend my time, energy, and money. There’s so much work to do, and it’s hard to decide what’s most urgent. We have no choice but to try.

What are your resolutions for the New Year?

Header image via.